A FURTHER £1million will need to be spent on troubled St Aldhelm’s Academy ahead of a new sponsor taking over.

Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns said the “ballpark” sum would be needed to divide up the large open plan classroom area of the struggling Rossmore school.

The new potential sponsor is Ambitions Academies Trust.

The work, which had already been agreed before talks were even opened with AAT, would partly reverse the school’s earlier £9.8million redevelopment, which was hailed as an example of “21st century modern teaching” when given the go-ahead by Borough of Poole in 2012.

“This school is in danger of going through as many attempted regenerations as Boscombe has,” said Mr Burns.

“Those of us involved have a duty to keep trying, there are still a lot of questions I need surety on before I can say we are on track.”

The academy’s open plan teaching area, completed in 2013, was part of a £9.8million refurbishment of school facilities. The school received £11.1million from the Department for Education in 2010 when it became an academy.

The academy, within Mr Burns’ constituency, is in special measures and is one of the worst performing schools in the country. It teaches 469 pupils aged 11 to 19.

The troubled school will re-open to all students tomorrow after closing to all but its most senior pupils from Friday last week with only hours of warning.

Staff shortages and health and safety concerns were cited as the reason behind the closure of classes at the failing Poole secondary school.

Today a spokesman for interim sponsor, the Diocese of Salisbury, said: “St Aldhelm’s Academy will fully reopen on Wednesday February 11, after a period of partial closure due to a large number of staff being off sick.

“Years 7-10 have been closed from Friday to Tuesday. Year 11 and the Sixth Form have been open throughout. Staff are now in place for the Academy to open fully.

“We are sorry for the inconvenience that the partial closure has caused to parents and students.”

The Ambitions Academies Trust already runs the Tregonwell and Queen’s Park academies in Bournemouth – both of which have been highly praised by Ofsted – as well as Longspee Academy in Poole. It has also recently stepped in to help raise standards at Kings Park Primary School in Boscombe.

A spokesperson for the Diocese of Salisbury said it continued to act as interim sponsor for a transition period.

“Throughout, our primary concern has always been the welfare and attainment of students at the Academy, and we remain committed to working with any future permanent sponsor to ensure as smooth a transition as possible.

“At present, nine staff are absent due to illness. We are working hard, with the support of the Department for Education to recruit supply teachers to ensure the school reopens fully.”