Larkmead School, Abingdon, says multi-million pound share-out will help it become outstanding (From The Oxford Times)

Larkmead School, Abingdon, says multi-million pound share-out will help it become outstanding

7:00am Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

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THE headteacher of an Abingdon school set to receive a share of £62m has said it will help the school to become outstanding.

Larkmead School is one of four Oxfordshire schools which will share about £62m under the Government’s Building Schools for the Future scheme.

Headteacher Chris Harris said the school was already changing and developing, and the grant could make a real difference to the 800- plus children studying there.

Mr Harris said: “We would like to become an outstanding school. We are already doing well and we are on the way, but it will not happen overnight.

“We want to genuinely create the kind of school that creates happy, resilient, engaged learners who have both the skills and the qualifications needed to lead happy, successful lives.”

Extensive consultation with pupils, parents, staff, governors and the wider community will be carried out before any plans are drawn up.

Mr Harris said the key to that consultation was talking about what kind of school people wanted to have, with as much emphasis on curriculum as on physical buildings.

He said: “Quite simply, we want to be able to enable children to be happy, engaged learners. It’s not about needing money to build new buildings to attract children to the school because last year there were 55 students who couldn’t get in.

“To those children who are lucky enough to get a place at the school, we have a responsibility to use what will come to us as money to create the best school we can possibly create.”

He said one idea about how some of the money could be spent would be to create a major central gathering space, which could act as a kind of Roman Forum and would be open for use by the community outside school hours — but he stressed that was just one possibility.

He said: “The school is doing very well anyway. It is now significantly oversubscribed, which is a massive change from a few years ago, and we have a very high attendance right now, while before we did not.

“The school is already transforming. What this means is we can continue to develop the school, but with a real prospect of being able to do a really first-class job with it.”

Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council cabinet member for schools improvement, said: “This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and it’s not just about bricks and mortar — this programme aims to transform the learning experience for young people, which will lead to improved achievement, better behaviour and closer links between school and the local community.

“Schools will be at the hub of the local community and local people and pupils will be key to the planning process, so that the plans provide what the community needs.”

Larkmead School is scheduled to be more than 70 per cent rebuilt, alongside one of the other targeted schools, Iffley Mead, Oxford.

The other two schools to get grants, Cheney School, Oxford, and Banbury School, are set for a 50 to 70 per cent rebuild.

A total of £56.3m has been allocated for building work and £6m for information and communications technology.

The amount to go to each school will be decided in the coming months after consultation. Building work is expected to start in 2013.

The Government has pledged to redevelop all 43 secondary and special schools in the county within the next 20 years.