Nearly 400 pupils will be merged into Torridon Infant and Nursery School  – with no extra funding for the school.

The decision to merge Torridon Junior School with neighbouring Torridon Infant and Nursery School was approved by the Mayor and Cabinet on Wednesday.

Both schools currently receive a lump sum of £130,000 but the expanded Torridon Infant and Nursery School will not see an increase in funding, according to council documents.

“It will result in the amalgamated school only receiving one lump sum of £130k, whereas currently each school receives £130k lump sum,” the report read.

Torridon Junior School has 390 students aged between seven and 11 years old, according to the school’s website.

Governing bodies of both schools were in favour of the amalgamation which they said would have positive impacts, including allowing junior staff to get to know children and families at an earlier stage, and the sharing of expertise and resources.

It may also make it easier for the school to attract staff and a permanent head teacher, the report outlined.

“Those responses that were in support [of the amalgamation] highlighted the continuity of education that children would receive – eliminating the transitional issues.

“The fact that the school sites could be better used and synergies maximised. That parents didn’t understand why the two schools were separate given that they are next to each other, and separated by a single fence. And that a larger school would help with attracting a strong head teacher for the amalgamated school,” the council report explained.

As well as the loss of funding for the extra pupils, other negative impacts included increased costs of running a larger school and the public perception of creating a larger school, “particularly in relation to those parents of infant school pupils who may see their school as being consumed by the larger junior school,” according to the report.

But Lewisham Council officers said the arguments for amalgamation outweighed the arguments against, “particularly when economies of scale are taken into account regarding finances, and the governing bodies proposed approach of closing the junior school and extending the age range of the infant school regarding public perception.”