A proposal to combine an infant school with a neighbouring junior school, to ensure the best possible outcomes for children, will be considered by councillors next week.
Durham County Council’s Cabinet will hear that amalgamating Horndale County Infant and Nursery School and St Francis Church of England (C of E) Aided Junior School in Newton Aycliffe would help to sustain both schools by ensuring sufficient pupil numbers.
St Francis C of E Junior School, like many other primary schools in the town, currently has surplus spaces. Horndale’s numbers, meanwhile, have been declining in recent years, resulting in funding challenges. A shortfall in the last financial year was covered by a Department for Education School Deficit Grant, but this is a one-off payment and cannot be relied upon to balance the school’s budget in the future.
Both schools were rated Good in their latest Ofsted reports and are located less than 20 metres apart from each other, with a shared access road and car park. Plans to combine the schools have been widely supported by staff, governors and parents.
The proposal would see the schools amalgamated and the creation of newly named C of E primary school for children aged three to eleven from September 2025. A public consultation was carried out in September and October last year. This included meetings with staff and governors and an event for parents and the wider community to find out more and ask questions. Ninety percent of those who took part in the consultation agreed or strongly agreed with the proposal and six percent neither agreed nor disagreed.
After considering these responses, a statutory notice to amalgamate the two schools was published on Monday 4th November following which people had four weeks to express objections or support. The council received no further representations during this time.
Cabinet will be asked to approve the proposals when it meets at County Hall on Wednesday 15th January.