IN response to the points raised by Lancashire County Council education chairman Hazel Harding in her article (LET, June 17), I would agree with her comments that the best school for children is one where they feel happy, are supported, welcomed and feel part of the team.

It is a pity, therefore, that many Ribble Valley parents were informed on the last possible date allowed, that they had been allocated places in Accrington

To add to the indignity, some children failed in their appeals and were only belatedly 'squeezed in' after weeks of anxiety and worry. If extra places have been made available, why has it taken so long to find them?

The general belief is that petty politics between the schools and education authority have played their part. If this is the case, those concerned should be ashamed that they are playing with the future of our children.

The problems for this year may be at an end but there is a long term worry that many children living on the perimeters of the Ribble Valley will be shunted off to what they consider to be an alien environment.

Ribble Valley Schools for Ribble Valley Children is a campaign intended to urge Lancashire education authority to take immediate and sustainable action to ensure that Ribble Valley children are allocated places in the community they live.

The campaign is holding an open meeting at Salesbury School on July 12. I invite Hazel Harding to come along and expand on her vision for school organisation plans.

STUART FINCH Ribble Valley Schools for Ribble Valley Children.

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