PRESTONPANS Primary School and Prestonpans Infant School could be merged to create a single school.

East Lothian Council launches a public consultation exercise on Monday where members of the public are asked for their thoughts on the potential move.

If approved, the merger would follow the expected merger of Haddington Infant School and King’s Meadow Primary School, which have Jacqui McKinnon, headteacher at Cockenzie Primary School, as interim headteacher until their formal merger goes ahead.

According to the Prestonpans proposal, the two schools would ‘close’ in February “or as soon as possible” thereafter, with a new non-denominational primary school then created. The town’s St Gabriel’s Primary School would be unaffected.

The merged school would continue to operate over the two sites within the existing buildings and facilities, but with a single management team.

Currently, Prestonpans Infant and Nursery School, on West Loan, has a school roll of 358 up to P3, with the primary school, on Preston Road, home to 332 pupils from P4 to P7.

The leadership of Prestonpans Early Learning and Childcare Centre, which opened last year on Kirk Street to provide additional nursery places for the town, would also transfer to the headteacher of the new single school structure if the move goes ahead.

Brian Weddell, chairman of Prestonpans Community Council, was surprised to hear the news.

He said: “Firstly, I would like to see the details of it and what is behind the proposals because the infant school is a superbly-run school and works exceptionally well.

“The primary school is a very well-run and successful school as well – we have got two very well-run and successful schools.

“We would need to look at what the implications are.”

Fiona Robertson, East Lothian Council’s head of education, stressed the local authority was “absolutely committed to continuously improving the quality of education” at the two schools.

She said: “Our Education Service Local Improvement Plan sets out a range of key outcomes, one of which is to ensure consistency in our approaches to planning learning, teaching and assessment.

“We believe that the proposal to establish a single school operating under a single management team offers the best solution to ensuring this consistency, improving transitions for children, and will deliver considerable educational benefits to all of the schools’ children and young people.”

Councillor Shamin Akhtar, cabinet member for education and children’s services, said: “Our first priority is to ensure that we provide the best educational experiences and outcomes for the children and young people of Prestonpans. The consultation process will focus on how we do this through an educational benefit statement.

“We have already informed the chairs of the parent councils of this proposal.

“All parents, carers and the wider school community will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal once the consultation has been published and the statutory consultation period begins on Monday.”

The consultation runs to October 2, with drop-in sessions held at both schools next month.

Prestonpans Infant School hosts a consultation event on September 4 from noon to 5pm, with the primary school event taking place a week later between the same times.

Finally, a public meeting takes place on September 26 from 7pm at Preston Lodge High School.

For more information and to complete the online consultation questionnaire – once it opens on Monday – go to eastlothianconsultations.co.uk/education/prestonpans-consultation