Abbots Langley parents hit by secondary school allocation

10.17.00am GMT Sat 8th Mar 2008

County Councillor Paul Goggins believes that local children are not getting a fair deal over secondary school transfer.

Conservative controlled Hertfordshire County Council is boasting that this year more than 93% of children have been allocated one of their three choices of secondary schools. However the truth is quite different for local children. In Abbots Langley, only 69% of children at Abbots Langley primary school and 78% at Tanners Wood school have received a place at a school that they chose, leaving eighteen children from Abbots Langley school (the highest in Herts) and twelve from Tanners Wood to go to an unwanted school.

County Councillor Paul Goggins said "I feel for so many frustrated, often heartbroken, parents. I wish the Tories would come clean rather than hide behind County wide statistics. Local children and their parents deserve better".

Cllr Sara Bedford, a governor at Abbots Langley school, said, "As the parent of a Year 7 child, I understand the stress that the process brings, how disappointed parents are and how upset children can be with uncertainty and separation from friends. We were fortunate to receive our first choice of school, but I have seen the effect on others in being condemned to a school they do not want to attend".