‘SCHOOLS Struggle’ (Daily Echo, May 16) to meet the aspiration of parents when choosing an appropriate school for their young children.

The specified difficulties are not only an issue for Poole and Dorset but also for the country as a whole.

It has been estimated that by the end of the decade 800,000 school places will be needed in state- funded nursery and primary schools.

Schools have known that this boom was coming for some time, but the response of national governments has been somewhat tardy.

Even if there were sufficient school places, it is unrealistic for parents to believe that they have as much choice over the selection of a school for their young children as the political rhetoric of ‘choice and diversity’ suggests they may have.

To clarify this issue schools are required to publish very clear admissions criteria and this applies not least to church schools.

It is disingenuous of Cllr Whittaker to suggest that problems within the local area have been exacerbated by the apparent reluctance of some faith schools to expand.

Indeed, there may seem to be a little confusion in the article over the use of the terms: ‘faith school’ and ‘church school’.

For the latter, the school and the Church, represented by the parish, are close together in an active partnership – an extended community.

To support this, over recent years Catholic primary schools have recognised that they need to increase the primary school places they offer. However, to satisfactorily respond to the problem there have been issues associated with limited space and availability of land.

Where it has been possible to increase numbers within reception classes this has been done.

The addition of extra classrooms within two of our Church schools will enable them to admit 60 additional children from 2012, but limited space within the school boundaries means that this is only partially solving a problem.

There is not enough room to admit an additional one-form entry each year.

Three Catholic schools, with the support of the Bournemouth Local Authority, has investigated the viability of increasing their admission numbers but the physical limits suggest that additional places can only be made available in two providing total additional numbers of 150.

There is consequently a limit on the number of years that the additional places will be available and by 2014 the schools admission numbers will need to revert to the norm. It is for this reason that for the past 18 months, again with the active support of Bournemouth, the Portsmouth Diocese has been seeking to build a new two-form entry school.

That there are seven Church schools that remain two form-entry is not because of a reluctance to expand but because of limited space within which they may expand.

FR B BARNES, Co-ordinator Bournemouth RC Pastoral Area DR E GRAY, Chairman Bournemouth pastoral Area Council