A NORTH Tyne school will become a primary school after proposals were rubber stamped by councillors this week.

Northumberland County Council’s cabinet approved plans to extend the age range at West Woodburn First School to accommodate children aged from four to 11 from September 2020.

The request was made by Otterburn First School – also due to become a primary – after the two schools federated in March, and will fall in line with the format of all other schools in the Haydon Bridge High School Partnership with the exception of Bellingham Middle School, which was saved from closure after a schools adjudicator overturned the council’s decision to close it.

The proposal to include school years 5 and 6 at West Woodburn to transfer it from a first school was approved unanimously by the county council’s cabinet, which met at County Hall on Tuesday.

Early last year, a decision was made to retain the school as a first school due to concerns over falling pupil numbers and a lack of support from parents to become a primary school.

However, since the federation with Otterburn, there was more positivity about the long-term future of the school, which currently has six pupils but the potential for larger numbers in the coming years.

A report to the cabinet read: “The federated governing body of Otterburn and West Woodburn now feels that, having placed West Wooburn in a more financially stable and educationally viable position, it would be better for the school to be organised as a primary school in order to benefit from the clear educational pathway that will be established across the Haydon Bridge Partnership from September 2019 onwards.”