FAMILIES hoping to send their child to a new primary school in Rooksdown have been left disappointed after the council apparently made a mistake in calculating the catchment area.

The Gazette has heard from several parents who received an email yesterday from Hampshire County Council (HCC) informing them that their child had secured a place at the new Castle Hill Primary School Rooksdown Campus, only to be telephoned later in the day to say the council had made a mistake.

Carl House, from Rooksdown, had chosen the new primary school - being built in Rooksdown - as the second choice for his four-year-old daughter Maisie.

He and his wife Kellie were planning to move to Hatch Warren, and so had requested Hatch Warren Infant School as their first choice.

However, when they received the email to say Maisie would be going to the new Rooksdown school, they decided to stay in the area.

Mr House, 30, said: “We were initially disappointed not to get Hatch Warren but understood that we are not in catchment and had no older siblings there.”

However, the couple, who also have a one-year-old son, decided to change their housing plans and stay in the Rooksdown area, before informing family, friends and Maisie of their decision.

Mr House said: “Our daughter attends the pre-school next door to the new primary school so she was happy at the thought of keeping her friends.”

Their decision also meant their son Leo could attend the same pre-school as his sister. 

However, at 2pm yesterday afternoon, the family received a call from HCC to say that a mistake had been made, and Maisie did not have a place at Castle Hill Primary School Rooksdown Campus.

Instead, she would be offered a place at Castle Hill Infant School in Winklebury – half-an-hour’s walk away from the family’s home, and the couple’s third choice for their daughter. 

Mr House said he was told that the council had made a mistake in calculating the catchment area for the new school, and had accidentally used the location of the Castle Hill Infant School site when allocating places. 

The error has reportedly affected 18 families.

Mr House said: “This was very upsetting for my wife as we had just got our head around the housing change as we did not want to move our daughter during school.”

The finance manager added: “It’s half-an-hour walk which is too much for a four-year-old. It’s very disappointing. We got our heads around the fact we would be staying in Rooksdown and now we have got to look at alternatives for a pre-school for our son because it’s too far away to send them to different places.”

The family are planning to appeal the decision.

Hampshire County Council has not yet responded to a request for a comment.