MOTHER-OF-THREE Denise Little fears she will have to give up her job because she cannot get her third child into the same school as his brothers.

Mrs Little sends eight-year-old twins Ben and Sam to Derry Hill School, but failed to get a place for her youngest son, Tom, four.

The family live outside the school's catchment area in Fynamore Garden, Calne. When they first moved to the town, Mrs Little and her husband Adrian, chose to send their twins to the village school.

Mrs Little said: "In the morning it is quicker to get to Derry Hill through Mile Elm than to take them to a school in Calne. We also really liked the school. At the time they did not have enough kids in the school and they were pushing for children from Calne to fill up places."

However, when Mrs Little applied for a place for Tom this September she was refused. She appealed along with three others but was refused again.

The school said it had a maximum of 30 places and these were already filled. One extra person was admitted after the appeal.

Mrs Little said: "How can the school refuse one parent on the grounds of the quota and yet let someone else in?"

She said it was impossible for her to take her twins to school in Derry Hill, and her youngest son to Heddington, where he has been accepted, at the same time.

"I cannot possibly get three children to two schools for the same time. I will need to drop one off and then take the other two to school. They will be late every day and I will need to pick them up early to get to the other school to pick Tom up on time.

"I can't leave a four-year-old in the playground on his own before school starts," she said.

One solution would be for Mrs Little or her husband, who is a printer, to give up their job. Mrs Little works as an IT and business teacher at a secondary school in Bristol.

The other alternative would be to take the twins out of Derry Hill School and find a school that could take all three boys.

Mrs Little said: "There are no spaces for three children in any school in Calne so I would have the same problem all over again.

"I don't want to move my two boys as they are settled. One of them had eczema and I had a letter from the doctor saying a change in his routine would have a bad impact on his health.

"I really think the people on the appeal panel had made up their mind before I went in there. I think the whole education system is letting me down."

Mrs Little said she believed she had a strong case for her third son to go to Derry Hill School, even though she lives outside the catchment area.

"But they told me I should put my children in a taxi. I could not believe it. I have written to MP Michael Ancram, but I haven't heard anything yet."

Mrs Little has also written to the Ombudsman who advised her that it was the school's decision.

She said: "In years to come Derry Hill School is going to have even bigger problems. There are lots of kids from Calne in the school with siblings who will be trying to get into the school."

Janet Robbins, Chair of Governors said: "I confirm that an appeals panel was recently convened made up of external panel members.

"The appeal panel was clerked by an external clerk who ensured the panel followed the appeals code of practice. The outcomes were conveyed to the parents and to the school. The school considers this information to be confidential to those parties involved and wishes to ensure professional ethics are applied. The school followed the admission process as defined by the Diocese and the LEA and accepts the decisions made by the appeals panel."