A MUM has challenged Cornwall Council to take her to court after battling to get school places for her children.

Lisa MacKirdy, who lives in Redruth, has been struggling to get her children into school since October 2017.

The mum of four had been forced to take her children to St Day School but after having issues at the school and struggling to pay for taxis to take her children there she withdrew them from the school.

She says she told Cornwall Council that she was not in a position to homeschool her children and was told she would have to apply for places at local schools.

And this was where her long battle started. She said: “I filled out all the forms and they explained that my children would be at the bottom of any waiting list.

“After a couple of months I was concerned I hadn’t heard anything so I contacted the local schools and none of them had my kids on their waiting list.

“I contacted schools admissions at the council and they said there had been an error and I had to apply again. And then my kids would be at the bottom of the list again.”

When one of her children was given a place at a school she took him along and, after being shown around the school, realised that he had been placed in Year 1 when he should have been in reception.

And when her daughter was given a place at the end of summer term 2018 she was unfortunately unable to go due to being ill.

Lisa said: “I contacted the school and explained that she was ill and that we would be there for the start of term in September. When we went on the first day they said they no longer had a place for her.”

The children are entitled to free school meals and Lisa said that their extended time out of school has made it a struggle for her to pay to feed them as well as the extra cost on household bills from having the children at home all day.

Lisa said: “I am refusing to home educate them as I don’t have any GCSEs and don’t have access to a computer which they say is the only way they can give me work for them to do.

“I have tried to do some spellings, times tables and I get them to read everyday but it’s not enough, they should be in school.

“The council is now saying I need to apply again – which will be the third time. It’s disgusting. I have written to them telling them to take me to court, then I can explain to the court what has happened.”

When asked about the issues Cornwall Council said in a statement: “We are aware of this case, which is very complex and officers have been working hard with the parent to resolve the situation. The council would encourage any parent to contact the school admissions team as early as possible in cases where they wish to discuss or raise concerns about school placements.”