Superhead to take on new school

Two struggling Black Country schools are set to be merged and a troubleshooting "superhead" brought in with the aim of driving up standards.

Around £32 million will be pumped into the new venture.

Manor Foundation Business, Enterprise and Sports College in Wednesbury and Menzies High School Science College in West Bromwich will be closed and reopened as a single entity under the plan.

The new school will have a new name, a single governing body, and a single executive headteacher.

Both school sites, two miles apart, will be kept on and redeveloped, with the new school to be up and running by September next year.

Education bosses hope state-of-the-art facilities at the split-site new "superschool" will have a positive effect on exam grades.

Headteachers at both schools were being told of the proposals today.

Both are expected to be kept on, with the executive head to oversee the merger.

The new plans are not expected to affect proposals to relocate Stuart Bathurst RC High on a site adjacent to Menzies.

Manor Foundation Business, Enterprise and Sports College, in Friar Park Road, has the lowest exam results in the borough, with Menzies, in Clarkes Lane, just behind it.

Interim boards have already replaced governing bodies at both.