The UK's largest free school campus, which will have capacity for over 2600 pupils, has opened at Barking Riverside London, one of Europe's most significant new developments.1

An innovative new model, Riverside Campus, led by Partnership Learning, is shared by 3 independent free schools: Riverside Secondary School,2 Riverside Primary School and Special Educational Needs (SEN) school Riverside Bridge.3

The £45 million campus provides state of the art facilities including a four court sports hall, four multi-use games areas, an all-weather Astroturf pitch, two dance studios, fully equipped science labs and an impressive main hall. Classrooms at Riverside School are 75 sq.m., significantly larger than the national average 55sq.m. classroom.

Riverside School has capacity for 1800 pupils, Riverside Primary 630 pupils, and Riverside Bridge 180 pupils. This unique structure has maximised facilities for the entire school population, while also enabling special needs pupils to access mainstream resources and lessons where appropriate.

Matthew Carpen, Project Director for Barking Riverside London, said: “Although the Riverside Campus is in the middle of a field right now, it will become the heart of this pioneering community. It is exciting for the residents and their families to be in the middle of this project and we hope we can tap into campus life to inspire the children to explore the changes that will be happening right in front of them. It is a very exciting time to be in this part of London.”

Andrew Roberts, Head of Riverside School, said: “It was an amazing day to see such an aspirational project become a reality. The vision was to serve the whole community with the very best education from reception to A-level, including those students with complex levels of need who attend the Riverside Bridge. That vision is now firmly on track, as three schools, in the state-of-the-art Riverside Campus.”

The new campus will offer facilities for use by the local community outside of school hours, and aims to be a positive catalyst for social cohesion and regeneration, employing a high proportion of local people, ensuring that local families benefit from the opportunities created by Riverside Campus.

Roger Leighton, CEO of Partnership Learning, said: “The opening of the whole Riverside Campus is the culmination of what has been a seven-year project and we are delighted with the final standard of accommodation. The construction project has been a great example of co-operation between constructor, client and end-user”

Once completed, there will be 7 schools in total at Barking Riverside London – including the three at Riverside Campus – serving the 10800 new homes at Europe's largest brownfield development.

The EL1 bus route from Illford Hill has now been extended to Riverside Campus.4 This follows the announcement in August that the Secretary of State for Transport approved plans for the extension of the London Overground to Barking Riverside, due to open in 2021.

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Editors' Notes

1Riverside Campus is largest free school campus by number of pupils, at full capacity.

2 Riverside School opened in Thames Ward as a secondary mixed academy in September 2012, with an intake whose prior attainment was below the national average on entry at KS2. Its first GCSE results this summer were outstanding, with all measures significantly above national average. The school currently has 840 pupils, relocation to the new Riverside Campus will more than double capacity and allow for a new sixth form to be opened.

3 Riverside Bridge has been operational on Riverside Campus since 2016.

4 From September 2017 - EL1 buses will run regular services beyond the current terminus at Mallards Road to and from the Riverside Campus school in Fielders Crescent, between 06:00 and 21:00 Monday to Friday.

About Partnership Learning

Partnership Learning is a Multi-Academy Trust which currently oversees nine schools, in Barking and Dagenham and Havering, but is about to expand into Waltham Forest and Southend, The Trust is one of the largest providers of new free schools, with four already open and a further four approved to open over the next three years.
About Barking Riverside
Barking Riverside, a joint venture between L&Q and the Greater London Authority, will deliver 10,800 new homes, over 65,000 square meters of commercial, retail and community facilities, as well as up to seven schools, public squares and open spaces. There will be a major new highway infrastructure and a new London Overground Station connecting the development to the City in 22 minutes.

Image Credit Hakan Yazici

Caption for images of Bus Stop:
Pupils from Riverside Primary School at the new bus stop at Riverside Campus: Eduard Boian, Maya Ali, Sarim Abakar, Inaaya Abdullah, Isiah Henry, Teddy Donovan, Alusine Kallon