Couple may give up daughter to send her to chosen school

A couple say they are prepared to give up all legal claims to their daughter for the sake of her education.

But council officials last night warned that the couple's idea of handing over their daughter's upbringing to a distant relative might not work.

Parents James and Stella Coils are considering putting ten-year-old daughter Rebecca into the guardianship of a great aunt, Mary Holland, who lives half a mile from the comprehensive school of their choice, after she was refused a place because the family lives outside the catchment area.



Call centre workers Mr and Mrs Coils came up with the idea of changing their daughter's legal guardianship because they are desperate for her to attend Manor College of Technology, in Hartlepool.

She has instead been offered a place at St Hild's Church of England Secondary School, five miles from their home, in Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool.

Explaining their plan, reached after much heart-searching, 34- year-old Mr Coils said: "Rebecca's education will shape her into the person she becomes - so we will give her up to get her into the right school."