Parents across the Wokingham Borough are invited to events being organised by Wokingham Borough Council this August to share their views and have input into the current review of school places.

The review of primary and secondary school places needed across the Wokingham Borough is being carried out by the borough council, and will be completed at the beginning of September.

To ensure parents are given a chance to be involved, meetings are being held across the borough organised with parents and the wider community. 

The August meetings will focus on school place capacity and admissions at primary level at hotspot areas in the borough identified as having the greatest pressure on school places. 

Public sessions organised so far are:

• Wokingham Town: August 7, 6pm to 8.30pm

• Wokingham Town: August 14,  6pm to 8.30pm

Both sessions will be held at Wokingham Youth and Community Centre, Reading Road, Wokingham

• Twyford: August 16, 7pm (for a 7.30pm start) at Loddon Hall, Loddon Hall Road, Twyford.

Further sessions are to be arranged for Winnersh and Shinfield areas. 

The council plans to adopt a Primary Education Strategy in November, which will set out how it will secure additional primary school places in the borough, to meet rising pupil numbers. These meetings are the beginning of a process, ensuring that by early September the council has feedback from parents on which to base its recommendations. It will continue to consult on these issues after the start of the school term. 

Cllr Charlotte Haitham Taylor, executive member for children’s services, said: "We need to make sure that the decisions we make about school places are the right ones in the long run. The public sessions will help us to get feedback on what parents need and will explore certain solutions or options about school places." 

"There is a high level of demand for school places in Wokingham Borough and nationally, and we want to ensure we involve parents in decisions about school place planning. 

"The review will consider school capacity and the admission arrangements as a whole, ahead of our annual consultation which all admission authorities have to undertake." 

If you would like to attend one of these meetings, you must pre-book your place. Please contact Anju Sharma, project coordinator, on (0118) 974 6158 or email: admissions.review@wokingham.gov.uk