TWO of the town’s schools are set to join together as a multi-academic trust come September in hope of sharing resources and expertise to better children’s education.

St Joseph’s Catholic College and Holy Cross Catholic Primary School will form the partnership at the start of next term in hope of addressing educational and financial challenges of the future.

With Holy Cross headteacher Tony McAteer set to retire next week, St Joseph's principal Paul Hughes will be at the helm of both schools, becoming executive principal, working alongside a strategic board of governors.

While admitting that the new role will be a challenge, Paul said he is rather excited for the future as both schools start a new chapter in their respective histories.

“The schools have always worked closely together because effectively the vast majority of the students who go to Holy Cross come to us," he said.

“There is the geographical proximity, the fact we have a common ethos and all of those things fit into that.

“We hope this new structure will give the students the best possible start. It is an organic growth and it respects the integral traditions of each school but we feel we can grow stronger together.

“It is a structural change and in operational terms, it should make things better but it shouldn’t make any radical difference to the experience for children and their parents."

Despite the change, establishing the new way of working together will not change the name of either school, or the timing of the school day, admission arrangements, or term dates.

If anything, the partnership will see the schools exchange ideas and ways of working to improve standards of education.

Tony McAteer, headteacher at Holy Cross Primary added: “Governors of Holy Cross and St Joseph’s have been in discussion since last autumn regarding the possibility of coming together as a multi-academy trust and having researched it thoroughly, have decided that such a move would be a positive one which will benefit the staff and pupils, and indeed the whole school community.

“Both schools have always had a very close working relationship and forming a multi-academy trust can only cement this further. Our schools are on the cusp on an exciting new era and everyone is enthused by it.”