A letter detailing changes to Roysia, Greneway and Meridian schools in Royston from September 2019 has been issued to parents.

The schools – which are governed by the Royston Schools Academy Trust – are merging into one through school following a consultation with parents in 2017.

In the letter, headteacher Gordon Farquhar said: “As we are now halfway through this school year, I felt it was time to update you on progress

towards the arrangements for September. We have been working with the local authority to make sure our plans for the schools correlate and our admissions process ensures we have all of our students on one site.

“We are now at a point where it is important that we spend some time focusing on some of the exciting opportunities this presents. We have been in contact with our uniform providers this week and we will advise when uniform will be available to purchase/order for September.

“We will be transitioning to the new school uniform and I want to make it very clear the academy is adopting a gender-neutral uniform.”

The current Greneway site in Garden Walk is proposed to become the lower school site for Year 5, 6 and 7 and will also have a reception.

The current Meridian site – also in Garden Walk – would become the upper school for Year 8 to 11 and it will have a reception. It would also be the site for post 16 provision through external partners.

Mr Farquhar states the points to consider for an earlier move included that “students on the current Roysia site do not have the same access to the range of extra-curricular provision that students on the other sites have. While a bus service does provide these opportunities, these are limited, particularly at lunch times.”

He also said he “can better deliver support staff provision if all students are on the Garden Walk site. This is particularly important when cover arrangements are needed for teaching assistants and support staff.

Other reasons included “disproportionate class sizes in Year 7 can be redressed”, “strategies in place to improve performance at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 catch up approaches can be better accessed for all with students on one site.” and “Year 8 students having access to more advanced facilities will better prepare them for Year 9”.

There will be a series of information sessions at both middle school sites during the week from Monday to Friday next week from 3.30pm to 4.30pm each day.

Mr Farquhar said: “These are open/drop in sessions available without making appointments. We appreciate that not all parents can attend these sessions after school time so we have also arranged an evening session.

“On Monday, March 11, I will be holding an informal consultation and information evening in the Meridian Hall. The evening will be split according to Key Stage:

• 6.00pm to 6.45pm KS2 Parents Meeting

•7.00pm to 7.45pm KS3 Parents Meeting.”

A four-page letter with more details was distributed to parents this afternoon.