Staff at a Basingstoke school are celebrating the opening of a new building.
The independent Kings School‘s new Key House was officially unveiled on Friday, October 15, in a ceremony attended by Basingstoke MP Maria Miller and Basingstoke Mayor, Councillor Keith Chapman.
Mrs Miller said: “Parents here have really shown that by coming together they can create a strong educational institution that can deliver an extremely high quality education, and they have done it independently.
“This is very much a forerunner of the Government's vision of more free schools in Britain.”
Mrs Miller said education was a priority for the coalition government, who hope to see more free schools set up by parents.
The Kings School, which has around 200 students, was established in 1981 by parents from the six branches of Basingstoke Community Church.
Although still only admitting church members, community pastor Andy Taylor, 59, hopes in the next two years other students will be able to join the school.
The church took out a mortgage and sold another building in the town to raise money for the Key House development, which will be used by Years 6 to 11.
Headmaster David Robotham said air-raid shelters on land next to the school were used as science labs in the 1980s, and until now the art studio was a wooden hut.
A new kitchen has allowed the school to introduce a Food Technology GCSE.
Student Danny Valance, 15, from Oakridge, said he liked Key House because the rooms are bigger, making learning much easier.
“When it was smaller there were less things going on,” he said. “It’s got better facilities now and it seems to feel more like a school to us.”
Mother of two Kings School students, Margie Mendelsohn, 43, from Chineham, said: “The new building is fantastic. The children really love their new school.”
Basingstoke College of Technology’s Schools Liason Officer, Allan Gillings, 61, said that GCSE results at The Kings School were some of the best in Basingstoke and north Hamspshire.
More than 60 volunteers help staff the school, including parents and grandparents of students.
Mr Taylor said the new facilities will allow the church to expand the services it provides, including parent and toddler groups.
