PLANS for a new £6.8million junior school in Poole have been unveiled to the public.

Named the Ocean Academy, which will be sponsored by the Aspiration Academies Trust (AAT), the school will be built on council-owned land on the former Fourways site, located between Constitution Hill Road and Ringwood Road.

Members of the public were invited to the Civic Centre on Wednesday to see how the school may look, and find out more about its location and how it is going to be funded.

In July 2013, the Department for Education (DfE) allocated the funding of £3.8million to the Borough of Poole for the school, with one of the conditions being that the school opens in September 2015.

Vicky Wales, head of children, young people and learning at Borough of Poole, said: “We’re really pleased that we have got to this stage and obviously we are very glad that the Department for Education allocated funding to make this happen.”

Borough of Poole says it is experiencing an increase in the number of school-age children, as the town’s birth rate has gone up, as has the number of people moving into the town.

Current government legis-lation requires that when a local authority identifies the need for a new school, it must be established as an academy or free school, and a sponsor selection was undertaken by the council.

The Aspiration Academies Trust (AAT) already operates two other schools in the area, which are Jewell Academy in Bournemouth, and Magna Academy in Canford Heath.

Ocean Academy will be built using off-site design and building technologies, before being in-stalled on the Fourways site, following the public consul-tations.

A second open event will be held on Wednesday, April 30, at the Civic Centre, between 2pm to 7pm, to show how the designs have been developed.

Further information and computer generated images of the plans, as well as a feedback form, are available at borough ofpoole.com/schoolorganisation.