Parents unhappy with the school places their children have been offered have joined together and are refusing to accept them. The group of parents in the Wythenshawe area of Manchester are demanding that the local authority finds an alternative solution for their kids after the closure of a high school created a shortage of places.
The parents have applied for a number of different schools for their Year 7 children, including Sale High, Altrincham College and Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College, which all fall under Trafford Council. They say there has never been an issue securing places at these schools in years gone by because, although they fall under a different council, they are closer to those than many Manchester schools.
One of the parents is Angela Davies whose daughter Maisie attended Lime Tree Primary in Sale. She told the Manchester Evening News there "was never any indication there would be an issue going from a Trafford primary to a high school".
But Angela and up to 40 others from the same area have been offered places at Manchester Academy High in Moss Side. Some of the children who have been offered places there have siblings who already attend secondaries in Trafford.
The families say this is unreasonable because it requires their children to travel around five miles to get there. But they also have "serious safeguarding concerns" about the school, where a 14-year-old pupil was stabbed in the neck during an exam last December.
Angela said: "We attended all the open evenings for Trafford schools and picked our top three - Altrincham College, Sale High and Wellington School. I thought if we don't get those, we'll presumably get a local school closer to home, but then we were offered one five miles away in Moss Side.
"When I first opened the letter I thought it was for Manchester Health Academy, which has now changed it's name to Dixons Brooklands Academy, as that's just up the road, but then I realised how far away this one is."
Angela is trying to juggle her existing responsibilities around home schooling for the time being and is considering paying for a tutor for maths and English. She is among around 60 parents who have joined a Facebook group titled Campaign for a review of secondary school allocation in Greater Manchester, set up by dad Wayne Cribbin, whose daughter Lilly also attended Lime Tree.
They applied for Blessed Thomas, Sale High and Didsbury High, but were also offered Manchester Academy. Having lost their appeal, she, like Maisie, is now at home, instead of starting Year 7.
He said: "We failed in our applications and went through the appeals process and it became abundantly clear that if your child comes from a stable home then they go to the back of the queue. We were allocated a school which would involve our daughter setting off an hour and a half early to ensure she gets to school on time, yet we have two high schools within 10 minutes walk from home.
"It seems there is a large gap in the school allocations and the closing of Newall Green High School last year has not been taken into consideration and children from M22 / M23 are being allocated a school which would fail to be within the admissions criteria on distance should it be the other way round, but it appears to be a suitable dumping ground for a problem of their making. The school allocated has real safeguarding issues and that is one of many reasons why myself and other parents are refusing to send our children."
Manchester City Council acknowledges that the loss of Newall Green High has increased demand on school places and says that's why it objected to the government-imposed closure in 2020. The decision was made due to dwindling pupil numbers and a poor Ofsted record, but even at the time the move was blasted by local councillors, parents and students.
The new free school coming to the area - Dixons Newall Green Academy - will now be opening a year earlier in September 2023, to meet the demand. For parents like Angela and Wayne, whose children are now 'way down the waiting list' for other schools, they feel their kids have been badly let down.
To help with this year's situation, the council has created an additional 100 places at the three local high schools - all of which have been filled - but says that for those offered places at Manchester Academy, there is nothing more it can do.
Councillor Garry Bridges, executive member for early years, children and young people at Manchester City Council, said: “We understand the disappointment felt by families and children who have been offered a school place that isn’t one they chose or that is nearest to their home.
"Unfortunately, schools in Manchester are in very high demand and there is a particular shortage of high school places in Year 7 in Wythenshawe. This is due to the government decision to close Newall Green High School - a decision we fought very strongly at the time because we knew it would lead to shortages of places for local families. We're now seeing the consequences of that wrong decision.
"We have continued to lobby the DFE about the shortage of places in the area since the school was closed, and as a result they have agreed that their recently approved new free school for the area, Dixons Newall Green Academy, will open a year early, next September 2023. We welcome this as it will very much improve the situation in the area, though sadly not in time for these pupils."
He added: "When parents living in Manchester apply for a school place in Trafford or any other local authority area, this isn't something we have any control over. If a parent doesn't succeed in getting a place at an out of area school and hasn't named a Manchester school on their application form - something we always advise parents to do - then it can mean, as in the case of many of these families, that they lose out on a place at their local school as places will have already been allocated to other families.
"Unfortunately this means that although we understand parents' frustrations, there is little more that we can do. We fully accept Manchester Academy is further away than some families would like, but have also offered free travel passes to help get them there.
"We do not however accept any suggestion that this is a school that is not safe. It has a robust culture of safeguarding and community, coupled with strong leadership and an aspirational education offer that is very much appreciated by students and their families.
"It also has a good track record of supporting pupils from both within the local community and across the city, and along with the council will do everything possible to make the transition for pupils to their new high school as easy as it can be and to support families in this.”
A spokesperson for Manchester Academy said: "The parents' disagreement is with the council, not the academy, and we understand their frustration at not being offered places at schools local to their area.
"Safeguarding is effective, however, at Manchester Academy. We are a happy and thriving school and are very willing to welcome families to see for themselves why we are proud of our academy and community. Likewise, we always speak directly to parents who express any concerns, to reassure them that although we may not have been the school they chose, their child will be safe and happy here and will be made very welcome."
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
