TOWERING above the rows of houses at Great Western Park is a brand new secondary school.

The science labs have been fitted, the football pitches grown and the walls are getting their first lick of paint.

Due to open in September, Aureus School is currently a blank canvas for first time headteacher Hannah Wilson who hopes to mould it into a school the whole community can be proud of.

She said: "This is a really exciting opportunity for me and for Didcot.

"It is very rare that you have a brand new school and a relatively new community where you can integrate the two.

"I want this to become a community asset, somewhere that brings everyone together."

Named after the hoard of gold coins unearthed in the town 20 years ago, the school is just four months away from being finished.

And as well as the traditional subjects such as English, Maths and History, Ms Wilson said she wanted to bring some modern lessons to the curriculum.

She said: "I think as a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths (STEAM) specialist school we want to show that these subjects are for everyone and not stereotype our students.

"I want the students to learn coding and computing not ICT.

"We will also be having yoga and mindfulness classes in our dance studio as part of the holistic approach I want to bring to the school.

"I am also a passionate advocate of the arts and I really hope our drama and dance studios will be in constant use by the students."

The Aureus school has been designed and will be run by the Surrey-based GLF Schools multi-academy trust, and is being built by Oxfordshire County Council.

The new building will be three storeys and feature three wings to create a U-shape around a courtyard overlooking playing fields.

GLF will also run 420-place primary school, Chalkhill Primary School, on Great Western Park which is set to open in September 2018.

For 10 years Miss Wilson worked for the Harris Federation and was deputy headteacher for two years at the Harris Academy in Morden, Greater London.

Miss Wilson is expecting to collect the keys early in May and the first 120 Year Seven pupils will arrive in September.

However, she is unlikely to hold any major celebration until the youngsters are hard at work.

She added: "What I would really love to do is have a birthday party to celebrate the first month of the school being open to show what the students have achieved.

"I do not want to do anything before because it is the student's school and I think it would be far more interesting and beneficial for everyone if the students had their work up on the walls and spoke to people about their experiences."

It will not be until its fifth year that the school will reach its capacity of 1,200 students but the headteacher says the students will not be rattling around in a large empty space beforehand.

Miss Wilson said: "I do not want it to go to waste and I am looking into opportunities where we can let out some of the spaces.

"We want the community to be able to come during the weekend and school holidays and make the most of the gym, sports pitches and our flexi-studio."

And it is not just the students and the residents Miss Wilson wants to benefit from the state-of-the-art facilities.

She added: "At the moment we have a recruitment and retention crisis in the teaching profession.

"But I firmly believe that if you look after your staff and you put a wellbeing plan in place for them, they will then look after your students.

"I am starting the recruitment process for my teachers in the next couple of weeks.

"It is extremely important that the candidates can work as part of team rather than just being a brilliant teacher as an individual."

For more information about the school and its progress visit: aureusschool.org