WANTAGE'S Victorian convent is to become a headquarters for schools across Oxfordshire.

The Grade-II listed estate will host new offices, meeting rooms and a conference centre for teacher training.

The Community of St Mary the Virgin is investing thousands of pounds to bring long-vacant parts of their convent into the 21st century.

The offices will be rented by the Oxford Diocesan Schools (ODST), a Church of England body which runs 23 schools including 18 in Oxfordshire.

However the trust also said it would be happy to share its 'state-of-the-art' facilities with other schools.

The new comes weeks after the Vale Academy Trust – which runs King Alfred's Academy in Wantage and five local primaries – revealed it is also opening an office at the convent.

Both plans restore the community's 150-year-old commitment to education: the sisters founded and ran a series of schools including St Mary's in Wantage and St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon.

Chief operation officers of the diocesan schools trust David Locke said he wanted to use the new centre to battle the teacher recruitment crisis in Oxfordshire, by offering the convent as a tranquil retreat for stressed young teachers and burnt-out heads to get a revitalising reboot.

He said: "If you look at the teaching crisis, there has got to be a better way of looking after these people who are under huge pressure.

"We want to get them off-site and give them a bit of down-time.

"This is something that Wantage can be really proud of: we are breathing new life into these old buildings."

Mr Locke said the trust is currently planning to have between ten and 20 staff at the convent some time in the next two years.

But with the trust growing by a rate of about 10 schools every year, that number is likely to grow fairly rapidly.

The new plans also include a new reception area for the whole convent, for which an artist's impression has been produced.

As well as the Vale Academy Trust offices, the diocesan trust offices and conference centre will go alongside new teacher flats which the convent is creating specifically for young, newly-qualified teachers struggling to find an affordable place to live.

Sister Stella, sister in charge of the community, said: "The sisters are delighted to be able to offer accommodation to ODST’s staff.

"Their presence and their work help underline the importance of high quality education for all in our society, something the community has worked for throughout its long history."

The Bishop of Oxford, the Rt Revd Steven Croft, will visit the convent tomorrow to bless the signing of an agreement between the trust and the sisters.

However all these plans rest on getting planning permission for the massive conversion of the historic buildings, and the community plans to submit its application this year.