The multi-academy trust in charge of Taunton’s newest primary school and three schools in Wellington could merge with a neighbouring trust in a bid to “share expertise” and reduce financial risk.

Plans for the new Orchard Grove Primary School, which will serve the development of the same name on the western edge of Taunton, were approved by Somerset County Council’s regulation committee in early December 2022.

The school – which will be constructed by September 2023 – will become part of the Castle Partnership Trust, which currently runs the Castle secondary school in Taunton and three schools in Wellington.

Details have now emerged of a possible merger with the Uffculme Academy Trust, which runs five schools straddling the Somerset-Devon border.

Parents have been issued with information as part of a formal consultation process, though any final decision will have to be signed off by the Department for Education (DfE).

Including the Orchard Grove site, each trust currently comprises five schools, with several primary schools which feed into nearby secondary schools.

The Castle Partnership Trust (which was set up in 2014) runs the Castle School in Taunton and Courts Fields School in Wellington, along with Isambard Kingdom Brunel Primary School and Wellesley Park Primary School, both in Wellington.

Together, these four schools (plus Orchard Grove) currently provide education for 2,332 pupils – a number which will rise as Orchard Grove opens and more classes moving through Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

The Uffculme Academy Trust comprises Axe Valley Academy in Axminster,  Holyrood Academy in Chard and Uffculme School in Uffculme, as well as Uffculme Primary School and Neroche Primary School in Broadway, near Ilminster – a grand total of 3,395 pupils.

Alan Blackburn, head teacher at Uffculme School, laid out details of the proposed merger in a letter to parents and guardians, seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

He said: “This could potentially bring significant benefits to the trust and therefore the individual schools, not just financially (by sharing the central costs across a wider number of schools) but more significantly by the opportunities that would be available to share practice, expertise and resources.

“The directors of both trusts share very similar values in terms of how they believe schools should be supported and enabled to do their job.

“Therefore, if such a merger were to proceed, it would play an important part in helping to ensure the work we are already doing as a school can continue in the long term, for the benefit of our students and families.”

The Uffculme Academy Trust said it “has positive relationships” with council officers in both Devon and Somerset, adding that the merger would provide security for both staff and pupils, allowing the latter to remain in the same trust from ages 3 to 19.

A spokesman added: “The merger will significantly enhance school improvement capacity and enable more specialist expertise to be shared across the trust.

“Both trusts have trained Ofsted Inspectors who can provide additional support to schools with quality assurance and identifying key areas for school improvement.

“Similarly, both trusts can benefit from the existing expertise in SEND, safeguarding, curriculum development and early years provision within our organisation.”

Parents, guardians and other interested parties are invited to submit their thoughts on the merger to [email protected] (for the Uffculme Academy Trust) or [email protected] (for The Castle Partnership Trust) by 12pm on February 27.

If the merger is approved by the DfE, the trusts estimate that the earliest it could be implemented is the start of the new school year in early-September.