Key worker parents struggling to get places for their children in schools, councillor claims

Liberal Democrat councillor Mohammed Mahroof says a number of key worker parents were having problems with schools not accepting their children because of capacity.

He said: "It's causing a great deal of angst as parents have to choose between working and schooling their children at home. Why is this becoming a problem at some schools?

"Is the council aware that some schools are only allowing children to attend if both parents are key workers rather than just one parent?"

Coun Abtisam Mohamed, Cabinet member for education, said the number of parents requesting a place in some primary schools had "dramatically increased" because the definition of a key worker was now much broader.

She said: "Some of our schools have 40 per cent of children attending. Heads need to balance both pupil and staff safety when allocating places.

"In some cases heads have had to cap numbers in order to ensure that staff are confident enough to continue working."

She added that some schools had restricted places to pupils who had both parents as key workers.

"It has been the case in some schools as place numbers have had to be capped. However, in many cases schools have been able to gradually increase their numbers for vulnerable and key worker children.

"Following a letter issued by the council, several heads have remarked that this has made some parents reconsider whether they need to send their children everyday and this has resulted in some additional capacity over the course of a week.

"Any concerns which have been raised with the school complaints team have been investigated and replied. The team has phoned schools and discussed individual cases with head teachers.

"Several cases have recently been resolved through this approach. We have also been in frequent touch with Sheffield Teaching Hospitals when a concern has been raised about NHS access to a school place. This close working has enabled us to resolve a number of issues."

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