RIVERSTON
SCHOOL
INCLUDE | INNOVATE | INSPIRE
Welcome to Riverston School
Our Aims and Ethos
Riverston School provides a warm, caring and stimulating environment where children will learn new skills. We excel at providing each child with the right skills to prepare them for life in the wider world. We are part of a community characterised by a profound respect for and encouragement of diversity, where important differences among children and adults are celebrated. What drives us is ensuring that children have the best possible life chances and that they are not limited by the perceptions of themselves and what they might achieve in life.
Explore Riverston School
HEADTEACHER'S WELCOME
I am delighted to welcome you to Riverston School and College. If we have the pleasure of you visiting in person, you will quickly see we are a very unique setting with the reality of inclusion at our core. We are an independent school in the heart of London, and reflect the diversity that surrounds us. Our students reach across all abilities and backgrounds. Our small classes and nurturing environment provides the platform for success that a traditional educational setting cannot provide. Many of our students come from a place of broken relationships with the school system, difficult experiences in their peer relationships or a lack of empathy and understanding from professionals working with them. We look to repair relationships and trust in the school system so that students feel safe enough, and happy enough, to reach their academic potential.
Our extensive therapy team including drama therapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy, allow us to cater for students with wide ranging needs, including those with mental health difficulties as well as learning needs. We offer a broad and rich curriculum which includes GCSEs, A Levels and BTECs, alongside a range of life skills courses that help prepare our young people for life beyond secondary education. Our future focused ethos means we take a very child centred approached and look to tailor our provision to the needs of each individual, leading them to where they want be in adulthood. Whether that is further education, employment or simply being able to live independently, our focus is on the child and family voice and their hopes and aspirations. We very much hope you will have the chance to visit our fantastic school, so we can show you our ethos and values in practice.
Guy Baker, Headteacher
📚✨ World Book Day at Riverston School ✨📚
Here are a few more photos from our fantastic World Book Day celebrations, showing some of our students together in their amazing book character costumes!
It was wonderful to see so much creativity and enthusiasm across the school as we celebrated the joy of reading together. 📖
#RiverstonSchool #WorldBookDay #LoveReading #BookCharacters #SchoolCommunity 📚
📚✨ World Book Day at Riverston School! ✨📚
We have had so much fun celebrating World Book Day today at Riverston School! Our school community came together to share in the joy of reading, with students and staff embracing the day by dressing up as their favourite book characters and taking part in special activities throughout the day.
It was wonderful to see so much creativity, enthusiasm and excitement around books, as everyone enjoyed a fantastic event celebrating stories, imagination and reading together.
A big thank you to everyone who took part and helped make the day such a memorable one for our school community! 📖🌟
#RiverstonSchool #WorldBookDay #LoveReading #SchoolCommunity #ReadingForPleasure #BookCharacters #CelebrateReading 📚
🐾💛 A Calm and Caring Moment at Riverston 💛🐾
We love seeing the positive impact that animal interaction can have on our students.
Recently, one of our pupils spent some quiet time with our school guinea pig, showing such gentle care, confidence and calmness. These moments may seem small, but they can make a big difference — supporting emotional regulation, wellbeing and building trust.
Animal-assisted experiences can help students develop:
✨ Nurturing skills
✨ Responsibility
✨ Emotional awareness
✨ Confidence and communication
We are so proud of the maturity and kindness shown during this session. It’s wonderful to see our pupils thriving in different ways across the school day.
#RiverstonSchool #Wellbeing #AnimalAssistedLearning #ProudMoments #InclusiveEducation
📚✨ World Book Day at Riverston School! ✨📚
Today we have been celebrating World Book Day across the school, and our form groups have truly outdone themselves with their incredible book-themed door displays!
From the magical world of The Wizard of Oz and the fantasy of The Lord of the Rings, to the imaginative storytelling of Guards! Guards! and the powerful themes of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, students and staff have worked together to bring their favourite books to life in creative and inspiring ways.
The effort, creativity and attention to detail in these displays have been fantastic to see, and they have helped create a real buzz around reading throughout the school. 📖🌟
A huge well done to everyone involved — we love seeing our school community come together to celebrate the joy of books and storytelling!
#RiverstonSchool #WorldBookDay #LoveReading #ReadingForPleasure #SchoolCommunity #BookInspired #CelebrateReading 📚
📣 New Structured Movement Break System
From this week, we are introducing a structured Movement Break Lanyard System across the school.
This system is designed to support students who may need short regulation or movement breaks during lessons — particularly those with anxiety, EBSA or additional support needs — while maintaining high expectations for attendance and conduct.
🔑 Key expectation:
All students must attend the start of their lesson, be registered, and then request a movement break if needed.
How it works:
• Students arrive to lesson and register
• They request a movement break if required
• The teacher agrees a time limit
• The student leaves with a purple lanyard
• The student returns promptly at the agreed time
Students who are out of lessons without a lanyard will be supported back to class so we can maintain clear routines and accountability.
This is not about increasing freedom, but about providing structured autonomy with visible accountability. Our immediate priority is ensuring all students arrive to lessons on time before accessing a break.
We appreciate your support as we embed this consistent approach across the school. If you have any questions, please do get in touch.
🏫 Our School Community
Riverston School is more than a place of learning — it’s a community.
Working together with pupils, staff and families, we continue to build a supportive environment where everyone feels valued.
💼✨ Careers Focus at Riverston School ✨💼
Today our students had the fantastic opportunity to take part in a careers-focused session with special guest Mr Lewis Speakman, who shared valuable insights into different career pathways and opportunities for the future.
Students explored a range of options, discussed key skills for the workplace, and gained helpful advice on planning their next steps beyond school. Sessions like this help our students broaden their horizons and think confidently about their future goals.
A big thank you to Mr Speakman for taking the time to inspire and guide our students. 🌟
#RiverstonSchool #NationalCareersWeek #CareersEducation #FuturePathways #InspiringFutures #StudentSuccess
⭐ Celebrating Our Pupils
We are proud of our pupils — for their effort, resilience and positive attitudes.
Success at Riverston isn’t just about results, it’s about confidence, character and growth.
🌐✨ eSafety Half Term: Conversation Starters for Families ✨🌐
This half term, we’re encouraging families to pause, reflect and open up meaningful conversations about technology use at home.
Talking regularly about online life helps young people feel heard, while strengthening trust, awareness and safety. 💬💙
Here are a few simple conversation starters you could try at home:
📱 Device Use & Habits
• How much time do you usually spend on your devices each day?
• What online activities do you enjoy most?
• Do we have good family routines around screen time?
🛡️ Online Safety & Awareness
• What would you do if you saw something upsetting online?
• Do you feel confident about staying safe online?
🤝 Communication & Trust
• Would you feel comfortable coming to me if something online worried you?
• Shall we talk about the good (and not-so-good) parts of being online?
🔐 Privacy & Security
• Do you know how to protect your personal information?
• Have we checked your privacy settings together recently?
A regular, calm check-in can make a big difference. 💡
Let’s work together to keep our children safe, confident and informed online.
#eSafety #OnlineSafety #DigitalWellbeing #Parenting #HalfTerm #FamilyConversations
📚✨ World Book Day Creativity at Riverston! ✨📚
In celebration of World Book Day, some of our form groups have been getting wonderfully creative with their classroom displays — and we absolutely love the results!
Take a look at this fantastic Wizard of Oz inspired display, complete with the yellow brick road and a very fitting message: “There’s No Place Like Riverston.” 🌈👠
A huge well done to everyone involved for bringing literature to life in such a vibrant and imaginative way. We can’t wait to see more of the brilliant displays around school!
#WorldBookDay #RiverstonSchool #ReadingForPleasure #TheresNoPlaceLikeRiverston
🌟 We Are So Proud of Alex! 🌟
We are delighted to share some incredible news about one of our students, Alex.
Alex was one of just 20 invited guests asked to share his views on how a university nursing degree curriculum should change to better reflect the lived experiences of patients. The event brought together nurse leaders, lecturers and individuals with lived experience to help shape future nurse training.
🏫 Birmingham City University is the first university to undertake a complete overhaul of its nursing programme — going beyond recent guidelines to create meaningful change.
During the session, Alex confidently raised his hand and addressed the room with clarity, confidence and passion. He spoke powerfully about being recognised and spoken to as an adult, explaining that he wants to be asked questions and treated with the same respect as any other adult.
His contribution was described as invaluable by nurse leaders, and — alongside the voices of learning disability nurses — his views will now help shape future nurse training.
Even more impressively, Alex has been invited to continue supporting this ongoing project.
This work has the potential to make a real difference to how nurses are trained and, ultimately, to improve care and support for children, young people and adults with Down’s Syndrome and other disabilities nationwide.
We are incredibly proud of Alex for representing himself and others so powerfully. What an inspiring achievement! 👏
