The following is a reader's letter following the allocation of secondary school places in the county yesterday (Monday, 1 March.)

Dear Editor,

I am writing to you to share my utter dismay at this year's senior school allocation for the children of the Dengie and surrounding area. I feel incredibly sad that the children in these local villages are been treated so poorly and are being desperately let down by Essex County Council.

Local residents' children from Bradwell, St Lawrence, Steeple, Tillingham and Asheldham have been allocated senior schools in Tiptree, Rochford and as far as Brightlingsea.

These allocations indicate the immediate need for a new senior school within the Dengie area to allow existing residents children to attend a senior school within a reasonable distance of their home.

These children are 11 years old and upwards and currently in some instances they are expected to travel unsupervised on public transport which is unfunded and also in the winter in the dark for in excess of an hour to a school to Maldon. This situation is not ideal but this year's allocation is proving to be far worse.

The Dengie children are therefore being expected to endure at least a nine hour day travelling to and from school at 11 years old. This is surely extremely detrimental to their health, growth and wellbeing.

The strain placed on parents who would have to drive hours before attending work themselves, many miles along the A12, fearing delays which could result in the termination of their employment and source of income, the pressure on tired children not to make themselves or their parents late will be huge and may cause conflict within the family home is unfair and unacceptable.

The parents are then expected to be able to collect their children at 3pm. Many employers may not be willing to accept this and travel times may prevent it. Additional childcare at a cost may be required and if parents do not work but have a younger child at primary school locally requiring drop off and collection this is a completely impossible task.

The children once home will need to eat, bath and complete homework to the best of their ability, relax and get to bed with at least eight to 10 hours' sleep. This seems an almost impossible task for children living here and surely will cause failure to flourish and sadly not to achieve their optimum potential in education.

It does appear that communities within the Maldon District are being penalised. It is known that rural communities can be less affluent and often very hard working, including parents working long hours in lower paid employment.

Many parents will struggle to fund travel expenses be it bus fares or extra fuel or even have access to a car. This places further strain on families in difficult times many still fragile and struggling to adapt from the restrictions of Covid.

Children will also have fewer opportunities to socialise in rural communities. School relationships are incredibly important to their mental health and development. If children are unable to socialise with peers after school this again has a detrimental effect on their abilities to learn the social and communication skills that they will need to become well-rounded functioning adults in the future.

The children may also be denied the ability to join after school activities and events which may in turn lead to further isolation.

Covid-19 has sadly caused great disruption to many children's education and the lack of socialisation will inevitably result in a higher proportion of children experiencing social anxiety. Asking children to travel long distances in completely new environments without any friends for support is only going to increase instances of children requiring future help within schools.

Every child should be entitled to an education and the opportunity to flourish - they should not be denied this due to oversights in local government policies which favour developments but do not insist that the infrastructure and resources to support these developments are in place.

I note that the local development plan is under review for the Maldon District and I urge all parents to insist that a senior school is built before any future developments are imposed upon and/or approved by the District Council.

I also request that you do please ensure that your County Councillors insist that Essex County Council reviews its policy regarding allocation to schools in rural areas such as the Dengie. The appropriate measures need to be put in place to allow our children to attend a school that is within a reasonable distance from their home and for parents to not only afford to get their child to school but to also be able to get to work themselves to maintain an income that provides for families' financial and social needs.

Hoping for a change,

Alison Coombes

Bradwell on Sea