'Shocked and outraged'

As a parent of a child who attends Bleary Primary School I was shocked and outraged on how your article portrayed the recent inspection report.

It is hard to believe that the report decided to focus on the one negative aspect of the school, which is beyond the control of the extremely hard working staff and Board of Governors. Any member of the public can log into the Inspectorate website (www.denidata.nics.gov.uk) and look up the report for themselves. They will find that the overall outcome of the inspection was not 'unsatisfactory' as the headline very strongly suggests.

I urge anyone who has formed an opinion of the school through reading this article to do so, as they will see for themselves the numerous extremely positive aspects of the school reported by the Inspectorate.

As a parent, I am fully satisfied with the progress of my child and the excellent standard of education provided by Bleary Primary School. Surely the local paper should be supporting a local primary school rather than shedding it in a very negative light to readers.

Perhaps the article should be celebrating the fact that despite a lack of permanent leadership over the past five years, Bleary Primary School has continued to produce standards of education which are consistently above the Northern Ireland Average.

Editor's note: The difficulties surrounding staffing at Bleary Primary School have been ongoing for quite some time. As a local newspaper we have always been supportive of the school but we also have a duty to report on the concerns expressed about staffing at the school - a major issue for all concerned. I would also point out the Board of Governors at the school were afforded the opportunity to respond at length to the report.