School places - and the effect of all the new house building

Many parents will be receiving letters this week telling them what schools their children have got places at.

But even if your child has got a place at a school near their home, this may not be the case for subsequent children in a few years' time. The proposed rate of housebuilding will distort traditional catchment areas.

For example, in Yate and area the proposal is for 5000 new houses. The developers will have to fund primary and secondary school places, but NOT for all the houses. If there are spare places in existing schools, these will have to be filled first.

At the moment there are 500 empty primary school places and 300 secondary places in the town, mainly in the southern part. So for example, if more houses are built in North Yate, families living near Brimsham Green School may not be able to get places there - the children may have to travel across town to King Edmunds.

Basically the trouble is that the school places aren't where the children are, and children will be displaced southward. The more houses that are built on the north side of Yate, the bigger the effect will be.