ANGRY Blackwell parents are vowing to fight plans to break up a class of children and send them to another middle school near Bromsgrove.

Many parents, whose children are due to leave Blackwell First School in July, have learned that the next school in line, Alvechurch Middle, does not have the capacity to take all the children. So instead many of the youngsters are being allocated places at Catshill Middle.

One parent, Toni Carrington, of Badgers Way, said she was "devastated" when she found out that her daughter, Ella, was due to go to Catshill Middle. She said she would rather teach Ella at home.

"How am I going to break the news to my daughter that she is going to another school nowhere near her home, and is being torn away from her best friend."

Toni said that when she was asked for her middle school preferences she put down Alvechurch and St John's, not Catshill.

"I live in Blackwell in a smaller house so my children can get a decent education. It could change the course of her education meaning she will have to go to North instead of South."

Toni said another problem was getting her daughter to school because there was no bus service to the village from Blackwell and no school bus. She said she was appealing against the decision and will refuse the place at Catshill Middle.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said while Blackwell First was a feeder for Alvechurch, when a school was over-subscribed then distance between home and school played a part.

He said there was an abnormally high amount of children in its catchment area for this year group, and where a school is oversubscribed it is required to offer every child a place at an alternative school.

The spokesman said it was unfair on Catshill Middle to imply pupils would not receive a high quality standard of education there.

He added: "It has been taken out of special measures and has been labelled a rapidly improving school by Ofsted after a recent inspection."