Ambitious promises of huge leaps in achievement and attitude were put before concerned parents tonight as they wondered whether there was hope in what many knew only as “one of the worst schools in the country”.

Only days after he was appointed the proposed first headteacher of the Bushey Academy, Andy Hemmings said parents and students “won't be let down” if the proposed transformation of Bushey Hall School takes place as planned in September.

At a public consultation on the project tonight, its two sponsors, former Watford Football Club Vice Chairman David Meller and Claire Robins, headteacher of Sir John Lawes' School in Harpenden, promised major changes in the “ethos and environment” of the school.

Mrs Robins, whose school has been rated “outstanding” by government inspectors, promised Bushey Hall School's current special measures status would shift to a “good” rating in at least three years.

Wayne Burns, a parent of one of hundreds of children assigned a place at the Academy without requesting one, questioned the sponsors' enthusiasm.

He said: “I have massive concerns about behaviour and exam results. Bushey Hall was ranked the 31st worst school in the country. It has a 14 percent pass rate. Can you tell me how you are going to change a school in such a short time?”

Mr Hemmings said the school would focus on the “value added” measurement of student improvement but he and the two sponsors agreed the school would be “well clear” of the government's 30per cent minimum GCSE pass rate within three years.

Seamus Williams, currently a sixth form student at Bushey Hall, added his own concerns that the attitude of some students would not be changed so easily.

He asked: “How do you plan to change the attitudes of students? There are students here who don't give a flying monkey's.”

The answer from Mr Meller and Mrs Robins was that new facilties, new teachers, new technology and links with other institutions including Haberdashers' Aske's School, Elstree Film Studios and the chamber of commerce would keep pupils interested in education.

Regarding the appointment of another new headteacher, two years after the current one, Graham Yapp, was recruited, Mr Williams said: “In my six years at the school I have seen three headteachers. I would like a personal guarantee from the new headteacher that if things get bad he is not going to jump ship.”

Mr Hemmings, who joined Bushey Hall School as deputy headteacher in January, said: “I came from an outstanding school in leafy Cheltenham to come to Bushey Hall, a school that has tonight been described as one of the worst. So no, I will not be jumping ship.”

If the academy is approved following a public consultation ending on May 13 and a secretary of state decision, plans are being made for an estimated £30million rebuild between 2010 and 2012 “at the latest”.

Many residents voiced worries that the new building would add to parking issues, damage “a little village with tiny roads” and look out of place by a historic high street.

Simon Shepard, of Capita Symonds, overseeing the project for the Department for Children, Schools and Familes, assured parents that although the school's size was increasing from around 650 to more than 1,000 students, the majority currently from South Oxhey not Bushey, traffic plans would be developed and discussed with Hertfordshire Highways during the planning process.

Regarding the design, he added: “It is not about creating another Victorian school. Is about a modern design but one that fits in with its surroundings.”

For more information about the academy, or to fill out a consultation questionnaire, visit http://www.thebusheyacademy.org