COUNCILLORS will be asked to create a new primary school next week (Wednesday, April 16).

Education chiefs at Durham County Council want to create a new primary school to replace Belmont’s infant and junior schools.

The two schools share the Belmont campus and already work closely together.

The primary school would have 370 places for children aged four to 11 – the same number as the infant and junior schools currently have between them.

Parents and members of the public were consulted on the changes earlier this year.

The council’s cabinet will be asked to agree the change on Wednesday, April 16.

Councillor Ossie Johnson, the cabinet member for children and young people, said: “Amalgamating infant and junior schools is in the best interests of children and their families.

“Primary schools benefit from the consistency of working under the leadership of one headteacher and one governing body.

“A single primary school can reduce the potential for disruption, which some children experience when they transfer from infant to junior school.”

If agreed, the changes would happen at the end of this calendar year.

The cabinet will meet at Crook Civic Centre on Wednesday, April 16, at 10am.