Two Brighton schools are to merge to form an all-through primary from next September.
Balfour junior and infant schools are to join and take children from 4 years to 11.
The move is seen as offering numerous advantages, including:
•greater continuity in teaching, pupil care and development under a single head teacher and teaching staff
•more flexibility in organising classes, deploying teachers and support staff and using resources, including buildings, more effectively
•closer contact with parents over a longer period of time
•practical advantages to parents, such as having the same staff development days, uniform and code of conduct
•less disruption for pupils, who no longer have to transfer to a different school environment after three years, and better social interaction between younger and older pupils.
The council has a policy of supporting mergers between linked infant and junior schools where appropriate.
The two schools are on neighbouring sites.
Consultation on a possible merger was prompted by the retirement of both headteachers in July 2010.
Although an earlier proposal to merge the schools proved controversial, Brighton and Hove City Council said that no objections were received during the statutory notice period on the current proposal, which ran during the summer.
The decision to merge the schools was made by Councillor Vanessa Brown, the council’s cabinet member for children and young people.
She said: “I believe the vast majority of parents in the Balfour area will welcome the clear benefits this merger offers.”
