AFTER several days of dealing with angry parents, a borough councillor has called on Thurrock's portfolio holder for education to justify his claims that the council's school placement policy is a success.

This year's placement statistics were revealed on Monday (1 March), prompting huge concern from many residents in the east of the borough – particularly those who wanted to send their children to Stanford-le-Hope's St Clere's School.

Thurrock Nub News reported that there were more than three applicants for every place available at the secondary school and residents in the East Tilbury area – traditionally a key part of the school's catchment area - appeared to have been particularly hard hit by rejections.

Across the borough the figures showed that one-in-four year seven children missed out on their first choice and around one-in-ten didn't even get the school they named in their top three!

Despite that, Cllr Andrew Jefferies and an official council statement declared the placement process to have been successful, with Cllr Jefferies saying: "Through our investment in school places across the borough we have been able to make sure as many children as possible are able to attend one of their preferred secondary school choices, and indeed five per cent more pupils have been offered their first choice this year."

However, that positive spin on the results cut little ice with Stanford-le-Hope's Homesteads ward councillor Gary Byrne who has 'called out' Cllr Jefferies to explain exactly how and why he believes the situation is Thurrock is a success.

Cllr Byrne told Nub News: "During the week that has gone by I have spoken to many, many residents who are desperately upset. Some have children at a secondary school who cannot be joined by their brothers and sisters who in some instances are now having to go several miles in a different direction to a different school.

"How can that be a success? Thurrock Council has known for years what was coming but neither the Labour administration before or the existing Conservative administration, which has had six years to get to grips with this problem, have done a decent job.

"We are a rapidly growing borough but sadly one without a rapidly growing infrastructure. Children and families in Thurrock deserve the best education they can get and having to travel halfway across the borough every day to go to school doesn't help that.

"Cllr Jefferies and his colleagues have sat on their hands and just hoped a magical solution will appear. We have been promised new schools and more places on our doorsteps but we have got a second-hand bolted together block of mobile buildings in Grays and an expensive building in Grays that we are going to gift to the rugby club, for who it was designed as function suite!

"What a con that was for the residents of Thurrock!

"Where are the new schools and more to the point where is the plan for the new schools? We will have to suffer this fiasco again next year and probably the year after that by the looks of it – and all the time we are saying yes to more homes from developers who don't have to put their hands in their pockets or a penny in the education system.

"Instead of coming out and saying everything in the garden is rosy to paper over the cracks, it's about time Cllr Jefferies stood up and told parents in this borough what the real story is and, above all else, apologised for his failing administration.

"He says this is a success: God knows what he thinks a failure would be?"