Harpenden Primary School Allocations Petition

Harpenden Primary School Allocations is still a hot topic of conversation; even after the first run of continuing interest there are still lots of families who have not been allocated one of their three chosen schools. 

Many people had their hopes dashed after they found out that they had moved further down the list and their chances of getting into a school of their choice moved further from their grasp.  And to make matters worse county have informed parents that there was a 'stack' of late applications, meaning after the next continuing interest run there could be a similar story with 'new' applicants gaining poll position on the lists and getting the much sought after places.  This problem is not a 'one off', the Nursery allocations for 2011 have raised similar issues; and the situation is not unique to Harpenden, Redbourn is having problems with their Nursery allocations. 

But what can be done?  We are already in June, just three months away from the start of the new academic year. 

Determined to make their voices heard are a group of parents from Harpenden who  have set up a Group, Harpenden Schools Allocations 2011,  in order to try and do something about the situation they have all found themselves in.  The Group wants to work with Hertfordshire County Council in order to provide a practical solution for the Primary School intake of 2011 as well as a permanent solution for future school intakes.

One parent has voiced concerns over the apparent 'head in the sand' attitude of the local authority.  Every other person you meet in Harpenden seems to have relocated from London in order to find a 'perfect' place in which to bring up their young families- with this trend set to continue there need to be more school places available.  The changing demographics of Harpenden means that some of the schools provided are poorly located and those which are well located are oversubscribed.  This coupled with a sibling rule which does not take in to account distance from school has led to an impossible situation for 'new' parents trying to gain a place in their nearest school. 

In order to demonstrate to the Council how strongly the people of Harpenden feel about this pertinent issue, the Allocation Group has set up an online petition.  Please take a few moments to go online and add your name- we need to make sure our voices are heard and that something is done to sort out what has become, for many parents, an allocation nightmare!

Photo from ITA image library (flickr)