A SIKH free school remains on course to open in Hounslow in September but it has halved its initial intake.
The Nishkam School West London, approved in principle by the government last year, had planned to accept 200 pupils – 100 in each of its reception and year one classes.
But the size of the school’s initial temporary venue, which has yet to be confirmed, means it has had to reduce those numbers to 50 in each class, because of a lack of space.
A spokeswoman for the school, which will reserve half its places for Sikh students, with the rest available regardless of religion, said it was pleased with the progress made so far.
She told the Chronicle its senior leadership team was in place and it was recruiting teachers.
She added that she was happy with the number of applications received, although she refused to give a figure.
The Nishkam School Trust already runs a primary school in Birmingham and plans to open another school in Leeds.
It claims the Hounslow venue will eventually be the UK’s first ‘all-round’ faith school, catering for pupils from the age of four to 18.
Although it will initially open with just 100 children, the trust aims to build year by year and have 1,400 when it reaches full capacity in 2019, by which time it will be settled in a permanent home.
Free schools are government-funded but have more freedom than local authority schools to decide issues such as the length of the school day and the curriculum.
As of September last year, 79 had opened across the UK.
