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School oversubscription still not settled
BUCKS County Council has failed to find a solution to the Fairford Leys school oversubscription problem in the timescale it said it would.
And next year 18 children will find out they do not have a place at St Mary's CofE Combined School - eight of whom are within the catchment area, The Bucks Herald understands.
In October, county council operations manager for local delivery, children's and young people's services Andrew Tusting said the council's education department would come back to Coldharbour Parish Council in December with the answer to the problem the school faces year on year turning children away, but it has failed.
The parish council has been working for nearly a year to find the answer and in October councillors proposed building a second building on another site within Fairford Leys as the best, cost-effective solution.
Chairman of Coldharbour Parish Council schools committee Stuart Jarvis said: "Andrew stated that they would have a solution in December and they have failed to meet this obligation and now I hope they will come back with the solution which is best for the residents of Fairford Leys.
"There will be a public meeting on January 29."
More children will be refused entry to the school in September and with few places in nearby schools they could be scattered across Aylesbury.
The county council has said it believes this is a short-term bulge, but that is not a view accepted by the parish council.
Cllr Jarvis said: "We are currently in a bulge, but we don't know how long that bulge will last.
"I believe it will settle down, but I am worried about what level it will settle down to.
"If it settles down to what the Bucks County Council figures suggest, it will still be oversubscribed."
Mr Tusting said: "While we accept that very many of our good schools are likely to be oversubscribed, we are not at liberty to discuss individual school admission figures until we have analysed all the applicants' data. There is still much work to do looking at the catchment area of the applicants, evidence of residence, verifying pupils' needs etc.
"There will always be enough places in the Aylesbury Vale area to ensure a school place for all of our children.
"In most cases - 94.7 per cent - preferred places are met. However, it is not in the public's interest to release official figures until the final analysis is completed and published which it should be by the end of February 2008."
Have you been affected by the oversubscription problem?
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Weather for Aylesbury
Saturday 26 May 2012
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