Home-school dilemma to avoid Wisbech child's long commute

Hayley Belsham said her daughter Tilly-Mae could face a two-hour daily commute to her new school

A mother said she could be forced to home-school her daughter due to an "utterly ridiculous" school placement decision.

Hayley Belsham, 42, from Leverington near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, hoped her daughter Tilly-Mae, 11, would be allocated a local secondary place.

However, she was assigned a school where the main route to it floods each winter, creating a long diversion.

Cambridgeshire County Council said it was working to find a solution.

Ms Belsham said her daughter chose three local schools, with one being just two miles away.

She "couldn't believe it" when she discovered the allocated school was the Vista Academy in Littleport, near Ely.

The journey takes about an hour, via Downham Market, when the main route through Welney is flooded - which occurs for many weeks each winter.

The county council said 34 children from Wisbech had been assigned a place in Littleport, with transport provided.

'Nightmare'

"I have appealed to the schools, but will face an anxious wait," said Ms Belsham.

"If she is told to go to Littleport, I will be forced into taking her out of school and teaching her at home.

"I do not want to do that - my daughter is a people person, she thrives with teamwork."

The A1101 Welney Wash Road shuts for weeks every winter, with it routed across a flood plain

She added the two-hour round trip would be a "nightmare".

"If there are 30 children to drop off all around Wisbech, you can imagine how long some of those children will be stuck on the bus for," said Ms Belsham.

"Cambridgeshire County Council have told me that there might be another option, a new free school in Wisbech, which could be ready for September, but they can't offer places because it might not happen."

The county council said: "Due to the high number of applications for secondary school places in Wisbech for September 2024, the local authority has been working alongside the Department of Education and Brooke Weston Trust to explore the possibility of opening the new free school adjacent to Thomas Clarkson Academy as soon as possible.

"However, they are unable to offer parents a place at this school until there is certainty about the opening date. This has resulted in students being offered places at Vista Academy and Sir Harry Smith Community College in Whittlesey instead.

"If the decision is made to open the free school in time for September 2024, any child would be able to make an application to the school under a separate admissions round run by Brooke Weston Trust."