Siblings ‘taking up too many school places’

School “sibling rules” should be relaxed because so few other children are able to get into oversubscribed reception classes, the head of a parenting website said today.

Anne-Marie O’Leary, editor in chief of Netmums, said some classes are almost entirely made up of the brothers and sisters of children already at the school.

In some cases children with no siblings are only able to get a place if they live within feet of the school gate.

Her comments come ahead of primary school offer day on Monday when children across the country will find out which school they will go to in September.

Thousands of London children are expected to miss out on their preferred schools because competition is so fierce in the capital.

Ms O’Leary said the number of free schools opening is nowhere near enough to address the demand for school places in London.

She said: “One little free school here and there is not going to make much of a difference. It’s a big issue that needs a big plan.”

In most areas children with siblings at a school get priority for a place even if their family has subsequently moved out of the area.

It means in some cases children who live next door to a primary school but do not have siblings there cannot get in.

Ms O’Leary suggested relaxing the rules so that siblings still get priority for a place but only if their families still live somewhere in the catchment area.

Ms O’Leary lives in Balham and her four-year-old son Atticus starts school in September. She also has a two-year-old daughter Florence.

She wants her son to go to the school that is 300 metres away from the flat she and her husband have lived in since before they had children.

She said: “We decided to stay living there because we had always fallen safely within the catchment area. We could have moved to a bigger home but we extended our flat and committed to the area.

“But this year we found out that 30 of the 60 places are likely to be taken by siblings.

“That will shrink the catchment area. I have spent many evenings trying to work out how many metres we are from the school. Your child’s education is the most precious thing and it is out of your control if you are the parents of an eldest child.

“It seems horrible to pit children against each other.

“I don’t like the idea of any child being deemed as more important than another.”