From time to time a situation arises which is so unfair that it is hard to believe that it exists at all. Until 1970 Littlebury enjoyed its own school, Littlebury Endowed Primary School, the foundation of which had been in existence for four hundred years. Such a stalwart foundation should be strong enough to continue indefinitely, but when the numbers of children attending fell to 35, it was decided to close the school. Ironically the following year the numbers rose again, by 25% but, alas, by then it was too late. At the time children, parents, governors and local representatives campaigned passionately against the closure but inevitably the school did close and was sold to become a private house. This pointless and wasteful major change in the face of a temporary demographic one is worth bearing in mind for the future.

It was decided that the next best thing was for Littlebury children to attend Great Chesterford Church of England Primary School in neighbouring Great Chesterford and now Littlebury parish falls within its catchment area. Great Chesterford school had to be enlarged to accommodate the extra children and money from the sale of our school and its associated property was sent to Great Chesterford to help pay for this, and money is still sent - every year.

Parents at the time were both furious and despairing to lose their own local school and the sense of community to which it contributed. Now the children had to catch a bus instead and at 3.30pm on any term time weekday in Littlebury you will see groups of mothers waiting by the bus stop for their children to return home.

But now, because of an increase in numbers, next to none of this year’s intake of Littlebury children will be able to attend their school, Littlebury’s school just as much as Great Chesterford’s for the last nearly 40 years, at all.

Even worse, parents with children at Great Chesterford will have to transport their youngest sibling children to a different school, a logistical nightmare that is keeping some Littlebury parents awake at night. And an intolerable family difficulty will be incurred when the oldest child (of three children) goes to secondary school, one to Gt Chesterford and the little one to yet another school. This must be a breach of human rights.

The injustice of this is couched in the fact that there is no provision at Great Chesterford School for siblings in the catchment area to have priority. This almost uniquely disadvantages children from Littlebury, Littlebury Green, Catmere End and Strethall. Other parents and other village communities are protected from this; at RA Butler for instance parents from Little Walden, Audley End, Wendens Ambo and Sewards End are protected from the communities being split up by having ‘Playground Protection’.

One hears many catch phrases such as ‘sustainable communities’. One wonders what kind of a ‘sustainable community’ we will have while children from the same families are sent to different primary schools. What happens within a community of young parents some of whose children get a place in their school of choice and some of whose children don’t? It hardly bears thinking about - especially as the parents of school age children are very close knit  in Littlebury and have given much time and energy, collectively, to the community in which they live. The children are growing up together while the little ones accompany their older brothers and sisters to a school they think they will go to. What price ‘sustainable community’ now?

Which Nativity play, sports day, prize day, school play, parents’ evening do parents attend when two schools pick the same date and time? How do they get children to school on time when they are going in different directions? How to collect them? How to pass down uniform?

On Wednesday 13th May, some of the parents met with the Governing Body to express the hope and belief that wisdom and imagination would prevail, that the governors would find ways and means of circumventing this  situation, since if it did, Essex County Council would back their decision financially and enable our Littlebury children to simply carry on with what they have always done, go to their own school.

The parents have been turned down.

Whilst acknowledging the disruption that the existing admissions policy of prioritising distance ahead of siblings within catchment can cause, the governors regretted being unable to accommodate the additional 7 catchment pupils.

MP, Sir Alan Haselhurst, who has supported the parents throughout said  that he considered that the school was certainly capable of creating accommodation for an additional small classroom, for perhaps 10 pupils, with the remaining 27 accommodated in the usual way.

Littlebury supports these families who are currently so adversely affected. They are also wholly and robustly supported by the Parish Council,  District Councillors Janet Menell and Julie Redfern, County Councillor Robert Chambers, Lord Hanningfield and Essex County Council.

It seems incredible to us here in the parish that while such a massive political will supports their cause the acceptance of so few extra children into their own school proves such a problem for the Governing Body of that school.