AN academy trust poised to take control of Haydon Bridge High School and Haltwhistle Community Campus may widen its net across Tynedale.

Bright Tribe this week confirmed it was in talks with Bellingham Middle School.

The Cheshire-based organisation said there had been discussions on the possibility of Bellingham joining its ranks.

But Bright Tribe would not expand on its plans for Bellingham, which was rated as ‘good’ following its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2012.

A spokesman said: “Preliminary, in-principle discussions have been held at a very high level on the prospect of Bellingham Middle School joining the trust.

“It is extremely early days and we would rather not provide any further comments given the infancy of the discussions.”

Bright Tribe had been expected to take over the reins at both Haydon Bridge and Haltwhistle ahead of the new academic year which got under way this week.

However, complexities with the academy conversion process means the takeover has yet to be rubber stamped.

The Bright Tribe spokesman explained: “We would not like to commit to a date by which these schools will be converted.

“The reasons for the delay are complex and a number of them are outside of our control and require a satisfactory resolution before we can complete the process.

“We are working closely with the local authority, the Department for Education, and the regional schools commissioner to get the matter resolved as quickly as possible.”

Despite the delay, Bright Tribe has already appointed executive headteacher, Dr Judith Greene, to oversee both schools. It has also installed interim heads for Haltwhistle’s upper and lower schools.

The spokesman added: “Our priority is to ensure that the delivery of teaching and learning to all students is uninterrupted during the transfer process.”