Redland row over school places rears head again

Redland is without a doubt the most sought after place for parents to send their kids to school, which is why we keep hearing stories about local children who miss out on a place at their local school.

The latest incident was little Zachary Yates, whose mother Kirsten told the BBC that he'd been given a place at a school in Southmead - almost three miles away from his Redland home.

Ms Yates says they did everything right, got the forms in on time and waited patiently to hear which local school their son had been allocated. They were, therefore, pretty shocked to see the name of a school they didn't recognise - Badock's Wood.

She then looked at just how many schools were between their Redland home and Badock's Wood (including their first choice - Colston's Primary) and became even more bemused - there are 25 schools closer than their allocated Primary.

Bristol City Council acknowledged that this was an unusual case and it now considering an appeal lodged by the family.

It beggars belief how this can happen. Maybe it was an administrative oversight but this isn't the only instance. The Bristol Evening Post recently carried a report about how 400 children missed out on a place at the sought after Redland Green School and had to settle for other establishments.

But there's a bigger problem here - why does everyone want places in schools in Redland? Why are these schools so much better than others in the city? And why isn't the Local Education Authority putting all of its time and effort into bringing the others up to scratch.

Let's face it, the gap is so big that families with children of school age actually move to Redland in order to get their child into a good school. What a ridiculous state of affairs! This leads to over-subscription and local children, such as Zachary, having to travel miles to school.

 Something has got to give...