Two Keighley secondary schools are merging their sixth forms.

Holy Family and Greenhead will share facilities from next September.

By that time Holy Family will have its new language college facilities and Greenhead its £1 million city learning centre with state of the art computer facilities. Both sixth forms will have access to these facilities.

Parents, governors and staff from both schools began planning the move last November.

It falls in line with September 2000 Government legislation to increase the number of sixth form courses in schools.

Holy Family will build on the strength of its language A-levels while Greenhead does the same with technology and the performing arts.

Holy Family will retain its Catholic identity through subjects exclusive to its students, such as religious studies A-level

And Greenhead will ensure its own community remains.

The choice of A-levels will almost double and new subjects, including psychology and economics, are to emerge.

GNVQs (vocational courses) jointly taught by both schools will quadruple.

Around 30 students a year are currently admitted into Higher Education from both schools.

Greenhead and Holy Family feel the new arrangements will see this expand.

Conor Davis, Holy Family's head, says: "I am very excited at the proposals.

"They represent a major step forward in the life of Holy Family School.

"While retaining our Catholic identity we can only benefit from increased collaboration with a successful neighbouring school."

Miles Mizon, Greenhead's head, says: "I am convinced we will be able to provide better post-16 course choices for all the students from both schools.

"This is the sort of development we will see a lot more of in the coming years, because it's how schools will need to work together to do the new post-16 curriculum."

Diana Cavanagh, Bradford council's strategic director of education, has also welcomed the news.

"It will enable a broader provision to be offered which I hope will extend the benefits of education and training to a larger number of young people in Keighley," she says.

Opinion p10

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.