A FOUR-YEAR-OLD boy who can see his chosen primary school from his bedroom window has been offered a place at a school nearly three miles away.

Monty Weager, can see the children who attend Gastrells Primary School in the playground from his home in Little Fishers in Kingscourt, Stroud.

The extremely short distance between their home and the school is why Monty’s parents’ Martin Weager and Philippa Johnson put the school in Kingscourt as their only choice when choosing a school for their son.

This week parents across the country found out which school their child has been offered a place at this September – and Martin and Philippa were somewhat surprised when Monty was offered a place at Thrupp Primary School – 2.8 miles away from their home.

“We only put down one choice because we couldn’t believe that Monty wouldn’t get a place at a school he can see from his bedroom window,” said Martin, who has two older children who attend Archway School.

Philippa also has two secondary school aged children who attend the Crypt School and Hartpury College, both in Gloucester.

“Some mornings we have all five children to get off to school and it would have made life so much easier to just drop Monty off at school across the road,” added Martin.

Martin and Philippa were among 97 per cent of parents in the county who submitted their application online.

But Martin said they did not receive a confirmation email.

By the time they realised their application had not been received Monty’s placement request was nine days late.

“ I can understand it was technically considered late so we may not have got Gastrells if it was full,” said Martin.

“However, there are at least six schools between us and Thrupp and I would think that he would have got a place at one of them.

“We are supposed to be represented by a green council.

“However, in order to get our son to school we are now going to have to get into our car and drive 30 minutes every morning rather than walk one minute across the road.”

Martin and Philippa plan to appeal in the hope that Monty may get a place at a school closer to home.

Cllr Paul McLain, cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Unfortunately in this case the application was received late and the parents were informed that those applications received on time would be dealt with first.

“Their child has now been added to the school’s waiting list and if a place becomes available it could be offered to them.

“All applications made by the primary closing date are processed using each school’s admission criteria.

“This will take into consideration a number of factors, including the distance from home to school. “