Shared leadership team

An approach has been made by St Mary’s CofE Middle School in Belford, pictured, to work with Berwick Middle School.

St Mary’s has had a temporary headteacher in post for the last five months and, during that time, its governors, the church diocese and Northumberland County Council have been exploring the best possible ways forward for the school and for children in the wider Berwick area.

Clare Shaw, chairman of governors at Berwick Middle, said: “The basis of the plan is that there will be a leadership team created to work across both middle schools and this will consist of Derryth Hope (Berwick Middle head) and Nick Shaw (Berwick Middle deputy). Additional posts have been proposed within Berwick Middle school and extra training and support has been commissioned from a highly respected and sought after source beyond our own local authority to support staff in their new roles.”

A formal discussion with staff and the unions is now taking place, while drop-in sessions for parents to discuss the plans have been arranged. The governing body is due to meet on June 21 to approve the final version of the structure.