Gill Smith faces an unusual challenge - she has been chosen to run a school that is just a large patch of grass.

The headteacher will take charge of Maidenbower Secondary School, in Crawley, when its doors open in September 2004 but at the moment, plans for the building are still on the drawing board.

The school is part of a multi-million pound Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for the town. It will fill a gap for Maidenbower, where there is currently no secondary school.

The area, which now has a population of around 8,600, is the newest neighbourhood in Crawley, springing up in the late Eighties.

According to the temporary governing body of the school, there are around 1,600 children under 11 in the area.

Governors say that when the 1,450-capacity school opens its doors in 2004, it will take in 197 students from Maidenbower and 210 students from Pound Hill, in Years 7 and 8.

Ms Smith, previously deputy head at 850 pupil Farnham Heath End Secondary School, in Surrey, visited the site this week and met some of her potential pupils.

She said: "Becoming a headteacher is the zenith of anyone's teaching career. To have this ambition fulfilled in a new school is a very exciting opportunity."

A total of £100 million is to be spent revamping Crawley's education system, which includes the total replacement of Thomas Bennett Community College and Ifield Community College on their existing sites.

It also covers construction of a new leisure centre on the Thomas Bennett campus and a new Desmond Anderson primary school.

Construction company HBG Projects has been chosen to carry out the projects and it will also maintain the new Catherington and Deerswood Special Schools.