Harlesden boy offered two secondary schools places in Brent Council blunder
Kaliyl Morris-Whittaker,11, and five-year-old Alexander Whittaker - Credit: Archant
Bungling council chiefs have come under fire from an angry mother after her son was offered a place at two different secondary schools.
Kaliyl Morris-Whittaker,11, and five-year-old Alexander Whittaker - Credit: Archant
Anita Whittaker from Harlesden, was told in an email that her son Kaliyl had secured a place at nearby Newman Catholic College yesterday.
Anita Whittaker was sent an email offering her a son a place at Newman Catholic College - Credit: Archant
Hundreds and thousands of anxious parents found out what school their children would go to as it was National Admissions day.
However, the mother-of-four received a letter this morning stating the 11-year-old had been offered a place at Copland Community School in Wembley.
In a further twist, she had not applied for her son to go to neither of the two schools opting for Queens Park Community School as her first choice and Ark Academy as her second.
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She said: “This is a pretty big mess up and makes a joke out of the whole admissions process.
“I wonder how many other families have been impacted by this mistake. “It is hugely upsetting because I did not apply for those schools
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“They’ve messed up so badly. Does this mean that I could have had a place in a school I wanted initially?”
When Mrs Whittaker called the council the person on the line said they were ‘baffled’ and has launched an investigation into how it happened.
This is not the first time she has been let down by the admissions board, having endured a similar “nightmare” in securing a primary school place for her five-year-old son Alexander.
She said: “I feel like it is another botch up. Not only have they done it with Alexander, they’ve done the same to Kaliyl.
“I no longer have faith in school admissions procedures as it stands.”
Mrs Whittaker is now forced to endure a further wait to find out what school her son will attend.
Cllr Michael Pavey, Brent council’s lead member for children and families, told the Times situation was unfortunate and he will personally look into the matter.
He added: “We want every child in Brent to get a high quality school place.
“Where mistakes are made, we will do our best to solve them as soon as possible.”
Are you a parent whose child has not been allocated a place at a secondary school in Brent please email myron.jobson@archant.co.uk or call 020 7433 6244.
