Mother anger after son denied Poole High School place

Becky Holt applied for her 11-year-old son Zak to begin at Poole High in September due to its proximity to their home, his friends all going there, and having sent him to several feeders for the school.

However, the mother was stunned when he was ultimately sent to the Cornerstone Academy in Hamworthy as the family home lies just outside the Poole High School catchment area.

Poole High is less than two miles away from the Holt family home, whereas Cornerstone Academy is more than double that distance.

Catchment area of Poole High School in relation to the Holt family home (pink dot) (Image: Google)

Becky appealed the decision twice only to be refused both times. The case was then referred to a further hearing where the decision was again upheld.

She has since tried to enter him into St Edward's School and Magna Academy.

With no other options, Becky resigned to enrol Zak at the Cornerstone Academy but criticised the process as “brutal”.

She told the Echo: “If you live as far out as Branksome you can get into Poole High, but Zak can’t even though he lives a stone’s throw away from the catchment.

“My error was that I didn’t put more than one option down, which I didn’t know you had to do. Poole High has always been the endgame, but the school said it was oversubscribed and that’s why we got declined.

“This has had really adverse effects as he doesn’t know anyone at the new school and can’t walk to school with his friends like he would have been able to.”

Becky Holt and her son Zak (Image: Becky Holt)

An outraged Becky said the move has also been a strain financially.

“I’m paying treble the amount on travel to get him to school, sit in traffic and then come back to get to work,” she said.

BCP Council do provide travel cost help for parents under certain circumstances who live particular distances away from their child’s school. Becky was denied this because, despite being on Universal Credit, has income from a part-time job.

She added: “We haven’t had any help, nobody has turned around at any point and thought about what impact this has on our family financially and Zak’s wellbeing.

“It’s been an absolutely brutal procedure.

“I’m just so disappointed with how we’ve been treated. I’m a single mother who privately rents, works, and the only error I made was not putting more than one school down. I feel guilty because he’s suffering the consequences.”

Poole High School (Image: Newsquest/Richard Crease)

A BCP Council spokesperson said: “There are limited circumstances under which children are lawfully entitled to receive free assistance with the cost of travel.

“At the point of application for admission, we encourage parents and carers to think about how they will get their children to and from schools. We advise them to express all four school preferences and to make sure they include choices which are closest to their immediate area.

“Whilst we can’t comment on individual cases, our two-stage appeal process ensures that there is fair and objective consideration of all family circumstances for every application.”

Poole High School was approached to comment.