A SCHOOL is to adopt a new name following a merger later this year.

Deneside Junior and Infants schools, in Seaham, which opened in 1935, are to amalgamate from the start of the new academic year, in September.

The school, based in the present junior school buildings, will be known as Seaview Primary, Deneside, from September.

Governors selected the name following suggestions put forward by some of the children, while a new school crest is being designed by pupil Jonathan Barwick.

It will have a total roll of 305 pupils, aged from four to 11, as well as a 39-place on-site nursery.

Julia Phipps, now the head at the infants school, will be the first headteacher of the combined school.

She said it would be a "seamless change", which would benefit pupils by offering larger teaching spaces.

In addition, staffing arrangements would enable teachers with a heavy workload to be released to concentrate on specific classes.

The school plans to open from 8am to 8pm to offer expanded services for the wider community.

Parents will be asked to offer suggestions for after-school community use.