A merger plan for two more Huddersfield schools has been unveiled.
Education officials claim Denby Dale Nursery School and Gilthwaites First School would benefit from becoming one school on a single site under the proposal announced by Kirklees Council.
It is the latest in a series of plans currently being discussed for Huddersfield schools.
These include the “super school” merger for Almondbury High School, Almondbury Juniors and Greenside Infants.
They also include a plan to link Royds Hall High School with a new primary school on the site.
The new Denby Dale First and Nursery school, including daycare provision, would be at the current Gilthwaites site. It would cater for children aged from two to 10.
If the proposal went ahead and the two current schools were brought together, the existing facilities at Gilthwaites would be developed and expanded so that they were completely suitable to accommodate nursery and daycare children.
The change would be achieved by lowering the age range of the current Gilthwaites First School and by the technical ‘closure’ of Denby Dale Nursery School.
However, the ‘closure’ would simply mean a relocation of the nursery and daycare provision so that it shares the nearby Gilthwaites site. Excellent standards would continue to be provided for the local community.
Denby Dale Nursery School and Gilthwaites First School are already federated, which means they work together very closely and share a single head teacher and governing body.
A report to Kirklees Cabinet says that bringing the schools together would provide even greater benefits for children and families in the Denby Dale area.
A council spokesman said the proposals are intended to: provide high-quality services on one site; support working parents; remove the need for children to move sites at the age of 4; improve the financial sustainability of early education and childcare in the Denby Dale area; build on the existing strengths of the federated schools and provide quality accommodation for early learning and childcare.
Talks are now to start with families in the area.
Letters have gone out from the schools’ head teacher Jackie Wood.
She said: “We are extremely proud of the outstanding standards of both schools. However, the nursery school is not financially sustainable and relies on additional temporary local authority funding.
“The governing body has been working with the local authority to look at all the options and we welcome the proposal to create a single first and nursery school, although we await the specific detail.”
She said no decisions have been made and no change would occur without everyone having a chance to express their views through a full public consultation.
Cabinet members will meet on October 22 to decide whether the proposals can move ahead to the consultation stage.
Clr Cath Harris, Cabinet member for Children’s Services, said: “Children are most likely to learn best when they are comfortable and settled in their schools, with teachers and staff they know, and when parents have confidence in the school.
“The potential continuity from age two through to 10 would also bring other benefits and opportunities for pupils, families, staff and the community.
“The current provision at Denby Dale Nursery School is not sustainable as a separate unit, but by bringing these schools together we can make the provision viable and also gain other advantages.”
