Tom with mum Karen Calladine

by Hayley Robinson

A mum has launched an appeal after she claims her son missed out on his first choice of school by just 12 inches.

Tom Calladine, 11, was beaten to the last place at Fulston Manor School by a child living 0.0002 miles closer.

But mum Karen says they got it wrong as Kent County Council, which works out the mileage, is not using an up to date map which shows a quicker route from the family home to the school in Brenchley Road, Sittingbourne.

Mrs Calladine, of Honeyball Walk, Teynham, said: “At the bottom of the letter [from the school about the appeal] its says the last child to be offered a place lives 3.9921 miles from the school and we live 3.9223 miles. When I worked it out as 12 inches I was shocked.

“KCC sent me the map showing the route they used and that’s when I found out they’d taken a much longer route and added almost half a mile.

"There’s a quite obvious road that you would use [going along Swanstree Avenue which now leads in to Brenchley Road] but they haven’t used it at all.

“I’m arguing that they’ve added to the route and we are in the distance we should be but we’re still not getting a place because of the route they’ve used.”

Despite listing three preferred choices of secondary school Tom, who is currently a Year 6 pupil at Canterbury Road, Primary School, failed to get in to any of them. Instead he was offered a place at The Abbey School, in Faversham, which is five miles away.

The mum of four added: “There’s no way I’m sending him to another school out of town. . I’ve also got a nine-year-old at Canterbury Road Primary School, how am I meant to get Tom and my nine year-old to schools in different towns at the same time?

“If he doesn’t get a place at Fulston Manor I’m going to have to home school him because I’ve refused a place at the Abbey School.”

A hearing into the appeal will be held at the school on June 12.

Mike Whiting, Kent County Council’s cabinet member for education, said: “KCC manages the allocations on behalf of schools and uses a straight line measure as its default in deciding allocations by distance.

“Just four schools, out of 592 schools in Kent, use the walk-to-school distance measure. Fulston Manor is one of those schools, and the only school in Sittingbourne to do so.

"In this case it appears there may have been an issue with the specific map used to calculate the walk-to-school distance, and we are looking into this.

"We will make sure that the results of those enquiries will be made available to the parents and to the appeal panel before the appeal panel hears the case.”

Alan Brookes, head teacher at Fulston Manor School, said: “We have done everything in accordance with the agreed procedures.

"Our admission number is 185 and we had over 960 applications sent through to us for ranking by the local authority.

“We have clear, published admissions criteria that we follow. Once siblings and other specified groups have been admitted, all other students are ranked for distance according to the figures provided for us by the local authority, and places allocated on this basis.

"There will always be someone who is next on the waiting list and our independent appeal procedure provides the opportunity for such people to present their case.”