THE teacher set to run the new Oxford Spires Academy says more will be expected of pupils when it opens next year.

Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet is set to approve the closure of Oxford School and the creation of the new academy on Tuesday, before the Department for Education agrees funding with the education trust which will run it.

Sue Croft, 51, who will become principal of the new academy, said there would be “change from day one” for pupils, parents and staff.

She said: “There’s now a real buzz of anticipation. There will be a step change in January, both in the environment and levels of expectation.

“More will be expected of students in the classroom, in their homework and in the way they conduct themselves.”

She added: “There will be a new look from the outside when people go into the school and a new parents’ reception.

“That’s because parental engagement is something we really want to work on.”

Just 12 people responded to the council’s final consultation on closing Oxford School, despite an earlier 600-strong petition against an academy.

Mrs Croft said: “Since being appointed, I haven’t come across any opposition. I have only met people who want a good education for their children and a certain future for the school.

“They recognise that now a principal is in place, that future is Oxford Spires Academy.”

However, Frank Newhofer, the former chairman of governors at Oxford School, who opposes the change, said people had not bothered giving their views, because the academy was now “a done deal”.

He said: “The fact that a new headteacher has been appointed and open evenings for the academy are already being held shows the consultation was a joke.

“The council has been going through the motions when it has already been decided.

“It has left people who felt there were better options that should have been thoroughly investigated feeling very disappointed.”

Mrs Croft said the academy had now appointed a new vice-principal, Jo Dunphy, from Walworth Academy, in South London.

A new uniform and logo have been designed, and building work in the school’s reception area has been scheduled for the Christmas holidays.

Pupils will also find themselves divided into four school houses when they return to classes in January.

A report prepared for next week’s meeting warns that Oxfordshire County Council could pick up costs of existing staff who do not take jobs at the new academy.

It said: “No redundancies have yet been confirmed and it is therefore not possible to quantify their potential costs.”

Academy status will free the school from county council control, allowing it to set its budget, employ its staff directly and have more control over the curriculum.