Impact by area:
Preston Park

Prestonville parents traditionally send their children to their nearest school, Dorothy Stringer. Residents who grew up here, went to school at Stanford Juniors and then on to Dorothy Stringer (DS) wish their children to do the same. The children enjoy walking or cycling with their friends to their local school. Those ties will all be cut. Prestonville residents with a postcode of BN15 will not be able to send their children to the nearest school. Not even the second nearest (Varndean). Instead, Prestonville has been 'budged over' into the Blatchington Mill/Hove Park catchment. Yet Blatchington Mill will be vastly oversubscribed resulting in a ballot for both schools. Some children in Prestonville will end up travelling for 45 minutes to an hour to reach their fifth nearest school, (Patcham is also closer) where they have no community links. They may well be travelling on their own, without peers and with no realistic opportunities of participating in the after-school life of Hove Park as they will have to leave when the bell goes for the long journey back home. If you see your child's move to secondary school as an opportunity for greater independence, let us hope they are not sent to a school that is so far away.

Stanford Infants and Juniors have returned responses to the council stating their unease at the treatment of Prestonville and its placement within the Blatchington Mill/Hove Park catchment. Councillors and council officials alike have also recognised the plight of Prestonville. Up until the very last moments of the proposals discussions Prestonville was included in the DS/V catchment for the reasons of tradition, ability to walk to school and a boundary of Dyke Road, the boundary between Brighton and Hove, viewed as the most sensible option.

If you have concerns please contact your local councillors Juliet McCafferey, Kevin Allen and Richard Mallender. They will listen.