Manor Drive Academy: Photographs show first look inside Peterborough's newest primary and secondary school

Manor Drive Primary and Secondary Academy opened its doors to its first ever cohort of students in nursery, reception and Year 7 this week.

The school has a nursery on site, which is open for two sessions a day – a morning and afternoon class with 24 places per session.

The primary academy is also on the same site as the secondary academy – and is interconnected with the main building.

Manor Drive Primary Academy headteacher, Craig Petrie, said this approach “brings everyone together to share an educational journey and learn from each other”.

The primary academy currently has two reception classes and will take the children through to Year 6 before they transition across to the upper school.

Mr Petrie said the children already enrolled at the school have made a “really positive start” to life at Manor Drive Academy.

The primary school has 15 classrooms in total and thought has been put into how to best utilise the space.

There is a specialist science room, which is typically a facility only seen in high schools.

Mr Petrie added: “Experiences are what education is all about.

"Although as a new school we are still in our infancy, we want people to know that we are here and that spaces are still available.”

A total of 113 Year 7s started this week, with a cohort of 120 for the year group.

There is also a wellbeing sensory garden outside the special educational needs (SEN) department, situated in the centre of recreational areas, where students can grow and sell their own food.

The school has gender neutral toilets for transgender students, but also has specific male and female toilets – acknowledging the importance of "giving its students a choice”.

The Peterborough Telegraph has put together a collection of images, allowing readers to take first-look inside the new school: