The Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning agreed to pause the proposed amalgamation of Merrow Church of England Controlled Infant School and Merrow Junior School. Instead, officers will explore the feasibility of co-locating the two schools on the Merrow Junior School site.

Proposal to Amalgamate Merrow Church of England Controlled Infant School and Merrow Junior School

The meeting discussed the significant fall in pupil numbers across Surrey, which has led to a high number of surplus school places and reduced funding. This situation has made some schools, particularly small village infant schools, unsustainable. To address this, Surrey County Council has been exploring school organisational options.

The specific proposal under consideration was the amalgamation of Merrow Church of England Controlled Infant School and Merrow Junior School. This would have involved closing one school and extending the age range of the other to create a single primary school. Two periods of consultation were held regarding this proposal. The first consultation focused on amalgamating the schools into a Church of England Primary School, while the second consultation presented two options: amalgamation into a Church of England Primary School or a Foundation Primary School.

During the consultations, it became clear that while there was broad agreement on the need for amalgamation to address sustainability challenges, there was a deep division of opinion regarding the religious designation of the resultant primary school. Concerns were raised about inclusivity and secular choice versus the value of a Church of England character.

Given this division, the recommendation was to pause the proposed amalgamation. Instead, the council will investigate the feasibility of co-locating Merrow Church of England Controlled Infant School onto the Merrow Junior School site. This would allow both schools to operate from a shared building while remaining separate entities under their current Federation arrangements. This approach aims to achieve budgetary savings and secure the future sustainability of both schools while preserving their individual characteristics and status. The decision to explore co-location was made to respond to the unified opinions from the consultation regarding the need for a single site, without seeking to resolve the division of opinion on the religious designation.

The decision to pause the amalgamation and explore co-location was made by Councillor Helyn Clack, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong Learning. This decision does not prevent the proposal from being reviewed or pursued by the new West Surrey unitary council in the future. The feasibility of co-location will be investigated by officers, involving further engagement with the school and local communities.

The report considered for this meeting was the PROPOSAL TO AMALGAMATE MERROW C OF E INFANT SCHOOL AND MERROW JUNIOR SCHOOL which can be found in the Public reports pack Tuesday 08-Sep-2026 14.00 Cabinet Member for Children Families and Lifelong .pdf.