A Nantwich dad is campaigning for increased secondary school capacity in the town after his daughter was declined a place at Brine Leas – just 150 yards from where they live.
Sol Flamberg says his daughter now has to make a 23-mile round trip every day to Sandbach High School – despite her brother being accepted into Brine Leas.
The family is now calling for better coordination after the Government awarded Cheshire East Council £17.1 million in Basic Need Funding in 2024 to support new school places.
Cheshire East told Mr Flamberg that Brine Leas has capacity to take 240 pupils in each year group but that the Cornovii Trust running the school only takes 215-220 due to financial constraints.
Around £700,000 was awarded to Brine Leas in recent years which is being spent on expanding its dining services at the school.
Mr Flamberg is calling for a working group in the town to help resolve the issue – and prevent more families in Nantwich suffering similar problems.
He appeared at Nantwich Town Council last night and highlighted his case to local councillors.
He said: “I’ve met with Cheshire East’s education leadership team and they tell me there is sufficient capacity in Brine Leas and Malbank.
“But the reality is quite different.
“Cheshire East Council confirmed that Brine Leas has the physical space to take more pupils, up to around 240 per year, but can’t afford the extra teachers without running a deficit budget.
“At the same time, the Cornovii Trust has said that meeting demand for school places is the responsibility for the Local Authority.
“So, we now have a situation where the trust and school says it can’t act, and the council says there’s no shortfall.
“Because of that, no funding is being released, even though the space exists, and the situation can’t change until more families are turned away.
“Families like mine are caught in the middle, living beside a school that has room but can’t open its doors. In fact, six new local families were denied places this year alone.”
He said the Department for Education recently confirmed in writing to MP Connor Naismith that Cheshire East has been allocated £17.1 million in Basic Need funding to support new school places between 2024 and 2028.
Local authorities are expected to combine these funds with developer contributions such as Section 106 and CIL money to ensure schools can expand in line with new housing.
“However, Cheshire East has confirmed that none of its Community Infrastructure Levy funding is currently planned for Brine Leas or Malbank,” added Mr Flambert.
“So even though the homes are being built, none of that developer funding is reaching our schools.
“Across Kingsley Fields, Maylands Park, Broad Lane, London Road, and the proposed Seddon Homes site, nearly 1,900 new dwellings are planned or approved, likely generating around 300 additional secondary-age pupils, the equivalent of two full forms of entry.
“Yet, as of today, there are no plans to expand secondary capacity in Nantwich, and the council believes that there’s already more than enough capacity.
“As a result, families like mine are living beside a school with room but no funding to open its doors, and with nearly 1,900 new homes on the way, even more families will soon be in the same position.”
He has called for a working group to look more into the problem, involving schools, Cheshire East Council, and MP Connor Naismith.
“If town councillors would like to give your insight into this, it would be valuable,” he told the meeting.
“Together, we can make sure that secondary school provision in Nantwich keeps pace with our growing community, so that every local child has the chance to attend a local school.”
A spokesperson for Cheshire East Council and Brine Leas School said: “Cheshire East Council has met with Mr Flamberg and welcomed the opportunity to engage in a constructive and positive discussion regarding his concerns.
“A follow up meeting between Mr Flamberg and Brine Leas School is scheduled to take place in the coming week.
“The council and the school are working closely together to review the situation and explore potential solutions.
“Brine Leas School, like all schools, must ensure it has sufficient resources to support high quality teaching and learning for all pupils.
“The recent investment in the dining hall was funded through ringfenced capital funding, which cannot be used to cover staffing costs.
“This year, demand for Year 9 places across the area is particularly high.
“Admissions regulations do not permit schools to reserve places for pupils who may move into the catchment area outside the standard admission periods.
“The council’s admissions team remains committed to supporting families and is available to offer advice, including details of available places at schools near their home.”
Hi Ian,
That’s a common misconception, in fact, 98% of Brine Leas pupils in Year 9 actually live within the catchment area (Source: Cheshire East BL Data – Freedom of Information). The problem isn’t that places are going to pupils from out of town, it’s that there simply aren’t enough spaces for local families.
Brine Leas hasn’t sold off its grounds either; it’s already using every bit of space it has. The real issue is that the Council’s figures show a higher “net capacity” (1486) than the school’s actual working capacity (around 1280–1300). On paper, the Council thinks there’s room, so the school can’t qualify for the funding needed to expand, even though it’s full and turning families away (6 this year in year 9 alone).
With more housing developments still coming, it’s a worrying situation that really needs to be addressed. I’m helping to bring together a small working group of parents, councillors, and local stakeholders to look at the data and see how we can fix this together before it’s too late.
If anyone reading this wants to be involved or contribute ideas, please do reach out, the more voices we have, the better chance we have of being heard.
So many places are already taken up by kids from out of the area already. Plus the schools can’t really expand anywhere because they sell off their grounds to developers.
Hi Elle
We moved to Nantwich in the Summer with my son going into year 11 and my daughter into year 9. Years 8,9,10 & 11 are now at capacity at BL and six families have been denied places in year 9. The data shows that 98% of applicants for year 9 are within the school catchment.
Let me know if you have any further questions, I’d be happy to share how this is impacting us as a family.
Kindest Regards
Sol Flamberg
Increase the population in an area by building houses.
Dont increase the provision of public services.
Its not hard to realise that you cant get a doctors appointment, school place etc.
The planning system in the UK needs an overhaul. There should be a pre-requisite agreement that every developer has to contribute to the capital required to generate extra public services.
Is this about year 7 admissions or someone moving to the area that couldn’t get a place? It’s quite an important difference and the article doesn’t specify. You assume at the start that it’s child moving into year 7 who was denied a place, but later down the article, and with the school’s response I started to wonder whether it was someone trying to enter in year 9 who had just moved to the area.
It does seem ridiculous that a girl who lives in Nantwich cannot attend one of the two secondary schools by right. But surely one of the problems is the number of pupils choosing to attend these Nantwich schools when they live nearer to alternative schools in the Crewe area. All this criss crossing causes more traffic and more pollution, to everyone’s detriment.