Chief talks about challenges ahead at new Telford school

"This is going to be a brand new, incredible community facility," says the chief executive of the Community Academy Trust, which will be responsible for running the new school.

The new school will replace two failing schools, the Sutherland Co-Operative Academy and Wrockwardine Wood Arts College, which were both in special measures when they closed last week.

But Mr Hamilton says the relaunch also means a fresh start, and says the new school has an exciting future ahead of it.

"It's going to be a wonderful school, but it's going to be much more than that," he says.

"It's going to be part of the heart of this community, there's wonderful IT facilities, fantastic furnishings, classrooms all really fit-for-purpose.

"There's great light, wonderful outdoor facilities, there's an all-weather pitch, a running track, and close links with the regional tennis centre. It's a learning environment that is second to none."

The trust will formally take control of the new academy in September. It will also take over Telford's Phoenix and Lakeside Academies, which have also been branded inadequate by inspectors, which will be renamed Telford Langley School and Telford Park School. Mr Hamilton believes that bringing the schools together can lead to something greater than the sum of its parts.

"Those Ofsted reports don't make easy reading for the people who used to lead these schools, but we're now in a situation where we have a new leadership, and that is very exciting," he says. "The schools were in special measures but this is also an opportunity for a new start."

But he freely admits it is not going to be easy. "If you are going into a situation where you are looking to rapidly improve schools that have been judged to be inadequate, that's a challenge," he says.

"The work we have been doing getting ready for September in terms of new policies and new ideas, very focused work on making sure the curriculum is appropriate, expectations will be higher from day one in terms of behaviour and so on, that work has been going on for the eight weeks of my involvement, and the new heads of school are very excited about it.

"Education unlocks doors, so you need that. But if a school is only about that, you haven't got a school in my view, you need a school that is also about behaviour and relationships, but you need children to develop self worth, to be able to make friends, to be able to become an adult who is self confident, with a sense of personal responsibility, you need higher standards of behaviour, higher standards of courtesy and manners, those sorts of things are as important achievements as academic success."