Keys were handed over on 27 August for Clarendon's third site, in Petersham. It adds 77 specialist places to a school the DfE register puts at 164 pupils in 160.
Richmond Council has taken the keys to a new special school building in Petersham, and the first pupils arrive with the autumn term.
The building is a satellite centre for Clarendon School, the borough’s special school for children with moderate learning difficulties and autism. The council announced the handover on 27 August, saying construction is complete and staff were moving in.
It has been designed for up to 77 pupils. That is not a small addition to what the borough already has.
Why 77 places matters here
The Department for Education’s register of schools records Clarendon School’s capacity as 160 and the number of pupils on its roll as 164, on the entry for URN 143317. Pupil numbers there come from the school census rather than a live count, but the direction is clear enough: the school is full, and has been taking more children than it was built for.
The same register records that Clarendon is an academy special converter, run by Helix Learning Trust and sponsored by Coombe Academy Trust, with a statutory age range of 4 to 16 and 41.5% of pupils eligible for free school meals.
Until now it has operated on two sites, both several miles from Petersham:
- Clarendon Primary, Buckingham Road, Hampton, TW12 3LT
- Clarendon Secondary, Egerton Road, Twickenham, TW2 7SL
Petersham is the third. The council’s stated reason for building it is to cut the number of children placed outside the borough: more specialist places locally means, in the words of council leader Gareth Roberts, that “more children access the right education and support without needing to travel outside the borough”.
What is actually in the building
The council’s release describes modern classrooms, specialist teaching and therapy spaces, a multi-purpose hall and improved outdoor areas. The contractor’s own description is more specific. Kier, which was appointed to the job on 20 October 2025 through the SCAPE construction framework, lists:
- ten classrooms
- four specialist teaching spaces, for art, drama, music, food technology and life skills
- a hall, a kitchen, therapy rooms, group rooms, offices and breakout areas
- soft and hard play areas, a court and a sensory garden
- staff parking with electric vehicle charging points, and cycle storage
The building targets a BREEAM Excellent rating and net zero carbon in operation, using air source heat pumps, photovoltaic panels, motion detection lighting and smart meters. The council adds that it carries a bio-solar green roof and that biodiversity improvements were made across the site. The architect is Playle and Partners LLP.
One point is worth flagging rather than glossing over. Kier describes the centre as serving key stages 1 to 5, which reaches beyond the 4 to 16 age range the DfE register currently holds for Clarendon. Neither the council nor the trust has published anything saying the school’s age range is changing, so treat the post-16 element as unconfirmed until one of them does.
Eleven months from appointment to keys
Kier was appointed in October 2025 and the frame was topped out the following month. By the end of May 2026 the council reported the building watertight, with roofing complete and internal fit-out under way. The keys changed hands on 27 August, ten days before most of the borough’s schools went back.
What it means for you
If you have a child with special educational needs in Richmond, a place at Clarendon is not something you apply for the way you apply for a reception place. Specialist placements are arranged through the council’s SEND service, which is run jointly with Kingston by Achieving for Children. Richmond’s own SEND page points parents and carers to the Achieving for Children Local Offer for Kingston and Richmond for what is available across education, health and social care from birth to 25.
If you live in Petersham or Ham, the practical change is traffic and footfall on a site that has been a building compound for the best part of a year. The council has not published arrival and departure arrangements, and specialist schools of this size run a significant amount of home-to-school transport. Anything that affects the roads round it will show up in the council’s traffic orders, and those are collected on our Richmond roadworks and travel page.
Councillor Julia Cambridge, who chairs the Education and Children’s Services Committee, said the school “will provide specialist spaces, modern facilities and a welcoming environment to help pupils build confidence, develop independence and reach their potential”.
Sources
- Keys unlock new chapter for Clarendon SEND School, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 27 August 2026, for the handover, the 77 places, the facilities, the quotes from Councillor Julia Cambridge and Councillor Gareth Roberts, the architect, the contractor and the green roof and heat pumps.
- Brand-new SEND school for local children moves closer to opening, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 29 May 2026, for the November 2025 topping out, the watertight building and the internal fit-out.
- Kier appointed to deliver vital SEND provision in London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, Kier, 20 October 2025, for the SCAPE framework, the ten classrooms and four specialist teaching spaces, the outdoor areas, the parking and the BREEAM Excellent and net zero targets.
- Clarendon School, URN 143317, Get Information about Schools, Department for Education, for the 160 capacity, the 164 pupils on roll, the trust and sponsor, the 4 to 16 age range and the free school meal share.
- Clarendon School, for the addresses of the Hampton and Twickenham sites.
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, for the route to specialist provision through Achieving for Children.
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