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| Chasing Places: your questions answered ![]() We put your questions to our experts Breakfast has been running a special series taking an in-depth look at the schools lottery "Chasing places" has looked at the obstacles which face parents who want to get their children into popular local schools. We've talked to parents who face nightmare school runs and to children who've been left with no place at all. And, we've heard how seemingly tiny changes in the rules which govern school places can have a major impact on people's lives. In the final part of our series, we answered some of your questions with our education experts To see the rest of Breakfast's coverage from the past week, you can click on the links below: Two areas are trying out a new system for allocating school places, which should mean that the local authority acts as a "clearing house" for applications. But does it work? We went to Sutton and to Hertfordshire, where several children from one village still don't have a school place. Eleven year old Joel Ansell-Fraser from South London applied to four secondary schools, but still doesn't have a place for this September. We found out why there's such pressure on school places in Lewisham. We also re-visited a family near Bristol, who've been trying for more than a year to end their nightmare school run by getting all their children into the same primary school. Small changes to rules about "feeder schools" (where primary schools have a special relationship with nearby secondaries) can leave children high and dry. We found out what's happening in two areas - West Berkshire and Camden in North London - where children's futures have been thrown into confusion. Should we ditch the league tables and just send our children to the nearest local school? We heard from one committed father who believes that's the fairest way to support the local community - even if it means sending his own son to a school lower down the league tables. Foundation schools - formerly Grant Maintained - are allowed to run their own admissions system, independent of the local education authority. So, what happens when nearly all the schools in an area are foundation schools? We heard from one family in Wellingborough. In the final part of our series we answered your questions with our education experts Ingrid Sutherland and John Chard, click on the link below to see that interview. If you are having problems getting your child a school plce there are two organisations that can help. Schools Appeals was established to help people win school admission appeals by providing quidance and support. You can also try the Advisory Centre for Education which is an independent organisation with its own advice line: 0808 800 5793 |
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