JUST six weeks from now, a radical transformation will have taken place at what is currently an active building site.

The doors to the new £7million Braiswick Primary School will open to its first intake of 60 fouryear- olds starting in its two reception classes.

Work on the school, on land between Braiswick Park and Fernlea, Colchester, started last autumn.

Essex County Council said the school, which will have capacity for 420 pupils, was desperately needed to meet the demand’s of the town’s swelling population.

This week, prospective pupils and their parents were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the school, which will have a nursery on site.

The children will use classrooms in the nursery building, due to be completed this week, for the first term until the main school is completed.

They will then move across to the school and the nurserywill be up and running after Christmas.

The school, sponsored by the Learning Pathways Trust, has 14 classrooms, plus a library, multipurpose hall, kitchen, a parking area and a sports pitch.

The headteacher will be Lorraine Laudram who will have three teachers, two teaching assistants, four midday assistants, a site manager and a cleaner.

Mrs Laudram, said: “We are really pleased with how the building is taking shape.

“The design is spacious and light and the school grounds have a wonderful feel to them.

“We are excited about welcoming our first cohort of Reception children in September.

“Although we are a new school, the trust is well established and Braiswick has two very successful sister schools.

“The teaching team has been derived from within the trust and we are very excited and fortunate to have such a strong team who all know the trust ethos and expectations and have worked together before.

“The parents who have chosen our school are looking for a strong local primary at the heart of their community and they trust our team will deliver.

“We are keen to work in harmony with the community and provide an excellent school for the residents of Braiswick Park.”

Education watchdogs Ofsted are likely to visit Braiswick Primary School in its first year.

Despite its lack of reputation, parents who are sending their children to the school and who attended the tour, said they were pleased with their choice.

Christy Jones’s daughter Eloise will be among the new starters on September 7, the first day of term.

Mrs Jones, of Mile End, Colchester, said: “We have heard lots of great things about the academy trust.

“When we looked at the reputation of its other schools, they were doing well and that alleviated any worries.”

Hannah Evans said her daughter Matilda is attending the school because her four other primary school choices were rejected by the county council.

She applied for Braiswick Primary, but will have to travel from Turner Rise for the school run, via the busy North Station junction.

She said: “I knew it was part of a really good academy trust.

“Now it is all built up we are really enthusiastic.

“It is a new school, it has got to prove itself, but it is going to be excellent. My child is going to be one of the first to get to use it.”

The school jumpers will feature a logo of a fan – a nod to the site’s past life as the Flakt Woods fan factory before it relocated to Easter Park, Colchester.

It is unlikely any more pupils for older year groups will be accepted into the school before September 2016.

An group still needs to be found to run the nursery, which cost £1.7million, but the council has put tenders out for the contract.

The school and nursery have been paid for through the Government, which contributed £4.2million, and Essex County Council’s Education Capital Programme.

Ray Gooding, Essex’s councillor responsible for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: “We recognise Colchester is one of the fastest-growing parts of Essex and have a number of projects underway in the area to create extra primary school places.

“I am very happy to see this project progressing so well and look forward to seeing it coming to a conclusion later this year.”