I WAS dismayed to read that "Ex-pupil" (Your Letters, August 11) feels that their school now looks like "a prison" following some remedial work to the perimeter fencing.

In turn, correspondent "Sad 7-year-old," whom I assume attends the school,expresses their disappointment at not being able to access the school field out of school hours and therefore during the current holidays.

The school in question I assume is Hazlehurst Primary School, Ramsbottom, where I am currently chairman of governors, my duties ending on August 31.

I acknowledge that the playing area at Hazlehurst is considerable, and therefore a potential safe haven for children to play. However, access to the school grounds outside of school hours and outside of term time falls, I believe, under local authority bye-laws which stipulate that trespassers can be fined up to £50 for unauthorised access. Indeed, I have had to reprimand my own children for playing on the field out of hours. The question of unauthorised access to the school grounds at Hazlehurst has been a common problem during my eight years as a governor, during which time considerable damage has been caused to the school and surrounding areas, including the perimeter fence. The cost of repairs in recent years has, in the main, had to be borne out of the school's own budge, thus diverting much-needed cash away from what is the governing body's main priority, the teaching of children.

I must stress, however, that the majority of the cost of this new fencing has been provided by the local authority out of bids made by the governing body under various government initiatives.

Against this backcloth, I was therefore very concerned to read that "Ex-pupil" is under the misapprehension that the headmaster is only concerned about the school premises. In my opinion nothing could be further from the truth, with all the teaching staff at Hazlehurst being totally focused on the needs of the pupils attending the school.

This concern does not, however, extend to out-of-hours, when the head has a responsibility to the governors and the local authority to protect the fabric of the building, etc.

The issue of free access to school fields out-of-hours is, in my opinion, an entirely different matter, both across the borough and nationally.

In view of the increasing profile that such bodies as Sport England are now taking, I would hope that a national initiative will in time allow controlled access to such areas for the benefit not only of the children who live close to them, but for all. This would then ensure that positive use is made of the vast expanse of school playing fields nationally.

JOHN BATIGAN,

Knowl Close,

Ramsbottom.