A PRINCIPAL has been appointed to take the helm at Poole's newest school from September.

Ellen Humphries will head up the Ocean Academy when it opens its doors to three Year 3 classes for the new academic year.

This is her fifth "headship" and Mrs Humphries is relishing the opportunity to start a new school from scratch.

Construction work at the Constitution Hill Road site is well underway with state-of-the-art buildings, well-designed outdoor spaces and an impressive school hall, not to mention £200,000 worth of IT equipment and a top-notch sound system.

The school has been built to help the Borough of Poole keep up with ever-increasing demand for school places.

There will be up to 90 pupils from September, increasing to 360 when all year groups are full in 2018.

Mrs Humphries, most recently head at Courthill Infants in Poole, said she is looking forward to welcoming the first intake.

She has already met with many parents and plans to held further meetings and settling-in sessions before the beginning of the new school year.

The school is part of the Aspirations Academies Trust, which also runs Magna Academy in Poole and the Jewell Academy in Bournemouth.

She told the Daily Echo: "I am really excited - the Trust has a lot of experience and runs good and outstanding schools.

"We have high expectations for application to learning, behaviour and uniform and we will be in a brand new setting. With just 90 children we will be able to offer a nurturing school and we can get to know every child."

Mrs Humphries is currently based at the Jewell Academy where she is conducting all the preparation work to ensure the opening runs smoothly in September.

Teaching staff have already been appointed and support staff, office staff and premises staff are now being interviewed.

Places are currently being allocated to pupils, who will all be provided with a smart school blazer to form part of their school uniform.