Pupils at one of the Government’s flagship free schools are set to have lessons on top of a branch of Lidl after four years in temporary classrooms

• Deer Park School, Twickenham, has been located in an adult community college  
• 37 free schools have been open for three years without a permanent location
• Kingston Community School has been housed in an NHS clinic since 2015 

Students at a flagship Government free school are set to have their lessons on top of a Lidl after spending four years in temporary classrooms. 

Deer Park School in Twickenham, which was set up in 2015, has so far been located in an adult community college. 

It is one of 37 free schools which have been open for at least three years but are still in temporary accommodation.

Students at a flagship Government free school are set to have their lessons on top of a new branch of Lidl (pictured) after spending four years in temporary classrooms

Deer Park School in Twickenham (pictured), which was set up in 2015, has so far been located in an adult community college

Paxton Academy in Thornton Heath has been dubbed ‘Portakabin Academy’ because it has been housed in mobile classrooms on a rugby field for five years. 

And the International Academy of Greenwich has been operating out of an old office block since 2016 after plans to build permanent accommodation were squashed by a poor Ofsted review.

Kingston Community School has been in its temporary location of an NHS clinic since 2015, although it has plans to move to a permanent address next year.  

Joint general secretary of the National Education Union, Dr Mary Bousted, told the Mirror: ‘The blame for these failures should be laid at the Government’s feet for having pursued an incoherent mess of a policy with dogmatic zeal.’   

Paxton Academy (pictured) in Thornton Heath has been dubbed ‘Portakabin Academy’ because it has been housed in mobile classrooms on a rugby field for five years

Kingston Community School has been in its temporary location of an NHS clinic since 2015, although it has plans to move to a permanent address next year

But the Department for Education said: ‘Of free schools inspected by Ofsted in ­temporary accommodation for more than two years, around nine in ten rated good or outstanding.’

Local resident Jenny Brand told the Richmond and Twickenham Times: ‘My grandson goes to Deer Park school and my daughter-in-law is very active in their PTA. 

‘I think it’s a very good site for the school as East Twickenham had nothing before. As for Lidl, I’ve never lived near one so it will be a new experience but I’m told they are very good.’ 

Both the first and second floors of the new Lidl will house the school and will include an on-site playground, outdoor learning spaces and a games area for football and netball. 

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