Madam,

In response to your article ‘Pupils are being taught in corridors and school hall’, I am furious.

Three years ago I transferred my two daughters to Llanilar school following the county council’s decision to close the happy and successful primary school in Llanafan. The parents, governors and friends of the school fought hard to keep it open but the council was determined that closure was the only economically viable option.

The justification for closure rested primarily on the fact that there was a supposed excess of school places in the vicinity.

We were assured, furthermore, that our children’s education would not suffer in any way through the enforced move.

It was with horror and disgust, therefore, that I read that the county, which pushed for the increased numbers in Llanilar, is now concerned by the “disruption” and “upheaval” caused by over-crowding!

Llanafan school was fortunate enough to have a separate dining hall that was used for daily worship, breakfast club and lunch and did not “interfere” with the children’s learning. Yet in this era of economic madness it was for this very reason it was penalised

. According to the idiotic formula used to determine the requisite number of children per square metre this useful space (which incurred very little in the way on on-going costs) gave it a higher number of spare places!

The £400,000 currently earmarked for building two school extensions (a conservative estimate that is surely likely to rise given the council’s track record in bringing projects in on time or to budget – the bandstand is a case in point) would surely have been better spent preserving quality local provision.

Sadly this lack of joined-up thinking seems to be endemic in this authority.

I do not in any way wish to criticise Llanilar school - I have been more than happy with the education and care my children have received during their time there.

I sincerely hope that the school does indeed secure the additional funding required from the Welsh Assembly Government to complete the necessary extension. I just hope that this will not mean when the next count is made, they too are not deemed to have an excess of spare places!

Yours etc,

Rachel Jenkins, Llanafan.

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