Hatfield mum ‘shocked’ after son not offered primary school place
Dozens of Hatfield children were not offered a place at a preferred primary school - Credit: Archant
A Hatfield mum has been plunged into uncertainty after her son was not offered a primary school place.
Forty-eight families in the town suffered a similar plight yesterday (Tuesday), despite 96 per cent of Hertfordshire children being allocated a spot at one of their preferred schools.
Kelly Hankin, who lives with her fiancé and young son near Wellfield Road, said: “I was shocked really.
“I wasn’t expecting it because I had put down four [school choices], I hadn’t limited it to one, so thought I would get at least one.
“I thought it was a mistake.”
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Kelly, a drug and alcohol recovery worker in Hatfield, said she might have to send her four-year-old to a school in Stevenage, Watford or Bishop’s Stortford, which could force her to change job.
She has also not revealed the reality to her son, instead stating they would know in May, but nonetheless he is already feeling the impact – with most of his friends being allocated a spot at Green Lanes.
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“All his friends are talking about places at their school,” Kelly added.
“It’s hard for him. It would affect him being at a school where he hasn’t got friends.
“His whole life is going to be totally different. It’s unlikely that he will get any of his preferred schools.”
She said that the council is hopeful it will find him a Hatfield primary school, and pointed to an extra 30 spaces that have now been made available at both Birchwood Avenue and De Havilland.
But Kelly, 39, questioned how the local authority was suddenly able to find the spaces and how it would impact teaching standards.
“Are these schools that they are going to put an extra classroom in able to take the extra children?
“Won’t that take them over their capacity?
“They are going to take on another class and that may impact the other children as well as the new ones.”
*Did your child not get offered a place either? Email news@whtimes.co.uk
