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John Emms, Can you really believe that Councillors or their officers will stretch every fibre to put anyone's rights ahead of protecting their budgets? I was disabused of that in 1977 when discussing with a young Council officer the prospects of success for a parent who wanted his daughter, who was in what's now called year 6 but would not be 11 until late in September the following year, to move into Secondary school 'early'. Thinking we were on the same side, he said the Council was opposed 'on principle', because it cost more, and he would only get a hearing if he produced a forceful opinion from an educational psychologist, and the Council's own psychologist's opinion would then only be followed if it said the child's education would be harmed by not letting her 'go up', an almost impossible conclusion to arrive at. The father threatened he would send her to the school anyway and if she was turned away, he would hold the Council responsible for her absence. Your choice, he was told; there wouldn't be a hearing until approaching Easter, so she'd miss all that school. Then a decision against the Council would be a Pyrrhic victory, as she'd have missed too much to start secondary in the third term. The Council knows it holds all the aces. Smile.