Newcastle mum home-schooling her daughter after missing out on first choice high school
Sophie Woodhead missed out on a place at her first choice school, Jesmond Park Academy, for the current academic year but her mum is determined that she will get a place there
by Daniel Hall · ChronicleLiveA Heaton mum has taken to home-schooling her daughter after she missed out on her first choice high school this September.
The Woodhead family live in Haydon Grange, High Heaton, and had hoped their daughter Sophie would start year seven at Jesmond Park Academy last month. However, she missed out on a place due to the school being oversubscribed - with more than 400 first preferences for the 360 places available.
Sophie was instead offered a place at Benfield School after attending feeder school Walkergate Primary.. Mum Joanne says Benfield is "out of the question" due to its "requires improvement" Ofsted rating and Sophie does not want to go, as she said none of her friends are going there.
Joanne, who works in the NHS, is so determined that Sophie will go to Jesmond Park Academy that she has taken to home-schooling her until a place becomes available. She is currently paying £15 a month for an online tutoring programme which assists with Sophie's core subjects, has changed her hours at work, and got her 66-year-old mum Margaret to help out with looking after Sophie during regular school hours.
Nevertheless, she says the whole situation is stressful for both her and her daughter. Joanne told ChronicleLive: "I must admit it's had a detrimental impact on her mental health, she's saying 'mam, when am I going to get into school?'
"She just wants to socialise, she wants to be mixing with children of her own age. She's been very emotional and as the weeks are going on, it has a real impact on her."
Sophie's story comes as Jesmond Park Academy was ordered to revise its admissions arrangements, as they "cannot be easily understood" by parents. ChronicleLive understands 37 appeals were made for pupils who missed out on Jesmond Park Academy, four of which were successful.
Sophie's appeal was not one of those four, which has spurred her mum on to appeal to both the council and the Department for Education, and to get local councillors and MPs involved.
When asked about Sophie's situation, a spokesperson for Newcastle City Council said that it would not be appropriate to comment on individual cases. However, the council added: "Individual secondary schools in Newcastle all set their own admissions policies, in line with the statutory School Admissions Code.
"This includes the oversubscription criteria which must be used to decide which children are offered a place if there are more applications than available places. Parents may choose to apply for any school that they would prefer their children to attend but this does not guarantee they will gain a place in that school.
"In the case of Jesmond Park Academy there were over 1,000 applications, including more than 400 first preferences, for the 360 places available for September 2024 entry. The City Council publishes information on how places were allocated for each school annually, which can be found online.
"Parents and carers have the right to appeal against the decision not to offer a child a place at a school. Appeals are heard by an independent appeals panel which is a formal process held in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code.
"The panel is independent of the council, the admission authority and the school. The admissions team in the local authority provide free advice and support to parents and carers to help them to understand the admissions process and where there are likely to be school places available.
"Where places have been unable to be offered in a higher preference school, applicants can choose to remain on waiting lists for those schools and, if a place becomes available this is offered to the child who is highest on the waiting list ranked against the oversubscription criteria not based on the date the application was received.
"Although there is no obligation provide details of a child’s position on a waiting list, Newcastle City Council does provide parents with an indicative position with a range of 5 places. A specific ranking is subject to greater changes when new applications are received and ranked therefore a child’s position can change over time."
A spokesperson for the Gosforth Group said: "We are unable to provide specific details about individual cases. We can confirm, however, that we have been in contact with the parent, who is aware of the details regarding their appeal."
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