Hampshire County Council launches public consultation over plan to merge Pennington schools

FAMILIES in Pennington are being asked for their views over plans to merge two schools in the village.

As reported by the A&T, teachers and governors at Pennington Infant School have already welcomed proposals to merge with the town’s Church of England Junior School as a “wonderful opportunity”.

Hampshire County Council’s spokesperson for children’s services, Cllr Roz Chadd, has now agreed to run a formal public consultation over the proposed merger until Friday 21st February.

The council has said the proposal to merge the schools was put forward “to address falling pupil numbers and the associated impacts on both schools’ budgets”.

If agreed, the council said merging the two schools would ensure a “more resilient” financial position, staffing structure and settled pupil numbers.

It would also remove the current requirement for pupils to transition from Year 2 in an infant school to Year 3 in a new junior school.

Cllr Chadd said: “Thank you to those who shared their views on the proposed mergers of these schools during the initial public consultations.

“Having thoroughly considered the feedback so far, as well as the opportunities and benefits of the potential mergers, I have now agreed to proceed to formal consultations.

“I encourage parents with children at the schools and everyone with an interest in the proposals to take part in these consultations and to share their views.”

A merger of the two Pennington schools would be achieved by closing the infant school and extending the age range of the junior school to become a primary, with 30 children in each year group from Reception to Year 6, with effect from 1st January next year.

The council, which is also proposing a merger of two schools in Fareham, said the proposals have the support of all schools’ governing bodies, and follow two informal public consultations which took place last year to gather initial feedback.