WHILE it is understandable that those parents who didn t get their children into their first choice of school are frustrated, I can t help but think it has been taken out of all proportion. Parents of children living in Knebworth, who have been told they

WHILE it is understandable that those parents who didn't get their children into their first choice of school are frustrated, I can't help but think it has been taken out of all proportion.

Parents of children living in Knebworth, who have been told they have a place at The Thomas Alleyne School in Stevenage instead of Barnwell School in the town, are said to be outraged.

Ofsted has rated both schools as 'satisfactory', so as far as I can see the consequence is that children will have to travel an extra mile to get to school. Is this really so much of a hardship? There are certainly worse things in life.

At the end of the day, it's impossible for Herts County Council to allocate every single child in the county to their first choice of school, so some simply have to miss out.

Parents' preconceptions of schools only add fuel to the fire and, if they have not already done so, it would be prudent of them to find out more about a school before flying off the handle.

School places weren't guaranteed to parents, so perhaps if they had not made assumptions they may not have been so disappointed.

Children in this country are privileged to be able to go to school and we should really look at the bigger picture and thank our lucky stars.