CONCERN remains among parents of children at Corringham's Gable Hall School despite the first series of meetings aimed at explaining plans to get it back on track.

As has been reported previously on Thurrock Nub News, the school – run by the Ortu Federation – was graded as 'inadequate' following its latest Ofsted inspection.

The repercussions of that included the resignation of principal Ceri Evans, which in turn sparked protests from some parents calling for his reinstatement.

The Federation has announced it has a roadmap for a recovery programe and vice principal Gary Lewis has stepped up to the role of interim head to oversee its immediate implementation.

There has been considerable criticism of the Federation's perceived poor communication with parents and that has included placard-waving protests outside the Southend Road school.

In a bid to bridge that communication gap and inform parents, a series of open question and answer sessions have been arranged, the first of which took place yesterday (Monday, 22 August).

However, for many parents - some of who were themselves aggressive towards staff and appeared to have pre-concieved opinions - that simply seems to have added fuel to the fire and the meetings became hotly contested at some points, with the clear disagreement between parents and administrators taking centre stage. There were a number of verbal confrontations, with at least one parent moved to tears.

Homesteads ward councillor Gary Byrne was among those who attended the meeting yesterday evening and he has been extremely critical in its wake over the way it was handled and of the Federation CEO Dr Sophina Asong.

He says: "Twice she said 'I'm at the school every Monday at 10am if anyone wants to shoot me'. What sort of statement is that? It is just not constructive.

"Parents were talking about safeguarding issues and the CEO comes out with comments like this. I have had many messages from very concerned parents.

"The attitude of some members of the Federation was poor. One man was rude to the point of bringing a parent to tears within the first five minutes. I had to step in and point out his poor attitude. He then crossed his arms and sulked. When another parent asked him a question later on, his reply was 'Oh you want to talk to me now do you?'

"When an administrator acts like a schoolboy it gives me more concerns about Dr Asong's selection of staff.

"And she also insulted parents, basically telling them she didn't send the action plan out to parents as she thought they wouldn't understand it. It didn't go down well."

Thurrock Nub News has contacted the Federation and it says it will review yesterday's meetings and is taking concerns raised by parents very seriously.