News

Ponteland schools in potential overhaul

17 March 2016

By James

A potential change in Ponteland’s school system has caused uproar in the community.

Northumberland County Council is considering the possibility of altering the area’s schooling from a three-tier system to a two-tier system, cutting out the existing Ponteland Middle School, which received “outstanding” gradings in its last two Ofsted reports. The school’s building would be converted into a leisure facility for Ponteland High School.

Dr Caroline Pryer, head of the school, has spoken out against the recommendation and vowed to fight the potential closure of her school.

But Northumberland County Council representatives defended the report, which was published in council papers, saying that the move represents an “investment” in Ponteland’s schools and “the best arrangements for them in the future”.

The move will also affect a number of other schools, including plans for the first schools in the area to take students in up to eleven, and for Richard Coates C of E Middle School to take in younger students from ages 3 to 11.

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