Trying to keep her children together, a Ryde mother of two is among a number of Island parents appealing the council’s placement of siblings at different schools.
Elaine Begg’s six-year-old son Josh has been thriving at Binstead Primary for the past three years.
Her younger son Thomas is currently at Stepping Stones, the Binstead pre-school, but for the coming year he was offered a place at Oakfield.
Upheaval
Elaine said she found the prospect ‘heartbreaking’: “I think moving Thomas will upset both my children. Surely you would think they would put siblings in the same school. It’s not possible to be in two places at the same time and I also pick up friends’ children when they can’t be there due to work.”
She added that there are others in the same situation: “Last week I was told that four children with siblings at the school didn’t get in. Three of those children attend Stepping Stones and interact with Binstead schoolteachers.”
Island policy
Binstead Primary’s head teacher, Helen Flynn, said she is aware of several cases of siblings being separated: “This is happening all over the place, not just here. The trouble is, there was a book issued in September-October that clearly sets out the Island’s policy of giving priority by area. I know some parents are making appeals and a lot of people are upset by this.”
A spokesperson at the Directorate of Children’s Services today confirmed that parents that have appealed will be contacted after the 18th of March, with individual cases brought before a panel in April-June.
VB will report when more is known.
Image: Binstead Primary School
