POP STAR Daniel Bedingfield performed at Enfield's first city academy last week to mark its official opening.

The 29-year-old, who first hit the top of the UK singles charts in 2001 with Gotta Get Thru This, was joined at the Oasis Academy Enfield by the school's backer, Steve Chalke MBE.

Mr Chalke is the founder of the Oasis Trust, which has also helped to open two other academies this year in Grimsby and Immingham, in north-east Lincolnshire, with another one set to open in Bristol next year.

The trust, which is a worldwide organisation founded on Christian values delivering educational, health and housing services for local authorities and governments, has become fully involved in the Government's city academies policy.

Oasis Academy Enfield began teaching Year 7 pupils in September, and celebrated a successful first half term last Friday with a morning of activities, welcoming a host of guests to experience what the Oasis Academy vision is all about.

Mr Chalke, who is a baptist minster, spoke to pupils about his dream of opening a school, hostel and hospital when he was 14.

He said: "For quite a number of years we dreamed of a school opening. This is a great school.

"It's a wonderful privilege for me to stand here and look at you all."

John Walton, principal at the Oasis Academy, said the first weeks had gone brilliantly and that the students had settled in very well.

The main school building is still being built, so the academy is currently housed in hi-spec temporary buildings, containing the latest technology.

Mr Walton said the school was founded on a Christian ethos, but was completely inclusive.

He said: "It's completely inclusive; it's about serving others. We have kids here with no faith - there's no criteria to get in, but it's most of our motivation for being here.

"Our curriculum is based on developing young people's competencies, about developing people for the future.

"We are teaching English and maths and the core national curriculum subjects; the main focus is on developing them as competent people."

Mr Walton added that research suggested 30 per cent of school pupils would go into jobs that did not currently exist, so the school was geared towards giving pupils a well-rounded education but preparing them for the future.