PARENTS on an upmarket housing estate have forced education chiefs to add places to a popular primary school.
The decision to increase the size of Brunton First School, on Newcastle’s Great Park, came as figures showed big differences around the region in parents getting their first choice of primary school for their child.
Parents in Northumberland are the most likely to receive good news, as the county council has revealed 97.7% have been allocated their first choice.
But in Newcastle this drops to 84.4% and 429 of the 2,810 children starting school in the city this September have missed out on their first choice.
Among those to miss out were many parents on Great Park, leading to a re-think over the size of the school.
Instead of taking in only 30 children in September, it will have two reception classes and have room for 60.
Last night, deputy Newcastle City Council leader Councillor Anita Lower said: “When the school opened in 2009, it was ahead of schedule and people were still moving into the area.
“We didn’t want to fill the school with people from elsewhere, we wanted the majority of pupils to come from Great Park so they could walk to school and be a part of the community.
“We started with just one reception class, but we realised last October that due to the success of the housing development and more people moving to Great Park, there were more parents wanting a place at the school.
“It is really good news that we have been able to arrange for two reception classes to start in September.
“It is a little unfortunate that negotiations were still ongoing when letters were sent out to parents with their offer, but we will be in touch with parents who wanted a place at Brunton over the next week or so.”
Northumberland has managed to meet more first choices as the sparsity of its population, especially in rural areas, means parents usually only apply for places at schools they live closest to.
Linda Vernon, school organisation manager for Northumberland County Council, added: “We are very pleased to have been able to offer 97.7% of parents of children in Northumberland their first choice primary school place.”
In Gateshead, 92.4% of parents received their first choice; 93% did in South Tyneside and in North Tyneside the figure is 94%. In County Durham, 92% received their first choice and in Sunderland it was 90.2%.
Parents have until April 15 to accept their offer or lodge an appeal. Appeals will be heard by an independent panel during May and June.
