Anger as son can’t join sister at school

ADAD-OF-TWO has hit out after his son was refused a place at the same secondary school as his older sister.

Lee Bailey is furious 10-year-old Kyle has not been offered a place at St James’ Catholic High School in Cheadle Hulme, despite 12-year-old Kerris being a pupil.

The school had almost double the number of applications it needed to fill the September intake and admitted ‘an error had been made’ but that had not affected Kyle’s case.

The Bailey family is from a Church of England background and the school gives priority to applications from children who are baptised Catholics.

Mr Bailey was convinced Kyle would be offered a place at St James’ after learning at least one pupil from a non-Catholic background had been accepted despite not having a sibling studying there.

However, Mr Bailey and his wife, Emma received a letter informing them Kyle had been offered a place at Kingsway School in Cheadle instead.

Mr Bailey said: “There has been a mistake in the admissions process.

“I’ve had a letter back admitting as much but the council says Kyle has not been disadvantaged.

“It’s annoying because they have admitted making a mistake but I am still having to go to appeal.”

Mr Bailey is anxious to ensure Kyle has a place at St James’ after being impressed by Kerris’ experience at the school.

He added: “Kerris loves it there, she has settled in so well. The school is run like a big family, everyone looks after each other.

“Having a sister in the year above would really help Kyle, particularly with there only being a year between them.”

Mr Bailey, who lives in Heald Green, said he was also concerned travel problems with children at different schools.

But a council spokesperson said: “Stockport Council assesses applications and allocates places based on a predetermined oversubscription criteria. The council has received to date over 300 applications for 160 places at St James’ Catholic High School.

“As priority is given to baptised Catholic children within the published oversubscription criteria and as Mr Bailey’s son is not baptised Catholic, other applicants outranked his son.

“Mr Bailey’s son has been placed at the correct position on the school’s waiting list and has been offered a right of appeal to an independent appeal panel.”