On Friday 1st March 2019, Sutton Roughley Ward parents received notification of the outcome of their application for a secondary school place. Due to a lack of forward planning by Birmingham City Council many Sutton Coldfield parents received none of their 6 choices and have been allocated schools like Great Barr; a school over 6 miles away that requires more than one bus to travel to. We believe that our children should not be forced to go to school outside their home town.
As the effected children live about 1 mile from The Arthur Terry School this petition asks for The Arthur Terry school to establish an extra class so they can go to a school near their homes, with their friends and be free from the stress and anxiety they are currently experiencing.
This situation is not The Arthur Terry Schools fault nor is it the fault of any of the schools in Royal Sutton Coldfield. Our schools have all chosen to continue to work with Birmingham City council on admissions and are, therefore, expected to comply with the published criteria. They cannot, therefore, go above their Planned Admission Number without the explicit permission of Birmingham City Council. Birmingham City council should shoulder the blame for chronic shortages in classroom places in Sutton Coldfield and enable our schools to do something about it after all Birmingham City Council are the only organisation that possesses all the information and qualified planners to be able to create a cohesive strategy that benefits our children.