TWO Farnham town centre schools, Potters Gate Primary and St Andrew’s Infants, have announced a new ‘closer relationship’ - including a guarantee of junior school places for St Andrew’s pupils.

Potters Gate Church of England (CofE) Primary School will follow St Andrew’s CofE Infant School in joining The Good Shepherd Trust, the Diocese of Guildford’s multi-academy trust, on December 1.

As part of this development, the trust aims to ensure that as of September 2019, Potters Gate will provide 30 year three places for up to 30 St Andrew’s pupils moving to Key Stage Two if parents and carers make this preference.

This will require a change to Potters Gate’s admission policy, and will be in addition to the current planned admission number for Potters Gate of 60.

It comes after St Andrew’s joined The Good Shepherd Trust earlier this year in a bid to safeguard its long-term sustainability following concerns over the progression of pupils after leaving year two.

Jayne Venables, the new executive headteacher of Potters Gate and St Andrew’s, said: “We are delighted to say that St Andrew’s Infants’ School’s future is now not only secure but bright as it looks forward to working closely with Potters Gate Primary School in the exciting years ahead.

“A values-based, innovative, all-round education from the age of four to 11 in the heart of the town is now a real option for Farnham parents wanting their child’s education to begin at St Andrew’s.”

In a joint statement, the diocesan director of education Alex Tear and Good Shepherd Trust interim chief executive David Brown added the trust will be working closely with the diocese and Surrey County Council to remodel and extend the facilities at Potters Gate to accommodate the arrival of pupils from St Andrew’s.

They continued: “Together with both schools, we will keep parents informed of developments as we move towards this new chapter of close working between the two schools and The Good Shepherd Trust.

“Both schools have a deep-rooted understanding of the value of every child and high aspirations for their all-round development and share with us a passionate belief in the value and quality of the education we provide.”

The addition of Potters Gate will take the trust up to 12 affiliated church school academies from across the diocese in Surrey and Hampshire, comprising one infant school, two junior, eight primary and one secondary.

The trust was ranked 17 out of 218 local authorities and academy trusts in league tables published in July last year, based on pupils’ outcomes.