IN response to the comments made by Kirsty Adams on the BEN Letters Page of February 12.

If only A C Crompton had written to "David" as she familiarly calls him, or David Crausby MP to the rest of us, then A C Crompton would be aware of all his efforts according to Ms/Mrs Adams.

May I suggest that if this matter interested Ms/Mrs Adams, she only needed to have written to me, Cllr Diana Brierley, Bradshaw Ward, to find out exactly what the ward councillors have been doing to support this school.

All three Bradshaw councillors are opposed to this closure. I personally have attended public and private meetings with parents, governors and teachers, have spoken at scrutiny committees in support of the school and will continue to help in what ever way I can.

Ms/Mrs Adams' letter has a distinctly political overtone, so she should be well be aware of the fact that it is the Labour controlled council that has put this plan together. I do not propose to reiterate all the points raised over many weeks through this page, but will point out that the whole way this issue had been dealt with has done nothing to reinforce public confidence in our institutions. Firstly the school was to close because of falling numbers, then this changed to because the school was put into special measures. Full consultation, which was agreed in council 1999, did not take place, ward councillors were only invited to a briefing on the issue of falling numbers -- the list of inadequacies throughout this fiasco is endless.

It is my view that the parents, governors and teachers have valiantly worked under extreme pressure to not only save their school, but at the same time work towards bringing the school out of special measures and I am pleased for them that their latest report shows good improvements. But I am also sure that they must be left wondering where the government rhetoric of Education, Education, Education leaves them, or, perhaps even more worrying, Bolton's Education Development Plan, targets to be achieved by 2002, no schools with serious weaknesses or in special measures/ A fine principle -- these schools need help, not closure.

Cllr Diana Brierley

(Bradshaw Ward)

Aire Drive

Bradshaw, Bolton