THE new headteacher of King Alfred’s Academy, Wantage, has said the school should have moved from three sites to two “five years ago”.

Jo Halliday said she “dreams of the day” when it will run on two sites to make “enormous” savings.

The school is currently on three sites – West Site on Challow Road, Centre Site in Portway and Springfield Road’s East Site.

A £12m refurbishment currently under way at Centre Site will mean the eventual closure of East Site.

The new buildings will also allow it to meet demand from 5,500 homes planned for Wantage and Grove.

They include a £4m development of a 13-classroom English and maths block on Centre Site with a new restaurant, to open next September.

Mrs Halliday took over from Simon Spiers this term after he became executive head of the Vale Academy Trust, which runs King Alfred’s, Charlton Primary School and Wantage C of E primary.

Mrs Halliday, a teacher since 2001, said: “There would be several advantages, but at the top of the list is finance – we would be resourcing two sites rather than three. We are talking about enormous savings.

“We would only have to fill two sets of science prep rooms rather than three, two sets of catering rooms, two PE departments.

“If we were not triple-resourcing everything, that would give us more opportunity to fund things that are important for students’ education like better computers.

“I dream of the day when that will happen, but it must happen in a considered and phased manner.”

She is now in charge of 1,850 students and about 250 members of staff, and added that staff and students had coped “incredibly well” with building work.

She said: “My first week has been absolutely fantastic. Students and staff have responded incredibly well to the building work, knowing the outcome there will be.”

Mrs Halliday said she is “absolutely passionate” about working with young people, describing the headship as an “incredible” opportunity.

She said: “I am aware that school can be a difficult place for a lot of children, and I know the impact a teacher can have.

“I believe good education has the power to transform people.”

Born in Berkshire, the mother-of-two spent ten years working in marketing for the pharmaceutical industry before switching to teaching. She trained in 2000 and took her first job at King Alfred’s.

The school has received £4.7m from the Government’s academies capital maintenance fund in the last two years.

This has enabled it to update classrooms on East Site, make improvements to the science block on West Site on Challow Road and refurbish its creative arts facilities in the £750,000 Christopher Loyd Building on Centre Site, opened by the Earl of Wessex on April 25.

 

 

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