Recent letters criticising my comments about the way in which Poole council mismanaged the budget for the new extension to Old Town First School completely miss the point. At no time have I criticised the school, its staff or its pupils. I recognise that an excellent job has been done in enabling the pupils to attain such high standards and I extend my congratulations to them all. However, neither the teachers nor the pupils should have been put in the position of having to work under building site conditions for so long. The portfolio holder, Cllr Woodcock, admits he got it wrong in the first instance. Indeed, even with an expanded budget and new design, yet more money has had to be found to bail out a project that overran by two years. Many pupils therefore “missed out” on the opportunity to be taught in the new buildings that should have been completed whilst they were still at the school.

The appalling project management, together with poor budget control, has also meant other schools may well have lost out. The additional funding had to come from somewhere.

Cllr Mike Brooke, Lower Blandford Road, Broadstone