Little Bobby Mackay is smiling once again after being offered a school place following a six-month wait.

Bobby, six, moved to Gillingham from Bromley in June with his family, but a place could not be found for him in Medway.

His mum, Emma Mackay, said she applied to schools at the end of June as soon as they moved, and managed to get her older daughter Frankie, eight, into Oasis Academy.

But she was told, due to a shortage of Year 1 places, there was no room at Oasis or other schools in the area.

The 31-year-old has been teaching Bobby at home, while also looking after her two-year-old daughter Tillie. But with Miss Mackay due to start a new job in January, she was desperate to get him into school. She contacted the Medway Messenger this week for help.

Speaking on Tuesday, she said: “If I don’t find a place for Bobby by the end of January when I start work, I don’t know what I will do. My partner works and we will have to pay for childcare for our two-year-old.”

"His education is suffering and he has missed going to school" - mum Emma Mackay

She added: “Teaching Bobby at home has been a struggle. I have been looking up things on the internet that are right for his age and then I have been printing things out at the library.

“His education is suffering and he has missed going to school and spending time with children his age.

"I can drive and I’m willing to take him anywhere. I just want him in school.

“I keep emailing and calling them but I’m getting nowhere – they just keep telling me it will be a few more weeks.”

After contacting the Messenger, Miss Mackay received a call from Medway Council on Wednesday to say a place had been found for Bobby at Oasis Academy.

She said: “He is really excited and can’t wait to start. He is really pleased it is at the same school as his sister."

A Medway Council spokesman said they did not receive an application for Bobby until the beginning of September.

A Medway Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately it is not always possible to allocate everyone’s preferences, however, we are pleased that in this case the preferred school has been able to offer a place.”