ChiddingfoldNews September 7, 2011 Home Music Contacts Archive Whats-on
August 18, 2011
There is a big problem if a parent makes a first preference of Woolmer Hill their children will not get free school transport.
Paid places will not be allocated until the end of the holidays and can be withdrawn if someone moves into the village is more deserving of a place etc.
Rodborough has been oversubscribed for many years resulting in many of us being offered Woolmer Hill in the past.
In recent years some children didn't get into Rodborough or Woolmer Hill and were then offered Broadwater.
As you may know St Mary's is a feeder school for Woolmer Hill and both are part of a confederation of local schools. Rodborough is not part of this confederation, taster days are organised at Woolmer hill as part of the transition from Primary to Secondary.
The concern is that this bus might actually disappear if no one is eligible for free transport Surrey do not have to provide this service. As you know there is no public transport to the school.
| First bus to Haslemere | |
|---|---|
| Chiddingfold Crown | 08·52 |
| Haslemere Town Hall | 09·02 |
| Haslemere Station, Lower St | 09·04 |
| Shottermill, Junction Place | 09·04 |
October 30, 2011
During the summer holidays a group of seven parents met at Woking council to discuss the problem of transport to Woolmer Hill school from the village affecting 8 children from the village. It was decided that our case should go before a members review which took place in October. We had found several anomalies within the literature presented to parents on Surrey county council web site along with factors such as Rodborough having enough places for all of us had be selected it as first choice however only six places were actually available. As parents we had mostly chosen Woolmer Hill due to the fact that it is St Mary's feeder school and many of us have not obtained places at Rodborough in previous years due to it being so heavily over subscribed.
The members review panel took a total of twelve separate factors into consideration and awarded the eight children concerned free home transport. One of our main concerns as parents is that Woolmer Hill is not on the public bus route, concessionary bus places can be cancelled if the bus becomes full and someone else is eligible for free transport, which would leave our children with no means of getting to school if parents are working. We are also aware of the environmental impact of extra cars on the road if children cannot get to school by bus.
I would also like to thank everyone who supported our petition for this cause which we also presented to the review panel, we had in excess of 400 signatures.
Karen Bardell
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