Girl loses school spot to street's new family

Published on Monday 16 November 2009 09:05

A FIVE-YEAR-OLD girl who has been waiting a year to get into a city primary has lost her place in the queue – after a new family moved in seven doors away and 90 metres closer to the school.

The parents of Logan Finlayson say the case is an example of the "ridiculous" criteria used for deciding which children can get into the most popular schools.

Until last week, Logan was second on the waiting list for a place in primary one at James Gillespie's Primary, which is outside the catchment area of the family home on Relugas Place.

But after a new family with a primary-one-aged pupil who also wants to go to Gillespie's moved on to the same street, Logan was moved down the list to third.

With two places expected to become available when pupils leave at Christmas, it will mean Logan – who is currently attending her catchment school, Sciennes Primary – will miss out.

Her father Craig said the ruling was unfair, especially as Logan's sister is already at Gillespie's.

He said: "I'm not blaming the other family, it's not their fault at all. They moved in last week and my wife spoke to them and they even apologised for going ahead on the waiting list.

"However, I do think if they have just moved into this area and applied to the school, they should have gone behind us.

"The council are saying that their house is closest, but given that we live on the same street I don't think it makes that much difference.

"This basically means that anyone else can move into the street and get on the list before us.

"I've heard that there are two people leaving at Christmas, so if she was still second on the list, she would get in, but now that she's third, she won't.

"It's a ridiculous policy and I think the council should be reviewing it."

Mr Finlayson, 35, who works off-shore as a scaffolder, said: "We got Taylor (Logan's eight-year-old sister] in no problem and we wanted to keep them both in the same school.

"Logan went to nursery at James Gillespie's and we've had her registered for the school since then. It's hard for my wife having to take them both to different schools, especially when I'm off-shore."

A council spokesman said: "We must manage school waiting lists in a way that is fair to everyone and, to ensure they are fair, all parents are made aware of how we prioritise applications."