A specialist school for children aged 11-14 will be opening its doors to Dartford students this month.

The Inspiration Academy is connected to The Leigh UTC, which specialises in science and technology for students aged 14-18. It will be welcoming its first cohort of Year Seven students on March 26.

The Academy is STEM based, meaning it has a heavier focus on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics amongst students.

Steve Leahey, head teacher at The Inspiration Academy, said it is “the first of its kind” as the only STEM school in the country for children of these ages.

The students have been studying at the Academy’s older tier, the Leigh UTC, since September 2017 – but their new ‘state of the art’ site will soon be ready for them.

Mr Leahey said there has been huge interest in the school so far, with 140 new Year Seven students lined up to enrol next September: “We are already over-subscribed.”

He is especially pleased at the number of female students who have shown interest in the school.

“I’m a great advocate of trying to get more girls into STEM subjects. We have managed to recruit 35 percent girls,” he said.

Companies such as Coca Cola and Fujitsu have partnered with the school to invest in food and computer science programmes.

Although there is an emphasis on certain areas, students will still follow the national curriculum and will study other subjects such as English and PE.

Mr Leahey added it is important to develop “key attributes” such as resilience and confidence in his students, and the Academy will encourage this.

The school will first open during the week before the Easter holidays as an induction week.

Students and their parents will be invited into the new building to explore its facilities before students begin lessons later in the week.