THIS could be the site of a brand new school in Bournemouth if government funding is approved.

The vision for Parkfield New School has moved a step closer to reality after getting through to the next stage in securing money from the Department for Education.

Those behind the school hope to open as a free school in September 2012. This means it will be publicly funded but free from local authority control – there will be no charge to attend the school.

Finance House in Holdenhurst Road has been identified as a suitable location for Parkfield, which will offer 580 places to children between the ages of four and 18, mainly from the Bournemouth and Poole areas.

It will offer a Montessori-based education in the primary years with a focus on the International Baccalaureate in the secondary stage.

So far, parents of 700 children have expressed an interest in attending the school and Tony Spotswood, the chief executive of the Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch NHS Foundation Trust, has been appointed as chair of Governors.

He said: “I am delighted to offer local children the potential for greater choice in their education. Our aim is to support the development of the whole child and to do this within an environment which nurtures talent and potential.”