IT all added up when Daryl Power was offered the job of being the head of Colchester's newest school.

Camulos Academy will open on part of the former Severalls Hospital site this September and the 43-year-old, whose background is in finance management, has opted to leave his current primary school after two years.

His departure from Cordwalles Junior School in Camberley, Surrey, will undoubtedly be felt.

Mr Power "inherited" its unenviable Ofsted rating of requires improvement but his turnaround means it's well on it way to being rated good in the near future.

But faced with the opportunity for a new project and a job closer to his Suffolk home, the headship at Camulos was an opportunity not to be missed.

"My background is in finance management, " he said.

"I worked for four years in Jersey then moved to London and completed four years of working in investment management there.

"At that time, I was out in a school once a week helping with maths for an hour.

"I was in awe of what they were doing and gave up my job and said would they let me train on the GTP? (Graduate Teacher Programme.)"

It was a bid which paid off and Mr Power worked at that school, in a Muslim community in east London, for four years.

His next job move was to a Catholic primary school in Sussex and then as an assistant head teacher elsewhere in the county, before he was asked to apply for the headship at a school in Chichester where he remained for three years before his current job came up.

But after 13 years in teaching, he said he'll be keen to stick around at Camulos, which will eventually serve 420 pupils living in north Colchester.

"I would love to see the children through to year six.

"It will be very bespoke and I will get to know the children from day one - they will be the only ones in the building."

Sixty pupils will start in two reception classes come September and already 43 applications for spaces have been received from parents, who unlike other schools, will not have its previous reputation to go on or Ofsted ratings.

"Parents brought this up," said Mr Power, referring to recent consultation events where they could find out more about the school.

"That is a great opportunity. We are a blank canvas but it is exciting to be on board from day one, creating that together."

Ofsted won't visit the school for three years giving it time to find its feet.

The school will be aiming to provide an outstanding education

"The learning environment is key," Mr Power said.

Mr Power's current school was rated by Ofsted as "requires improvement" when he first arrived and is now expected to be rated "good" in the future.

"I will be sad to go but they are a fantastic team to carry it forward," he said.

Camulos Academy, located off the Northern Approach Road, will by run by the REAch2 Academy Trust, which took over failing St Andrew's Infant and Junior Schools in Greenstead, Colchester, in September 2014 turning them into Unity Primary Academy.

The Trust also runs Burrsville Infants Academy in Clacton and Kirby Primary School.

It is the largest primary-only academy trust in the country and currently supports 50 primary academies across England.

There is a nod to Colchester’s history in the name - Camulos was a Celtic war god, from whose name is derived Camulodunom, the historic name for Colchester.

But for the time being, Mr Power’s eyes are firmly fixed on the future.