Edinburgh parents who have appealed for their children to move to a school outwith their catchment have been left furious after delays saw pupils miss transition days.
Edinburgh Council has apologised to parents who have lodged an appeal and say this is the first year a delay in the appeal process has happened.
One parent, whose son attends Gilmerton Primary School, has appealed for him to switch to Liberton High School instead of his catchment at Gracemount High School - but says he already missed vital transition days to make the process smoother.
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The parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, claims their application was knocked back so they appealed at the start of April. However, their child missed three transition days this week and fears he may not be allocated a school by the start of term.
They added: "My son has spent nine years, including nursery, with his peer group. He enrolled at Gilmerton in good faith as it was his catchment school.
"At that time he was in a dual catchment for secondary school and we had assumed he would attend Liberton High School with the majority of his classmates. He has now made a group of firm friends that are all going to Liberton.
"He is a shy and sensitive boy who will thrive with friends and peers he feels comfortable with. He has always struggled to make new friends and I fear his mental health would suffer as a result of not getting into the school of his choice.
"He will start secondary at a disadvantage to his friends as he has been denied access to the three transition days. To now compound this with the knowledge that it could be another five weeks until a decision is made is making him extremely upset and anxious about the whole experience."
An Edinburgh Council spokesperson said: “We will start hearing appeals from Monday 3 July and will be in touch with parents soon to give them specific details. This is the first year we have had a delay in the start of the appeals process and apologise for any impact this may have on children and parents.”
If your child has been affected by the delays to the appeal process, you can get in touch with us by contacting kris.gourlay@reachplc.com.
