Harrogate parents urged to back school amalgamation plans

Governors at Grove Road Primary School and Woodfield Primary School have revealed plans to merge

The governing bodies of Grove Road Community Primary School and Woodfield Community Primary School have announced they are to start an amalgamation process to ‘share the benefits of both school sites’.

Governors have requested North Yorkshire County Council begin a consultation on amalgamation which would essentially mean that Woodfield Community Primary would become part of Grove Road Community Primary from September 1, 2022, with both school sites remaining open.

As part of the amalgamation, there would be a ‘technical closure’ of Woodfield.

Governors appreciate that this may cause some initial uncertainty but see it as a very positive step for both of the schools.

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Woodfield Community Primary currently has 56 pupils within its school and was recently rated ‘inadequate’ during its latest Ofsted inspection in January 2020 and was placed into special measures.

Since then, the school has been unable to find an academy willing to take it on as staff at the school have been continuing to work hard to remove the measures that are currently in place and provide the very best education for their students.

The County Council will consider the request on November 23 and, if agreed, the consultation process would run through December and January.

The consultation process would include public meetings where parents and the local community will be invited to hear more information about the proposals and also have their say and share their own views about the idea.

In a joint message to parents, the chairs of governors and head teachers at both schools said: “We see this as an exciting opportunity and look forward to being able to share our plans in greater detail with you, and in the meantime, we appreciate your patience and understanding.

“We would also hope to reassure you that we will not be asking any existing pupils who are already attending the school at Grove Road to relocate to the Woodfield site.”

Are you a parent of a child at either school? Let us know what you think about the plans by contacting us at [email protected]

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