NO DATE has been set for when a ‘new’ school at the heart of Haddington will officially open.

Plans were revealed last year for the merger of King’s Meadow Primary School and Haddington Infant School into a single school.

The proposal has been given the thumbs-up but the ‘new’ school will not be open in time for youngsters starting or returning to school next week.

In the meantime, Jacqui McKinnon, headteacher at Cockenzie Primary School, will be interim headteacher across the two Haddington schools until a new headteacher is appointed.

A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council said: “We have stated that once the new headteacher is in post a transition action group will be formed to take forward the establishment of the new school.

“In the meantime, the interim headteacher will liaise with relevant stakeholders to determine the name of the new school based on the top three suggestions resulting from the outcome of the consultation on the new name.”

Once a new headteacher has been appointed, a transition group will be formed and members will work with the headteacher, along with East Lothian Council, to move towards the ‘new’ school opening.

A public consultation is already under way, with members of the public asked for potential names for the school.

The consultation, which is open until August 26, suggests names around ‘Tyne’, ‘Neilson Park’ or ‘Aubigny’, with other potential ideas looking at notable people from the town’s past such as John Knox or William George Gillies.

Last year, Haddington Infant School, which caters for children from nursery to P3, had a school roll of 309 and a further 40 youngsters at the nursery.

At the same time, King’s Meadow Primary School, on Neilson Park Road, was home to 350 pupils in P4-7.

Parents of pupils at both schools are to be kept informed of any changes, with pupils and parents to be involved in any decision on a future school uniform.

The council spokeswoman added that merging the two schools had “clear educational benefits.”