As a mother of two living with incurable cancer, Christine Lote is frustrated that South Glos Council has ignored her plea to place her daughter in the family’s preferred choice of school – so she has now launched a campaign to try and change the council’s inflexible policy.
Christine was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2024 and has had one leg amputated. She has two daughters, Sophie, four, and Chloe, two, the elder of whom started primary school this term.
Christine and husband Damien were keen that Sophie should attend St Michael’s Primary School in Stoke Gifford for a number of reasons. One is that it is within walking distance of their home, which is important given that Christine is an amputee. Another is that the family has an existing support network at that school. Thirdly, St Michael’s has an established bereavement support system in place, which many schools do not.
The Lotes have been lobbying the council since their appeal was unsuccessful in July but keep hitting brick walls.
“The council hasn’t changed their stance. It’s very disappointing that they feel there is no flexibility,” says Christine. “Our situation is quite different from what the admissions policies were designed to achieve.”
During the application process, the Lote family selected their top three school choices but both of their top two were oversubscribed so Sophie was assigned to Little Stoke Primary. On the application there was a box asking why the family favoured one school over another but Christine and Damien’s statement was ignored. When Christine asked if anyone at the council had even read this, she was told: “No, we don’t consider personal circumstances.” Christine adds: “That form needs to be amended because you’re giving parents false hope.”
Talking about why St Michael’s was their preferred choice, Christine explains: “When we went into St Michael’s to speak with the headteacher, I said, ‘This is the situation we’re in. Statistically, I’m not going to see Sophie through this school. What support can you provide?’ I assumed the support would start when I was no longer here but the headteacher said, ‘No. As soon as she starts at school, she’ll be on a Thrive programme.’ St Michael’s sadly has experience in bereavement and is therefore a lot more geared up in dealing with our situation and Little Stoke Primary doesn’t have such a programme.”
The Lotes have had strong support from the headteachers at both of the schools as well as members of the community but still the council is refusing to budge. However, some councils elsewhere in the UK have a more flexible policy.
“My mission now is to see if South Glos Council can change their policy to align with other local authorities around the country that do have an exceptional medical/social need oversubscription criteria,” says Christine. “There are many incurable illnesses that no doubt families are facing and they want to future-proof their child’s wellbeing.”
Christine stresses that none of what she says is a slight against any of the local schools, who have all been supportive. Her issue is solely with South Glos Council’s inflexible approach to school place allocation.
“At the moment, I’ve got the capacity to challenge this,” says Christine. “But it seems staggering that a parent with an incurable illness should have to. The council clearly have not thought this through, because I’m not the first and sadly I won’t be the last parent in this situation.”
Claire Hazelgrove, MP for the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency, said: “Christine and her family’s story stays with all of us who hear it across our community. I’ve met with Christine to discuss this and her strength is truly inspiring.
“Local authorities set their own admission codes and, very sadly, South Gloucestershire’s policy does not currently include specific allowances for situations like these. This means that there’s no way for them to change Sophie’s allocated school without potential legal challenge, which could lead to more disruption and worry for the family.
“Christine’s incredible advocacy has raised this gap and I am very glad that – as a direct result – South Gloucestershire Council are now considering changes for the future. These would require wide consultation first but – if introduced – could prevent very unfortunate situations like this happening again locally.
“While this very sadly does not benefit Christine and her family in the here and now, I know we are all inspired locally by Christine selflessly pushing for this change for others.”
A spokesperson for South Glos Council says: “We sympathise with the family’s situation; however the school place application process is governed by laws outside of the council’s control. These state that class sizes cannot be larger than 30 unless very specific criteria are met, and a family member’s health is not a factor that can be considered as an exception to infant class regulations.
“The application process for the family was carried out in line with the relevant guidance and policies, and the independent appeal process confirmed this. We understand that the family are unhappy with the outcome, however we are not able to change the decision.
“A routine review of schools admissions policies that are under the council’s control is scheduled for later in the year, which will involve public consultation. We will incorporate this issue into that conversation with our communities. Any changes made to the policies would not come into effect until the admissions for September 2027/28.”
Christine has launched a petition asking the council to revisit this policy. The petition is at: council.southglos.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=87