Proposed Amalgamation of Lark Hill Nursery and Lark Hill Primary School and change of age range- Statutory Proposal

Each time a nursery school Headteacher announces their intention to retire, consideration is given to whether the school should unite with a local school to become a single primary school.  The Headteacher at Lark Hill Nursery School will retire at the end of the 2024/25 academic year.

We believe that amalgamating the schools will be beneficial to the local community as it enables children and families to feel part of one school community.

Lark Hill Nursery School and Lark Hill Primary School are two separate schools which share the same site.  Many pupils from the nursery school move through into the primary school but not all.  Each school has its own governing body, headteachers and work whilst independent from each other, they do work closely together.  In December 2019, Lark Hill Nursery School was judged to be Outstanding by Ofsted and in November 2022, Lark Hill Primary School was judged to be Good.

The schools have worked closely together and have shared resources and expertise for example, with staff training.  The proposals would enable the single governing body to make efficiencies in the running of the primary school (particularly in respect of leadership, finance, administration and caretaking but also in other areas such as pastoral care, IT).

Lark Hill Nursery School is currently run by the governors under a different Ofsted registration, meaning it is run as a separate legal entity to Lark Hill Primary School. By changing its age range, the extended primary school would be able to formally take on the management of the nursery provision under the same Ofsted registration as the school.