Vast new St Mary Magdalene school in Greenwich opens this week

A new £45 million school in Greenwich will welcome the first pupils to permanent new buildings this week.

St Mary Magdalene school will have 450 pupils initially, and expand up to 1,650 pupils from nursery age to sixth form alongside 200 staff. The sixth form starts in 2019.

All Koinonia Federation staff are together this morning for a special service in our brand new building on Greenwich Peninsula pic.twitter.com/OCpRHIJXTT

— St Mary Magadalene (@StMaryMagPri) October 29, 2018

In total there will be a 26-place nursery, a 420 pupil primary school, 900-place secondary school and 300-place sixth form.

Features of the school include sports facilities and a full-size running track, an all-weather sports pitch and a four court indoor sports hall.

I had a wander around to see the site.

Roads on two sides – John Harrison Way and West Parkside – are very good and welcoming to those on foot:

Roads the other side towards east Greenwich and on Bugsby’s Way and Blackwall Lane are less welcoming:

Crossing locations aren’t that great and I can see children crossing at the arms of the roundabout where few crossings exist on some approach roads.

The location of crossings is particularly inconvenient for children walking from east Greenwich and many new homes at Enderby Wharf, Precision, and River Gardens. So bad in fact I can’t see many parents allowing it meaning more congestion.

New towers have been approved beside the school but yet to commence:

No further road improvements are planned as pupil numbers rise from 450 to 1,650.