Sheriff blasts 'Kafkaesque' rules on school class sizes

Prestonfield Primary School, which has been the focus of a court battle over reduced class sizes

Sheriff Frank Crowe ruled there were "exceptional circumstances" in the boy's case, which meant he should be allowed to follow his siblings to Prestonfield Primary School.

Council lawyers had argued that the decision would mean other parents on the school's waiting list could demand a place, forcing the local authority to create an extra class at a cost of 40,000 a year.

New legislation enacted by the Scottish Government restricts the number of P1 pupils to 25 per class, instead of the previous legal maximum of 30.

But Sheriff Crowe said the child, whose family lives outwith the school's catchment area, should be given a place as the "only fair and viable option".

He added that "in certain areas of Edinburgh the right to choose the primary school for a child is now almost illusory".

Council chiefs said a place for the child would now be provided, but added that they were "pleased" that Sheriff Crowe had recognised their grounds for refusing an out-of-catchment-area request.

It is understood that the school will be given special dispensation to operate with 26 pupils in the class, and the local authority did not expect the ruling to set a precedent for other parents to launch similar appeals.

The boy's mother has sent her other children to Prestonfield Primary but had since moved about 20 minutes' walk away to a larger house to accommodate the growing family.

She had submitted a request to enrol her youngest child at Prestonfield Primary in January, and explained that it would be "physically impossible" for her to take her children to two different schools each morning.

The mother also said her "extremely shy and introverted" youngest would benefit from having three siblings there.

The boy missed a place at Prestonfield, which was left with 17 children on its waiting list for the coming term, with the youngster placed seventh on the list due to his distance away from the school.

His mother felt an alternative nearby school was "too large, noisy and unsuitable" for her son to thrive in and said she would prefer to home-school him until a place came up at Prestonfield.

At the recent hearing, Edinburgh Sheriff Court heard that a rising birthrate in the mid-2000s had left the council with a growing number of applications as class sizes were being reduced.

The sheriff said that he could find "little fault" with the city council's approach to this "complicated and at times Kafkaesque set of procedures" for placing youngsters in schools.After ruling that the boy should go to the school, where his brother has just gone into P2, Sheriff Crowe said he was aware the council will now "need to consider this decision against the other placing requests they have refused at this school". But he added that none of the other youngsters had a sibling so close in age.

A city council spokesman: "We are pleased that the sheriff recognised that we had clear grounds on which to refuse this out-of-catchment request.A place will be provided at the school in light of sheriff's decision to grant the appeal."

Education chiefs in Edinburgh had previously complained that they were struggling to stick to the 25 limit as it was only a guideline, leading to parents winning court appeals to send their children to schools classed as full.