When moving one street is too far

Ian Cleverley, his partner Veronica and their two children moved house last yea. Only one street, but that move was enough to plunge them into the kind of schooling crisis now being faced by thousands of London parents.

Last year, their new home in Lewisham was within the catchment area for Forest Hill School, a popular and improving comprehensive three miles away.

But as the school has improved, attracting more applicants, its catchment area has shrunk. Places are allocated on proximity and all those available have been taken up by parents who live closer. Last month, 11-year-old Solomon heard that he lives 80 yards further from the school than the last boy to win a place. "Eighty yards doesn't sound very much, but the school has told us that there are 55 other children who live closer," said Mr Cleverley. "They would be first in the queue for any spare places."

The frustration is all the more intense as Solomon, a pupil at Edmund Waller Primary School, was classed in the highest band in the tests which Lewisham sets to ensure its comprehensive schools take children of all abilities. Solomon has also been turned down for Haberdashers' Askes Hatcham

College, five minutes away from his home, despite the fact that his sister Georgia is a pupil. She learned she had a place only days before term began.

The family now face the prospect of applying for another school in Lewisham and has visited Crofton School in Catford. Unlike Forest Hill and Haberdashers', Crofton has spare places. But Mr Cleverley was not impressed. "The school does not have a good reputation. You just don't get a good feel about the place. We are thinking of educating Solomon at home rather than sending him to a school we don't think is satisfactory."