A CELEBRATION event was held to mark the merger of two schools.

Officially Coalway Primary School has been created from the expansion of Coalway Junior and the closure of Coalway Infants.

An event was held with music from Lydbrook Band, a ribbon cutting by seven pupils and current Chair of Governors Mr Stuart McLester and the raising of the new school flag.

There was also a presentation to Mr McLester and his wife Jean as he steps down after serving 40 years as a school governor, including 17 as Chair at Monmouth Comprehensive.

The new school’s head, Mr James Barrow, who was previously head at the junior school said the merger marked an exciting new chapter.

The school now has 289 pupils on roll.

He said: “It's a process that's taken over 14 months of hard work. from a lot of people, that's children, that's staff, governors and the local authority (Gloucestershire County Council).

“It was brought together by the two Chairs of Governors and the two headteachers at the time.

“A meeting that took place and the suggestion was raised.

“That was then taken to both governing boards to ask,the question is this something that we wanted to pursue? And it was unanimous.

“The discussion was who does this benefit, it was all about the community, all about the children.

“It's not about the bringing together of two buildings, it’s about shared vision,

“We inspire the children with our shared values of respect, kindness, honesty, determination.

“We’re very proud our of our children and who they become, that's really important to us.”

Mr Barrow said many of those associated with the school had dedicated many years to it.

“Stuart has 40 years, I have 19 years and Mrs (Nicola) Dixon has 18 years.

“There's a lot of time, love, dedication, invested in the community, it’s a partnership, and the schools coming together to create Coalway Primary is historic.

“The expertise and knowledge is second to none and that is being shared across the site.

“In September, staff who’ve worked in the junior school for a considerable period of time will be working in the old infants school and vice versa because we’re a primary so we get to work right across the board.

“The people that benefit more than anybody are the children.”

Mr McLester added: “Your opportunities is to learn increase exponentially when you’re together.

“It's a continuum, there's not a gap in the middle with transition.”

Mr Barrow said: “It avoids transition from one school to another on the same site.

“It avoids that clunkiness, it's now much more fluid.

“Being able to talk to the children in Reception and then the children in Year Six is brilliant.”

“We're very lucky with the parents that we've got, they're really supportive, and they hold the same beliefs that we do.

It always come back to the same thing – it’s all about the children.

“That’s what we're doing.”