On Tuesday 16 April, parents in England and Wales whose children start reception in September will find out at which primary school they have a place. Last year, more than 90 per cent of applicants in England got their first choice, but what happens if your child is one of the unlucky ones? Sarah Atta, 40, from Newton-le-Willows in Merseyside, relives the anguish her family went through when her son missed out on his first choice of school.
Last April, I was horrified to learn that my son Isaac hadn’t got a space at our first choice of primary school. My husband, Imy, and I had always planned to send him, and his younger brother Ezra, to the local Church of England school, which is a seven-minute walk away.
Being a faith school, one of the requirements to be considered for a place was to attend church once a month for two years, which I had diligently been doing. I come from a Christian family, although I wouldn’t have been attending church had I not been trying to get Isaac into the school. But then, in August 2021, my mother died. She passed away suddenly from a brain tumour and it hit me really hard. She was my best friend and it was incredibly overwhelming for me, especially with Ezra being only eight weeks old at the time.
I was so consumed by grief and in such a dark place that it slipped my mind to attend church during the month that she passed away. After that, I tried to attend church twice a month when I could for the rest of the two-year period and I ended up getting many more stamps from the church than needed.
However, on offer day last year, we learned that Isaac had missed out on a place at the church school and was offered his second choice instead. That school is about a 30-minute walk away, so it meant driving there every day.
I was stunned. I decided to appeal the decision with our local authority – Imy and I were so upset at the thought of Isaac not attending his local school with other children who live nearby, especially after doing all the leg work by attending church for so long.
We knew a lot of children he would have gone to school with, including his best friend who lives on the same street as us, so they were separated. I felt I’d failed Isaac and the whole thing caused me significant anxiety. It was all I could think about, and I cried all the time, worrying about what was going to happen.
We were in limbo until the appeal in July, so I felt terrible because I couldn’t prepare Isaac properly for starting school or tell him which school he was going to.
It was clear when the appeal started that the decision wouldn’t go our way. I explained that I missed attending church one month owing to my mother’s death, but there was no compassion or understanding. They were so black and white about it all.
The woman leading the appeal was hugely insensitive – one comment she made was how people who knew they were going on holiday made sure they attended church at a different point in the month, as if I’d had a choice when my mum died. It all felt very cruel. I’d sent them my mother’s death certificate and it brought the whole thing up again. It was a really difficult time.
By the time we knew for sure that Isaac hadn’t got a place at his first choice, it was just days before the first settling-in session at his new school. It was really disappointing that we wouldn’t be able to walk to school. I walked to school when I was young and had envisioned my kids doing the same – it’s so much easier than driving and needing to find a parking space, and better for us and the environment.
His second choice is rated good by Ofsted, whereas the school we had wanted was rated outstanding, so that’s why it gets so oversubscribed. But I think the priority should be children being able to attend their local school. I also don’t really understand the logic behind church schools asking people to attend church in order to get a place. It often means people just do it to get into the school, like I did.
It took a while to accept it, but now we’re totally happy with Isaac’s school – even though it’s still not ideal to have to drive there; sometimes the traffic is awful. I feel like the schools rated outstanding by Ofsted can push the kids more – Isaac can be slower to catch onto things and a more nurturing school, like his current one, suits him better. So it’s worked out for the best in the end, and he’s where he is meant to be.
Isaac has settled in really well to the school and he’s happy to go in every day. I came round to the decision that it must have been my mum who put him in this school, and I’ve made peace with him being there.
Ezra will be starting school in September next year, but I won’t try to get him into the local school – I’m so over it and don’t want anything to do with it now.