New primary school coming to Wolverhampton as infant and junior school merge
Two Wolverhampton schools are to merge under new plans following a consultation showing an overwhelming 82 per cent in favour of the move.
Struggling Springdale Infant School in the Merry Hill district is due to close at the end of this term to merge with the more successful junior school - Springdale Junior School.
The infant school hit the headlines in 2014 when a three-year-old walked out of the school and went home unaccompanied.
The new Springdale Primary School will open in January with around 500 pupils aged three to 11 on the site of the new school in Warstones Drive, Penn.
The infant school was inspected by Ofsted in January and February this year and judged to 'require improvement’. Weaknesses were listed as lack of progress and attainment for all children, including disadvantaged groups in the early years foundation stage and key stage 1.
Wolverhampton Council has been supporting the school to improve standards of education. It also arranged for the headteacher of Springdale Junior to support the infant school as its interim headteacher.
Springdale Junior was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted in June 2014 and is a local authority Category A school.
The consultation was launched in September with 770 letters sent out to staff, parents and governors. Only three per cent were against the merger.
