“I want to thank all the parents for taking time to brief me on what they are experiencing. Every child deserves the best possible education in life and this stage is the most important and for years we have expected the best from Kingston Schools. It seems that this year we have a major problem that has now been transformed into a crisis because the Council did not deal with the problem when the problem became clear in February.
The current position is unacceptable. What is worse is that without the whole allocation process being rerun with the additional capacity being included we will not be treating every child equally and fairly under the current allocation system. The administration will no doubt keep their promise to find an additional 212 extra places but I fear that parents will still be unlikely to feel their child was given the same chances as those children already in the position of knowing which school they will attend in September.
The first priority for me is to start getting answers to parents questions and a clear timetable for them so they can plan for September. Throughout our meeting parents tried to put their anger and anxiety to one side. They have formed a strong bond and working together will help them all ensure that the Council does not lose sight of the importance we must all give to these children’s future education. I have in turn promised them that I will continue to support them until the parents of the last child accepts a suitable place. Then we will start to look at making sure this does not happen next year and also to ensure that these children do not suffer in future years from the events this summer.
It may be time for the Council to look at our Education and Children’s Service Directorate to make sure this once jewel in the RBK crown has no other pending crisis waiting to come out and that the planning for future demand in all our schools is robust enough to ensure that throughout our children’s educational journey this is the first and last occasion the Council will let them down”.
