A BASINGSTOKE secondary school has become the first in the town to independently convert to an academy.

Dove House School, for pupils with learning difficulties, received confirmation that its application was successful on November 1.

The school in Sutton Road, Oakridge, has achieved two “outstanding” Ofsted reports, which meant it was able to apply to the Education Secretary to become an academy on its own, without joining a trust.

The school is now officially free of Hampshire County Council (HCC) control, as the Local Education Authority, and will instead make its own decisions about education and management.

It is the third school in the borough to convert to an academy, following The Priory Primary School, in Pamber End which became an academy in February, and Everest Community Academy, in Popley, which joined a trust in September this year.

Academy schools are able to set their own pay and conditions for staff and can change the lengths of school terms and days.

They continue to receive the same funding per pupil, but are also give top-up funding to meet additional responsibilities which are no longer managed by the local authority.

Funding comes directly from the Government, as opposed to through HCC, allowing the school to decide how to use it.

Colin House, headteacher at Dove House, said the school will now become Dove House School Academy.

He added: “We viewed academy status as an opportunity for us to develop the school.

“Hampshire is an excellent authority but its policies and procedures are for the whole of Hampshire not Basingstoke.

“We felt that the school had developed already to meet the needs of Basingstoke and we have been successful at that, but to push that further we needed something like academy status. It was a natural thing to do.”

Mr House said a thorough consultation was held with parents and staff who supported the move from the outset.

He added: “We have wonderful parents and they understood exactly what we wanted to do and why we wanted to do it.”

The whole process has taken around 12 months, with the school holding public meetings with parents and the community during the consultation period.

Mr House said there were still “grey areas” surrounding the funding, which could be less than what the school received under local authority control, but he added: “That didn’t put us off.” Pupil admissions will still be dealt with through Hampshire County Council.