NEXT year, a brand new school, which aims to help every pupil achieve a university place, will be opening its doors in Feltham.

The Reach Academy will be one of 55 new Free Schools to open across the country after an application to the Department for Education was given the green light last week.

The Free Schools Programme allows talented and committed teachers, charities, parents and education experts to open schools to address demand within an area.

The team behind the Reach Academy consists of eight board members with experience in education, finance and law, as well as three high profile mentors.

Board member Jacob Kestner explained the team's vision for the school and how it will work.

He said: "It will be a small all-through school. When it opens it is going to have two points of entry at ages four and 11, so primary and secondary, but ultimately it will take children in at four and graduate them at 18.

"What we want to do is really give every kid that comes in the chance to transform their life, the chance to go to a top university and what we think that takes is eight good GCSEs and three A-levels.

"We're not saying that every kid has to go to university, but we think that the thing that will really give them the best chance in life is to have the choice to do that."

But while helping pupils secure a place at university is one of the fundamental roles of the new school, it is not just academic success the Reach Academy will help children achieve.

Board member Rebecca Cramer explained: "Alongside the academic qualifications we're going to make sure that the children have the skills and competencies to succeed in adult life.

"We believe it is the right of every child to have an amazing adulthood and our job as educators is to support them to achieve that. We want to give our children open doors, not closed doors."

The Reach Academy will open in September 2012 with two year groups, each containing just 60 pupils.

Year on year the school will grow until it reaches its maximum capacity of 420 children in primary and 420 pupils in secondary education.

Jacob said: "The school is deliberately small as we think this is one of the things that will allow us to give attention to every individual kid and meet every individual child's needs.

"Lots of us have taught in big schools and we have seen the way in which kids can fall under the radar and get left behind. That just isn't right and it's something that won't happen at our school.

"It makes a difference when, as a teacher, you can walk down the corridors and you know every child by name, you know their parents and how they're doing in school and that helps build the relationships which we believe are fundamental to achieving success."

As a Free School, the Reach Academy will be outside of local authority control and will have the flexibility to set its own school day and curriculum.

Rebecca said: "At secondary level we will have a longer school day as we believe that more learning time is important for children and specifically that time will go on more learning time for English and Maths.

"Our children will have more than double the average amount of English and Maths time that children get at other schools across the country and the reason for that is that we think a solid foundation in those subjects is essential to success in all other subjects."

She continued: "What this school will offer is something new and different and something which is creating choices for parents.

"We're really excited about being able to give every child the chance to have an amazing life and we're going to do everything in our power, whatever it takes, to make this school and our vision a reality."