Over a year ago I was quoted as saying in the Worksop Guardian that standards in Portland School were not good enough and that there would need to be major improvements. Since then I have received no invitations to the school of any kind, either to community or to educational events.

In previous years any school that was doing badly in Bassetlaw was discussed with me by the Local Education Authority at County Hall. This time not a squeak.

The fact is that the pupils of Portland School are not getting a fair deal. Small issues indicate the nature of the problem. The school closes at 2.30 on a Friday leaving pupils free to roam the streets. School attendance is below what is acceptable and pupils are truanting. And parents have to take their responsibility. A child truanting is a parenting issue first and foremost.

But there is no reason why pupils in this area should have a raw deal and the majority of pupils who do attend are being let down. I have on three occasions offered to be a school governor at Portland to help sort matters out. On each occasion my offer was not accepted.

I have no doubt that the school, pupils and parents will be shocked at this report, but the school inspectors job is to compare and contrast schools. What Portland now needs is an action plan to rebuild its standards and it does so with the knowledge that a new management team is already in place for September and it has a wonderful school building.

I believe that the school will quickly bounce back and I will be always be available to help its new leadership should they want my assistance. I think that their starting point must be zero tolerance of bad behaviour and truancy, with the immediate prosecution of any parent who allows their child to skip school. I want to see pupils in uniform and I want to see the school thrive as a learning establishment. I am confident that Portland School will have a successful start back in September and anything other than major progress next year is unacceptable.