A LEADING infant and junior school is to merge to make one new school.

King David Infant and King David Junior Schools will become one by 2009.

The new school will be called King David Primary School following consultation between King David trustees and governors and Manchester Local Education Authority.

The governors' target is to close both schools on August 31, 2009, and open the new school on September 1, 2009.

King David Junior School chair of governors, Mrs Sue Fagelman, and King David Infant chair of governors Simon Rosenthal said in a statement: "The merger will bring the schools into line with current educational thinking and best practice."

King David is one of only two schools in the Manchester authority with separate infant and junior departments. The remaining school is also in the process of becoming a primary school.

The governors added: "The primary school will have one headteacher and there will be one vision. This gives a continuity of approach and a seamless progression.

"The children's education is not interrupted by moving from one regime and ethos to another. There are also economies of scale."

The school is currently taking advice from the LEA on how to find the best possible candidate for the headteacher's post. There are currently 22 governors serving the infant and junior departments. In the short term existing governors will manage their own schools.

A shadow governing body, comprising governors from both schools, has been set up to look after issues related to the merger and the building of a new school serving the whole campus. Although all governors will remain in place in the short term there will be a reduction of governors to comply with regulations.

The governors said: "The merger will also ease the move to a new building. This merger is the start of an exciting era for the King David campus."

The pair revealed that plans for the new school would be announced 'in the near future'. They said that if all went to plan the new school, incorporating primary and secondary schools, would open in September 2011.