The 11-year-old who faced an hour walk along Greater Manchester’s busiest roads just to get to school

The parents of an 11-year-old who faced an hour-long walk to school have pulled him out of education – because they feared for his safety.

Brandon Hall had set out his choices for secondary school close to his home in Tameside, hoping he would attend Droylsden Academy like his older brother Dylan. Instead, a letter came back telling him he would be attending Denton instead.

The decision meant he faced an hour-long walk along some of Greater Manchester’s busiest roads just to get to school, according to his dad, James Hall.

James believes this was a safety concern for his young son – who alternatively would also have to take multiple buses to reach class. With James working in Manchester Royal Infirmary and Brandon’s mum Stacey working as a carer, they say they ar often unable to take their son to school due to work commitments.

It leaves only two options for Brandon – walking or taking public transport. Now, the family has taken the ‘difficult’ decision to pull Brandon out of Denton Community College before term started in September and home-school him.

“We applied for a palace at Droylsden last year within the deadline,” James explained. “Denton was never one of the options. 

“We knew instantly that it wasn’t acceptable and then we went through the appeal process. We put across our points quite well but we got a letter through the post which said the appeal was unsuccessful.

“According to Greater Manchester Police, there were 11,145 violent crime incidents reported in Tameside over the last 12 months, equating to 4,788 incidents per 100,000 residents. This means that if Brandon were to make a two-hour journey each day (one hour there and back), there is a 9.34 per cent probability of being a victim of violent crime on a single journey. 

“Over the course of an entire school year (190 days), this probability rises to 99.86%. From a safety and safeguarding perspective, this is completely unacceptable.

“Because of this, we had to make the difficult decision to home-school Brandon until a place at a suitable school becomes available.”

Following the unsuccessful appeal, James has contacted Tameside and Manchester councils to see if there are any other alternatives closer to home for Brandon – but closer schools are all full, James was told. The frustrated dad even contacted his local MP Angela Rayner and GM mayor Andy Burham, but said their teams were unable to offer any help on the matter.

The Lyme Grove resident has claimed this is now having a negative impact on Brandon’s mental health. He says that his friends have all moved on to secondary school and he fears he will be left behind because he can’t go to school.

“Brandon is really upset about it,” James continued. “He thinks he will be left behind and not catch up with all his friends. 

Brandon was not alone in being unsuccessful, as the council stated that for Admission in September 2024, Droylsden Academy received 644 applications for 180 places. The local authority also explained that they received more than 40 appeals against the refusal of places in Year 7 at just Droylsden Academy for this year.  

The appeals were heard by the independent panel in June 2024 and were considered in line with the provisions of the School Admission Appeals Code, according to Tameside Council. 

Although the council claims they followed all the rules and guidance, this still left Brandon with a huge commute to school, which would be no quicker by bus, according to his dad.

James questioned: “All his classmates have got into schools in the area, so why has he been singled out? I don’t think it’s safe for an 11-year-old to walk 2.7miles to school. So we have decided to home-school him.

“The first day of home-schooling him was a nightmare. I’m trying to work from home and help with his schooling.”

The ideal situation for the family is to get Brandon into a school that is simply closer to home. However, there are no options left for them now they’ve been unsuccessful with their appeal.

A spokesperson for Tameside Council said: “When selecting a secondary school for their child, parents and carers are invited to choose up to six schools on their application form. The total number of applications received in Tameside for admission in 2024 was 3328, of which 85.2 per cent were allocated their first preference – this is higher than the national average.

“When a child cannot be offered one of their preferences, the admissions team allocates the nearest school to their home address with an available place. On National Offer Day, March 1, 2024, Tameside had 110 unallocated places available across the borough indicating sufficient availability of secondary school places within Tameside.

“Most Tameside secondary schools receive more applications than places available and therefore the Council applies ‘admissions oversubscription criteria’ to determine who can be offered a place. Each individual school’s criteria is in the ‘Moving On’ booklet, and on Tameside and the schools website.

“On the information available (regarding Brandon’s case), the panel found that lawful admission arrangements had been properly implemented. The panel then considered whether admitting further children to the year group would cause prejudice to the provision of efficient education and use of resources at the school.  

“Having considered the information provided by the school, the panel considered that the school had demonstrated that to admit further pupils into the Year 7 cohort for September 2024 would prejudice the provision of efficient education and the efficient use of resources at the school.

“The independent appeals panel then considered whether there were overriding circumstances, which would support the attendance of a particular child at a school, in spite of the prejudice, which would be caused.  In considering this, they take into account all of the information provided by the parent or carer.

“The independent appeals panel balances all the information in making a decision and always considers each case carefully. In this case the appeal was unsuccessful.”