Long walk to school faced by Maddison

A DISTANCE of two metres has condemned a four-year-old Bognor Regis girl to a three-quarters-of-an-hour walk to school.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Jul 2013, 11:00 BST
Updated 7th Jun 2018, 20:19 BST
Lisa Diment with daughters Maddison,4, and Gracie, 2. Picture by Louise Adams C130834-2 Bog Jun 27 MaddisonLisa Diment with daughters Maddison,4, and Gracie, 2. Picture by Louise Adams C130834-2 Bog Jun 27 Maddison
Lisa Diment with daughters Maddison,4, and Gracie, 2. Picture by Louise Adams C130834-2 Bog Jun 27 Maddison

Maddison Diment lives 977m from Downview Primary School.

Its catchment area stretched to 975m this September.

This means Maddison has been allocated a place this September by West Sussex County Council in Nyewood C of E Infant School on the other side of the town centre from her home on Macklin Road.

Her mother, Lisa Diment, 37, said: “The situation is ridiculous.

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“My mother and my sister live in this road and, if Maddison lived with either of them, she would be within the Downview catchment area.

“I don’t know how these rules are drawn up but I’m appalled.”

The situation was confirmed after Miss Diment applied to the Independent Admission Appeal Panel.

Matters are made worse for her and her oldest daughter because Maddison has been refused transport to Nyewood Infant for living 0.1 miles closer than the two-mile boundary for the free link.

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“We went to Nyewood the other day and it was a 45-minute walk for Maddison,” said Miss Diment, 37.

“I’m worried about the walk making her tired. She will be doing that in both directions five days a week.

“I don’t drive, there’s no-one I can rely on for a lift, and there are no bus routes from here to the school.”

Her youngest daughter, Gracie, two, is about to start nursery in September to further complicate the situation.

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The nursery is close to her home, but Lisa faces having to get her two daughters ready at different times and taking them in different directions. She is considering starting a petition to highlight the situation because she said she was aware of other parents in the same situation.

Miss Diment nominated Edward Bryant School as her first choice for Maddison, with Downview second and Nyewood infant.

She stressed her complaints were about the schools admission procedure rather than Nyewood school.

In a letter to Miss Diment, appeal panel clerk Linda Spanner said Downview was over-subscribed with 73 bids for 60 places.

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It had no room or resources to expand and was already over-capacity.

She noted Miss Diment was late in applying for a place for Maddison, but that made no difference to the refusal of a place at Downview.