A Romford headteacher is “absolutely delighted” the government has granted her secondary school academy status.

Mary Morrison, head of Bower Park School, Havering Road, said the change would see more money pumped into the classroom, as well as a new curriculum.

“As a head teacher, I’m absolutely delighted,” she said. “It gives the school more freedom to provide the best for the students of Bower Park.”

Mrs Morrison said the school could now take greater control over its finances, and would be able to “select and save money” when choosing what agencies to work with.

“What’s important is that the money goes back into the classroom – things like having individual learning mentors,” she said, adding the school had not yet decided where the money would be taken from.

The new status is the third piece of good news the school has received in recent months, following the announcement of its best-ever GCSE results in August, and its appearance in an Ofsted “excellence” brochure.

“The icing on the cake is the academy status,” Mrs Morrison added.

In an e-mail to the Recorder, Romford MP Andrew Rosindell said: “This is wonderful news and our heartfelt congratulations should go to Mary and her magnificent team at Bower Park, who have worked so hard to make this possible.”