EVERY child whose offer was withdrawn from a new school in Shinfield will get a place at another school, the council has said.
Parents who had applied for a place for their child at Floreat Silver Meadows, in Shinfield, for this September were left stunned when they received a letter informing them that the opening of the new school had been pushed back until September 2017.
Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) and the Department for Education (DfE) made the decision to delay the school’s opening after financial assurances were not made by education provider Floreat.
But WBC’s deputy executive member for children’s services, Richard Dolinski said today every child has retained a firm offer at another school, and transport will be provided if it is more than two miles away from their home.
He said: “When new schools open, it is done so under the control of the Department of Education (DfE). They make the funding agreement with the sponsor allowing the school to run. Our role is to run the admissions process.
“We had hoped that the new school in Shinfield would open, and played our part in facilitating it. Back in July we offered seven provisional places to interested parents, but had not been assured of the financial status of the school. This is very unusual situation and we kept parents fully informed of this and options for other school places both within the borough and outside for their children.
“However, it is with regret that this week we had to write again to let them know that as the borough council still has no assurance of the financial status of the school. This means the difficult decision to delay its opening until September 2017 was made by the DfE. We appreciate the anxiety and worry this will cause parents but a school couldn’t open without this reassurance. We will continue to support the parents during this time.
“All children affected had already received and have retained a firm offer of a school place and transport will be provided if they cannot walking safely to school if it’s more than two miles from home.”
Angry parents Kat and Jon McNamara contacted The Wokingham Paper after receiving the news that their daughter’s offer at Floreat Silver Meadows had been withdrawn.
Mrs McNamara said: “We spoke to the admissions team yesterday and they have given us a list of all the schools in WBC that have spaces. The closest one is 8.1 miles away. We are on the waiting lists for all our preferences but are unlikely to get a place at one of these until term starts.”
- Has your child been affected? Get in touch by emailing news@wokinghampaper.co.uk.
