Side by Side’s £10m expansion project set to create 50 school places
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Side by Side’s £10m expansion project set to create 50 school places

Work has begun on a 35,000 square foot building, to be built on the former site of the old Avigdor Primary School in Hackney

Pictured, Side by Side school's new construction project is underway
Pictured, Side by Side school's new construction project is underway

Stamford Hill’s Side by Side is set to create an additional 50 pupil places in 2022 thanks to a £10m expansion project.

The 80-place special needs school, which has a waiting list of more than 30 pupils, says work has began earlier this month on a new building on Lordship Road, expected to open its doors in September 2022.

The 35,000 square foot building is to be built on the former site of the old Avigdor Primary School in Hackney and welcome an estimated 130 children, aged two to 19.

Side by Side chair of governors Jacob Sorotzkin said: “Society is judged by how we look after our most vulnerable. I passionately believe that the provision of a purpose-built school which can help even more children reach their maximum potential is a powerful thing and, more crucially, the least we can do to support our growing community.

“The site has been purchased with locally raised funds and a substantial amount of the build costs have come from within Stamford Hill. We now need to look to the wider community to help us complete the project and share in the mitzvah.”

Side by Side was rated ‘good’ by Ofsted across all categories after its last inspection in 2018.

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