THE principal of a Banbury school which is to receive a share of £62m has said the cash will ‘completely transform’ the school.

Banbury School will be between 50 and 70 per cent rebuilt as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme and is one of four Oxfordshire schools which will share around £62m in the first phase of redeveloping the county’s secondary schools.

Principal Dr Fiona Hammans said: “It is just fantastic.

“The county council gave us £6m a few years ago and that money had a fantastic impact on the youngsters, their whole sense of their own worth changed dramatically.

“If we can get that with £6m, goodness knows what’s going to happen with a larger sum of money.

“It will completely transform this site, the experience of students present and future, and enable us to engage with the community.”

The exact amount the school will get is unlikely to be decided for some time.

Banbury School, along with Cheney School and Iffley Mead School in Oxford and Larkmead School in Abingdon, were put forward by Oxfordshire County Council as priorities for redevelopment, with the work likely to start in 2013.

Eventually, all 43 secondary and special schools are set to be either rebuilt or remodelled over the next 15 to 20 years.

In-depth consultation with parents, pupils, staff, governors and people within the community will be carried out over the coming months and plans will be drawn up, shaped by the results of those consultations.

Exactly what will be done is still to be decided, but Dr Hammans said there were two major teaching blocks which were built in the 1950s and were only expected to last 40 years which could be replaced.

Kieron Mallon, Banbury town, district and county councillor, said: “This is fantastic news, not only for Banbury School but for the wider Banbury community.

“This money will enable the school itself to be transformed and as part of that there will be wider benefits for the town.

“It’s a win-win situation for Banbury and the money coming to us reflects the fantastic bid put in by the county council and shows the commitment that the whole staff at Banbury School have.”

Pupils at the school were told the news on Tuesday.

Year 11 student Rachel Martin, 16, said: “It made a big difference when we got the new building before.

“Everyone is more focused on what they are doing now and everyone is a bit warmer.

“The school deserves it, we need it.”

And Raqeeb Mahmood, also 16, said: “It will make a lot of difference, not only to Banbury School but perhaps to the community as well and it will definitely help the students because they will be in a fully-equipped school.”