AS parents in the borough are being urged to choose their children's schools for next year, many are still fighting for this September’s places.

The council is pushing its online school admissions service, which opens on September 1, and has given parents a deadline of October 31 to apply for secondary places and until January 15 to submit their primary applications.

Last year, only 58 per cent of parents got their children into their first choice of secondary school, compared with 66 per cent across the whole of London and about 85 per cent across England.

The proportion of parents given their first choice primary school in the borough last year was just under 79 per cent.

Suzanne Wright, 39, is fighting to get her four-year-old son Luke into Nightingales Primary School in Ashbourne Avenue, South Woodford.

She is due to apply for a school place for her daughter Chloe, three, this year, but said she would hold back until she knew where Luke would be going.

“I would get (the application) in straight away if I had a definite answer,” she said. “They’re sending me a letter next week offering alternative schools and depending on what they offer me, I might take one as back-up.

“I’m still fighting the council on their policy. They have admitted that the route they used to calculate my distance was unsafe.”

Claire Darnell, 37, is also fighting for a place at Nightingale Primary School for her four-year-old daughter Lois over a similar issue.

“I’m going to a local government ombudsman, but they might say no and then it means we have to go to a judicial review,” she said. “I’ll push to the point where I know I’ve done everything I can.

“As a parent, you want to put your trust in the system, but then you find you have to become a solicitor.”

She said more pressure was put on parents in her situation because of the high demand for primary places.

“I know in the borough there’s baby boom and you only have to walk down the street and see how many children there are,” she added.

A council spokeswoman said: "Children are considered in order based on the following categories: firstly, looked after children, secondly, children with agreed exceptional medical and psychological grounds."

She said the council then considered children with siblings already at the school and then those living within the shortest walking distance.

To apply for school places online, visit www.redbridge.gov.uk/eadmissions.

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