A PRIMARY school which started as a classroom in a garden shed has flung open its doors as a fully-fledged school.
Rows of smiling faces greeted dozens of guests specially invited to the official opening of Apex Primary School, Argyle Road, Ilford.
The opening last Monday signalled the end of more than five years hard work by what started out as a small group of parents who wanted to give their children a different type of schooling.
Apex, which is a private fee-paying school that puts the teaching of Islam at its heart, was labelled as “outstanding” by Redbridge Mayor Cllr Loraine Sladden, who unveiled a plaque during the opening.
The school, which has up to 50 youngsters on its books, plans to further expand the two converted houses it has used since September.
A similar number of pupils in reception and nursery classes are at their original building in Cambridge Road, Barking, but it is hoped they be able to move to the Ilford site eventually.
Headteacher Anjuman Iftikhar said: “This is really a big milestone. We’ve been moving from premises to premises and now we have a permanent home.
It would be great to get some photos of the school-shed, maybe we need a new category for the Shed of the Year competition.
