Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg took a tour around the borough’s first free school on Monday.

Newham Recorder: The new building for School 21, Stratford.The new building for School 21, Stratford. (Image: Archant)

The Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby requested a visit to School 21 in Stratford to meet children and explore their “modern” approach to education.

Headteacher Peter Hyman, a former special adviser to ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair, says he believes his class sizes - no higher than 25 - will be the key to success.

He added: “Mr Twigg was very keen to visit because he knows what we are trying to do, and how we are preparing our children for a modern 21st century education.”

School 21 is currently in temporary accommodation so Mr Twigg also learned about the cohort’s move to the site of the Old Rokeby School site - currently under construction - in September.

The school, which opened on Rokeby Street in September last year, caters for children ageed four to 18, enrolling 75 children in reception and the same number in Year Seven.