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

The Gazette has heard from several parents who received an email last week 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Castle Hill Primary School Rooksdown Campus, only to be telephoned later in the day to find out their place had been withdrawn because of an “administration error”.

A letter sent to parents from HCC, seen by The Gazette, said the error occurred because of “distances being measured to the existing junior school campus rather than the new Rooksdown campus”. The Castle Hill Junior School site is in Winklebury, not Rooksdown.

There was no apology in the letter for the mistake.

The new £6.9 million primary school is due to open in September, led by John Martin, headteacher at Castle Hill Junior School.

It is set to open with 30 reception children as a one-form entry.

Rebecca Hawdon received an email to say her son Sam had secured a place at the new school, which was their first choice.

The mother-of-one said: “We were quite chuffed and feeling quite content, knowing he would be there for the next seven years and we could be part of the community and walk him to school.”

But she received a call at 5pm the same day informing her of the error and that Sam actually had a place at Winklebury Infant School.

Mrs Hawdon, who plans to appeal the decision, said: “It’s extremely disappointing. There was no apology.”

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

He and his wife Kellie, who also have a one-year-old son, 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 change their moving plan and stay in the area, before informing friends, family and Maisie of their decision.

Mr House, 30, 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.”

However, at 2pm the same day the family received a call from HCC to say that a mistake had been made, and Maisie did not have a place at the new school. Instead she had a place at Castle Hill Infant School in Winklebury – the couple’s third choice.

Mr House said: “This was very upsetting for my wife as we had just got our head around the housing change.”

The finance manager, who will appeal the decision, added: “It’s a half-an-hour walk, which is too much for a four-year-old. It’s very disappointing.”

Carla Fisher was also affected by the error. The mother-of-three was told her four-year-old twins Emily and Lainey had secured a place at the new school, only to discover later that this was a mistake and her daughters had actually been given a place at Merton Infant School, which was none of the family’s three choices.

She said she was in tears when she heard the news, adding: “It’s quite shocking and I am devastated.”

Mrs Fisher had researched various schools to find out their policy with regards to twins and added: “Some schools split them up, which is against a lot of research.”

Abby Cowell, who was erroneously told her son Aaron Webb had a place at the new school, said: “I’m disappointed because I live on the estate but can’t get my child into a school which is built for us. Now I will have to drive him to Castle Hill Infants because it’s too far to walk.”

Simon Bound, a Rooksdown Parish Councillor, who campaigned for a new school to be built in Rooksdown, is now appealing to the council to finish the build and open the school as a two-form entry.

He said: “I don’t quite understand why the decision has been made to open as a one-form entry.

“This is an example of why we need to get the extra places.”

Mr Bound said there is a desperate need for more primary school places for local children, adding: “We are still having to send children to areas across Basingstoke.”

A spokesman for HCC said all 12 families affected had been contacted “to offer our sincere apologies”.

He added: “Unfortunately it was not until after the initial offers had been sent out that the admissions team discovered the error. HCC does appreciate that this is upsetting for parents and officers have provided any support that they can.”

He said parents can add their child to a waiting list.