Parents in West Somerset will have been disturbed to read in last week’s Free Press that some district councillors, during their debate on the £6 million Opportunity Area project, suggest the replacement of our first and middle schools by what would be a small number of large primary schools - and even more disturbed to hear that this proposal is based on little more than anecdotal evidence.

After some challenging years, West Somerset’s pre-schools, first and middle schools are working closer together than ever before to ensure seamless transition to suit each child’s needs at each stage and onwards to West Somerset College.

The latest results show that our 11-year olds are the best performing group in the county and this progress is being followed through in the upper years.

The last thing children, parents and teachers need is a great upheaval in the school system with all the costs and stress this would cause.

Perhaps councillors need reminding that one of the reasons rural West Somerset follows the first school model is that our first schools are close to children’s homes and at the heart of their communities - do we want to see five-year olds bussed to large, distant primary schools? Do we want to see the possible closure of some of our village schools?

So let’s hear no more of tinkering with a system that works, and let’s have our district councillors 100 per cent behind the effective use of the £6 million on offer, with no further delay.

Geoff Lloyd, Vice-chairman, West Somerset Academies Trust.