Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, has lobbied Education chiefs at County Hall, to overturn a decision to restrict numbers of pupils from Hullbridge attending their local primary school. The issue arose when the County Council changed the arrangements for grouping primary schools together, including putting Riverside Primary school in with its counterparts in Rayleigh.
The net effect of this change was to restrict the number of pupils from Hullbridge, leaving up to a dozen children from the village having to go to schools in Rayleigh, instead. Mark, working alongside Independent County Councillor Michael Hoy (whose division includes Hullbridge) made representations to the County Council to ensure that the number of pupils attending Riverside could be increased, so that children from the village could still attend their local school.
As part of this process, Mark recently attended a meeting at County Hall, to raise the issue directly with Essex County Councillor Tony Ball, the Cabinet member in charge of Education and his Education Director, Clare Kershaw.
Commenting after the meeting, Mark said:
“I would like to thank C.Cllr Tony Ball and Clare Kershaw for finding time to discuss this important issue with me and for taking both my and C.Cllr Hoy’s concerns seriously. They reassured me that they are now looking into this issue, and I hope a solution can be found, so that Hullbridge children can still attend their local primary school, which is already rated Good by OFSTED, if that is what they and their parents wish. I am now hopeful for a positive decision on this during the summer term, in time for new admissions in the autumn.”
