THE merger of two secondary schools in North Yorkshire has been given the go ahead.

North Yorkshire County Council is to go ahead with the final step in the creation of a single school for 11- to 19-year-olds for Northallerton, by bringing together Allertonshire School and Northallerton College.

The school will be called Northallerton School and Sixth Form.

The county council’s executive agreed yesterday (Tuesday) to proceed with statutory notices after a recent consultation.

Currently, pupils transfer from Allertonshire School, which is an 11-14 school, to Northallerton College, a 14-19 school, to continue their secondary education. By joining together these two relatively small secondary schools the county council believes children will benefit by continuing their education without having to go through a transition stage at the age of 14. They will also benefit from a single curriculum and timetable and a larger staff body coming together to share good practice.

The schools have been working in partnership for some years, and in a federation since September 2013 The Northallerton schools and Risedale College are led by a single Executive Principal and single Federation governing body. Joint curriculum and transition planning has already been taking place.

The Federation has been extremely successful in bringing all the schools together and the governors have agreed that the creation of an all-through secondary in Northallerton would be a logical step forward. The enlarged school would remain in federation with Risedale Sports and Community College.

Councillor Arthur Barker, North Yorkshire’s executive member for Schools, said: “We are more than happy to take this final step in the creation of a single all-through secondary school for Northallerton,” he said.

“This is a very positive step forward for young people in Northallerton by removing the transfer aged 14 from Allertonshire to Northallerton as transition at that stage in their secondary schooling can have an adverse effect on children’s progress.

“We believe schools should join together as far as possible to share good practice in the drive to raise standards of teaching and learning.”

The amalgamated school is to be created by the enlargement, change of age range and change of status of Allertonshire School from a Community School to a Voluntary Controlled School and the associated technical closure of Northallerton College.

Changing from a community to a voluntary controlled school allows foundation governors to be appointed by the Dean and Chapter of Durham Cathedral. The federation governing body is keen to retain the historical link with Durham Cathedral as the cathedral has had a relationship with education in Northallerton for six hundred years and is of historical significance in the area.

Statutory notices will now be published. A final decision on the proposals will be taken by the County Council’s Executive in March 2015 or by the Executive Member for Schools if there are no objections, for implementation on 2 April 2015.