5 days ago
East Lothian mum's heartbreak as daughter 'refused school place with brother'
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A caring East Lothian mum has told how her daughter has been denied a place at the same school as her son.
Mum-of-two Jade Robertson stayed in Mayfield, Midlothian, until January 2024 when she was forced to relocate to Tranent with her two kids following a traumatic family event.
She is furious at a decision to deny her daughter Orla, 11, a place at St David's Catholic High School where brother Leo, 12, attends - with the local authority citing catchment and space issues.
The 39-year-old office worker said she is expected to enrol Orla at Ross High in Tranent, a school she has no connections with.
After appealing to the Education Appeals Committee last month, Jade was again rebuked, with the panel siding with the council in denying Orla a place. Council officials, meanwhile, confirmed school admission policy has been followed.
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Council officers said the appeals committee is independent and their role is to decide whether any legal grounds justify the placing request being refused. Local authority officials added the panel agreed with their decision and Orla has been added to a waiting list for the school.
'Orla is absolutely devastated,' Jade said. 'We had to relocate to Tranent last year due to a traumatic family event but we kept Orla and Leo in their local schools in Mayfield.
'Both kids went to St Luke's Primary where they have created lifelong friendships. It was always the case that St Luke's kids went onto St David's but this is somehow not the case with Orla.
'Orla has attended every event linked with transitioning to St David's so far including a camp where she met friends from other primaries that she was looking forward to going to high school with.
'She is going to be expected to go to Ross High where she is going in completely blind with not many friends. We still spend a lot of time in Mayfield so Orla and Leo can continue to play with their friends.
'We went through a volatile time as a family and during that period Leo and Orla grew incredibly close. They are both upset at the idea they will not attend the same high school.
'Orla's gran often helps with the school runs and she stays in the catchment for St David's. Orla asked to stay with her gran which is not something I want her to do but we were told this would not make a difference either.
'This is going to be a major upheaval for our family with one child going to one school and the other another. It has been tricky this past year with Orla at St Luke's and Leo at St David's; so we were looking forward to them going to the same school again.
'Sadly if the council do not reverse their decision, we may have to consider taking Leo out of St David's which would be devastating for him.'
Jade applied for a place at St David's for Orla but in January 2025 she was informed she would have to make a non-catchment application to the council. In April of this year she found out no place was given and she would be added to a waiting list where she was initially fifth in line.
'I feel like the council is not interested in the lives of the kids on the waiting list,' Jade added. 'They are not taking into account their feelings and it is their education and social lives which will suffer.
'What is also frustrating is she started fifth on the waiting list and has now been bumped down to eighth due to families moving into the St David's area.'
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A Midlothian Council spokesman said: 'Midlothian Council follows its school admissions policy when considering placing requests. An independent body, the Education Appeals Committee (made up of councillors, volunteers with experience in education and parents), decides whether there are legal grounds to justify the placing request being refused and whether, considering all circumstances, it is appropriate to do so. The committee reviewed the case and agreed with the council's decision.
'Any parent who wishes to appeal following the decision of the Education Appeal Committee has the right to appeal to the Sheriff Court. The committee provides every parent who raises an appeal with information about how to do that. There is a waiting list for St David's High School. If any places open up, they will be offered based on the order of priority set out in the admissions policy.'
