A HEARTBROKEN couple are dreading telling their five-year-old daughter she’s going to a school “they’ve never even heard of”.

Bruce Felton and his wife Chantelle found out last week that their little girl has been placed at Winnersh Primary School, more than three miles away.

Mr Felton, who was enjoying his 30th birthday celebrations when he heard the news, said it deeply saddened the pair. He said: “It’s gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. We are not angry, we are just heartbroken for our daughter.”

The couple, who also have a 10-month-old baby girl, bought their house along Wimblington Drive in late 2013 for £250,000 due to the proximity of Hawkedon Primary School, and the carpenter said: “We bought this house with that main intention, the primary school was our number one priority.”

Mr Felton said he and his wife were both very concerned about the academic standards at Winnersh Primary School. He said: “The Ofsted report says the school she is being sent to needs improvement.” They are also concerned about how long the daily commute might take.

Hawkedon had an allocation of 90 pupils this year. A council report stated that 36 children were unable to be allocated into the school. Mr and Mrs Felton’s daughter Ruby was one of two in criterion D, which is children whose home address is within the school’s designated area. The five-year-old has been placed on a waiting list.

Mr Felton said: “Ruby will be so upset when we tell her, lots of her friends are going to Hawkedon, and she already has some friends there.”

A spokesman for Wokingham Borough Council said: “We consider all parental preferences equally, applying the relevant oversubscription criteria to each. Where we cannot offer to any preferred schools we will offer a place at either the designated area school if it has places (which in Hawkedon’s case it did not) or the most accessible school with places available.

“Regrettably we could not allocate to any parental preferences in this instance.”