THE expansion of primary schools in the borough has sparked concerns that the temporary system may not be beneficial to existing pupils.

As Barnet Council struggles to cope with the growing demand for places, parents are worried about what impact pre-fabricated classrooms will have on the school experience of their children.

Applications for primary schools across the borough has greatly outweighed the spaces available, prompting education chiefs to splash out £120,000 on new classrooms.

Three schools will have temporary buildings installed by the start of the new school year and two more will have classrooms added inside existing buildings.

But parents at one of the schools, which only sent home a letter informing them of the proposals for a fourth reception class two weeks before the end of the current school year, are concerned about the expansion and the lack of consultation.

One father, who did not want to be named, said: “Four form entry for an infant school is almost unheard of and there is good reason for that, four to seven-year-olds need a familiar environment.

“To have 120 children at the age of four grouped together is considered bad practice.

“We want to know why the council hasn't got onto this earlier and consulted with parents and why have the schools agreed at this late stage of the school year.

“It is not good for the excellent schools, it doesn't help get the numbers up in under-subscribed schools and it is not good for education.”

The letter from the headteacher explained to parents about the shortage of reception classes in the borough and said the council was paying the school to accommodate the extra places.

He recognised though that there is already a lack of space in the school and admits the pre-fabricated buildings would not be an ideal location for reception classes, and instead proposed using them for year two pupils as they “will adapt quicker to this environment”.

But the father is cautious about how the new infrastructure will disturb the day-to-day functioning of the school.

He said: “The demountable buildings will be in the playground which will reduce activity space and those pupils will be physically separated from the rest of the school community.

“We want to know why has the decision been taken to expand a school that doesn't have the room to expand, and will have an impact on the pupils opportunity to learn and teachers chances to teach.

“It has been dumped on them with just two weeks of the term left and it seems like a scenario that could have been dealt with much earlier.”

Councillor Fiona Bulmer, cabinet member for children's services, said there had been an “unprecedented” demand for primary school reception class places and insisted the measures would be welcomed by many parents.

She said: “Council officers, heads and governors have worked very quickly to put these plans in place and I am very pleased that we can now give parents the assurance that their children will have a place at primary school in September.”