KING ALFRED’S School has become the first in the county to convert to an academy under the new coalition Government’s reforms.

The move away from Oxfordshire County Council control means the specialist sports school in Portway, Wantage, will now set its budget, staffing and curriculum.

King Alfred’s was rated ‘outstanding’ by education watchdog Ofsted after an inspection in February, and the school officially became an academy on Monday .

Headteacher Simon Spiers said: “This is just another step in the right direction for the college.”

He said he was concerned about Government reforms proposed by education minister Michael Gove.

He said: “We are particularly worried about the pace of his changes. They seem to be changing constantly and it is very hard to plan curriculum improvements when the Department for Education is constantly changing the goalposts.”

Chairman of governors Mark Craig said: “The conversion to an academy provides two main benefits. The first is a deepening of our autonomy to act in the best interests of our students, staff and community.

“The second is that it provides us with additional resources with which we can mitigate against some of the education cuts which are on the horizon.”

But he declined to say what the financial benefits would be.

Wantage and Didcot MP Ed Vaizey said: “It is an outstanding school and will have greater freedom to develop its potential. Money that would have been spent on admin will now go directly to the school.”

Sue Senior, 45, of Moir Court, whose two children are pupils there, said: “The school operates in the best interest of the kids. I trusted the decision and I am sure they are going for a good thing.”

Parent Jackie Denton, 44, of Mayfield Avenue, added: “It sounds like, from what the governors and teachers have all indicated, that it is the best way forward for the school.”

Wallingford School and The Banbury Dashwood Schools Federation are also set to convert to academies for the new school year.

Wallingford School headteacher Wyll Willis said: “We are still on course to become an academy on September 1. There are mounds of paperwork to go through.”

He said the switch could be worth a quarter of a million pounds on the school’s £5.5m budget.

Under the old Labour Government, only struggling schools became academies, but the Coalition Government is fulfiling its aims to give the top performing schools the new status. The other academies in the county are North Oxfordshire Academy, Banbury, Oxford School, and Oxford Spires Academy.