Sherry Zand, the principal of the new free school at Brandon in west Suffolk at a 'meet the principal' event on Saturday.

The principal of a new free school in Brandon today said she was “overwhelmed” with the response to the setting up of a new-look secondary school in the west Suffolk town.

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Breckland Middle School is set to close under a Suffolk County Council education shake-up in July, which has paved the way for a community-run educational trust - Sabres (Save Breckland School) - and a Swedish-owned private company to establish IES Breckland, which will open on the school site in September.

Dozens of prospective parents and pupils attended a ‘meet the principal’ event at Brandon Leisure Centre today to view the plans for the free school, which will be the first school in Britain to be operated by Internationella Engelska Skolan (IES) UK.

Officials behind the company, which was granted permission from the Department for Education to establish IES Breckland earlier this year, say they will adopt a “tough love” approach by bringing a Swedish ethos to education in Brandon.

Pupils and parents also got to have their say on a proposed purple school uniform at the consultation event.

IES Breckland has places for 300 year 7, 8, and 9 pupils and parents are being urged to sign their children up as soon as possible.

The school will be run by Sherry Zand, who has 13 years experience teaching in the public and private sector in Britain.

Read Monday’s EDP for an interview with the new principal at the Brandon free school.