A TRUCE could be called in the ongoing battle over school admissions in the district, with West Somerset College widely expected to drop plans to take pupils from the age of 11 in Minehead.

College principal Gaynor Comber and Minehead Middle School headteacher Paul Rushforth are due to make a joint statement on the issue when they return from the Easter break later this month.

The college had been consulting on proposals to lower its intake age to accommodate year seven and eight pupils - a move initially designed to take children from Dulverton.

In response, Minehead Middle School announced it would investigate upping its age range to 16 and offer a range of mainstream GCSEs in direct competition with the college.

Somerset County Council added to the mix by declaring plans to turn Dulverton Middle School into a junior school, turning All Saints First into an infant school and linking to Kingsmead Community School in Wiveliscombe rather than the college.

But rumours of a climbdown have been circulating since the last college governor's meeting.

Somerset Labour Party secretary Andy Lewis attended the meeting and said he and other members of the public had been asked to leave when the thorny issue of admissions was discussed.

In an article on the Somerset Labour Party's website, Mr Lewis said he understood the college had now dropped proposals to accommodate year seven and eight children.

This, in turn, meant Minehead Middle School no longer wanted to extend its age range upwards, thereby maintaining the status quo.

"School and college governors in West Somerset appear to be backing down from plans that would have brought damaging fragmentation of education in the district," said Mr Lewis.

"The change follows a campaign by the Labour Party – which urged governors to work together in the interests of all children.

"In another sign of peace breaking out, it is understood that the school and college will have representatives on each other's governing bodies.

"A governor from the Middle School will be able to speak and vote at West Somerset governors' meetings, and visa versa."

His claims appear to be supported by a document on the college website which forms an official response to Minehead Middle School on the subject of admissions.

In it, the board of governors said they had no intention of teaching year seven and eight pupils at the college.

It states: "If we change our age range it will only be with a view to educating year seven and year eight students on the Dulverton site in the event that Somerset County Council determines that Dulverton Middle School should cease to exist or should cease to provide education for years seven and eight.

"If for any reason we are prevented from delivering on the Dulverton site, we will work with our partner schools to find a sensible way of providing key stage three education within the West Somerset system for students from the Dulverton Middle School catchment area who wish to progress to the college for key stages four and five, always bearing in mind the need to minimise the educational and other costs associated with multiple transitions.

"We will not enrol any year seven or year eight students with a view to educating them on the college site."

Mr Lewis said it appeared that the college and Minehead Middle School has stepped back from the brink of what could have been a "disastrous battle".

"It would not have made sense to have two schools half a mile apart competing to attract pupils in the same age range," he said.

"There now seems to be a recognition that co-operation, not competition, is the way forward for education in this area."

No date has been given for when Mrs Comber and Mr Rushforth's joint statement will be made, but both schools return from the Easter break on April 22.