CHANGES are afoot at a Basingstoke secondary school.

Cranbourne school, formerly Cranbourne Business and Enterprise College, started the new academic year earlier this month with a new uniform, new logo, new name and, school chiefs say, a new ethos.

The last two years have been a busy time for the school in Wessex Close, from raising its Ofsted rating to amalgamating with Fort Hill Community School, making it an interesting introduction to life at the school for headteacher Jane Aplin.

However, Mrs Aplin said the new changes signify a fresh start for the school and a change in ethos.

“The school was ready for a fresh start,” Mrs Aplin told The Gazette.

“We are already sensing a change in the children’s learning and we have focused on what we do good at Cranbourne and turbocharged those elements.

“We want to push our students and show them that they can achieve anything they want to. That is why we came up with the motto ‘excellence in everything’.”

As part of the rebrand, a house system has been introduced to enhance the family feel of the school and encourages peer-to-peer mentorship, with students in Years 8 and 9 acting as mentors for younger students.

Each of the four houses are based on an iconic figure; the Andrew Lloyd Webber House focuses on performing and expressive arts, Gilbert White house on science and logic, Jane Austen house on literature and language, and the Thomson house on global studies.

Mrs Aplin added: “We want each child to choose their own house to pursue what they have an interest in.

“However, that doesn’t mean they are exclusively doing the subjects their houses are affiliated with. There is lots of extra-curricular activities as well as inter-house competitions which we hope encourages students to try different things.”

Mrs Aplin added as the house system is in its embryonic stages, the current crop of students will shape how it looks in the future.

As well as the new name, the school has a new logo of a tree which, Mrs Aplin said, symbolises the growth of the school and students, and its roots within the community.

In the last academic year, Cranbourne was still overseeing the last group of Year 11 students sitting their GCSEs from Fort Hill Community School.

Now everyone is under one umbrella, with the former Fort Hill students also asked to play a key role at the school.

And with the new uniform Mrs Aplin said it gives the school a new identity.

She added: “You can see from the students they seem to be proud in wearing the new uniform and we have had feedback from the community saying how smart and presentable all the students are.”