Village children denied school place (From Free Press Series)

Village children denied school place

Three Grosmont children were dealt a blow last week when they learned they had been denied a place at Monmouth Comprehen-sive School, where their friends will go in September.

But five others from the village were offered places, highlighting the historical anomaly affecting Grosmont's children.

Although Monmouth-shire County Council has now agreed to review the Monmouth catchment area with a view to including Grosmont, the decision will come too late for this year's intake, three of whom now face starting at King Henry VIII Comprehensive School in Abergavenny without any of their friends from Cross Ash Primary School.

Monmouthshire County Councillor Bob Wilcox said: "It does seem unfair that no child from the Forest of Dean has been refused a place at Monmouth school, and yet some of our children have been rejected because they live a hundred yards too far from Monmouth."

He has been lobbying on this issue for several years, and said it's a well-kept secret that a quarter of Monmouth Comprehensive's pupils come from across the border in Gloucestershire and Herefordshire.

Robin Gable, one of the parents who contacted Councillor Mike Smith, Monmouthshire's cabinet member for lifelong learning and convinced him of the need for a catchment review, explained: "Grosmont's inclusion in the King Henry School catchment dates back to the days of the old village school.

"Because more than 90% of Cross Ash pupils are in the Monmouth catchment, our children naturally want to go on to secondary school with their peers. We hope that when the cabinet votes on this in March, they understand how crucial it is not to split a community in this way."

He added: "We're very grateful to Councillor Smith and his cabinet colleagues for recognising the strength of our case. Now the Education Authority needs to act."