Manchester lays the foundations for innovative school for children and young people with autism

Work begins this week on the foundations of a £14m school that will be a centre of excellence for children and young people with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Grange school, currently located on Dickenson Road in Rusholme, will move to brand new facilities on Mount Road and Matthews Lane in Gorton in early 2012.

Manchester City Council's ambition is that it will lead the way in the education of children and young people with ASD with the creation of a pioneering purpose built school and facilities.

The new school, for pupils aged 4 to 19, will almost double its admission numbers from the current 80 to 150 and will include nursery, primary, secondary and post 16 provision. The school will also have separate facilities for higher ability pupils.

Two houses are also being built on the same site but away from the school and will offer much needed residential provision for children and young people with ASD and their families. One house will offer 10 long term residential places, while the other will provide overnight short break provision for up to 10 children and young people - a first for Manchester .

The school will incorporate conference, training and specialist therapy facilities for use by a wide range of multi-agency professionals.

Specialist outreach teams will be based at Grange and will work with other schools across the city to support children and young people with additional needs.

Parent Governor, Laura Rhodes from Monsall, has a six years old son Jake at Grange, and is eagerly anticipating the opening of the new facility.

She says: "Jake already really enjoys his school and all it has to offer, but the new school will have some amazing facilities and will provide even more opportunities for both pupils and their families. It will be purpose built and will offer the very best care and education for autistic children."

Work began on the site of the new school in June 2010 and it is expected to be completed in January 2012. The site was formerly occupied by Cedar Mount High School which moved to purpose built premises nearby in 2008.

The new school has been designed specifically to meet and be sensitive to the needs of children and young people with ASD and has included extensive consultation with both parents, teachers, pupils and designers experienced in the ASD field, along with visits to other purpose built schools across the country.

The school will have a number of features appropriate to the education of pupils with ASD such as a clear ordered design, non-reflective surfaces, non-flickering lights and good acoustic control.

There will be clear zoning of areas with obvious pointers to identify which activities take place in particular areas and spaces that encourage children to make choices about playing and communicating with others.

Grange headteacher, Andrew Smith, says: "The new school will be a fabulous facility, not only for our own pupils but also for the city as a whole, as it will allow teachers working with children with ASD in mainstream schools across Manchester to use Grange as a central point for advice, information and support. Families who have had to send their children great distances to residential provision, will now be able to use a brand new provision within Manchester ."

The school will become a hub of the community with out-of-hours use of facilities, including a sports hall and soft play area.

Other features of the new school include an allotment, a woodland area, sensory rooms, water features, and a multi use games area.

Councillor Sheila Newman, Manchester City Council Executive Member for Children's Services, says: "The expansion and rebuild of Grange is part of the city council's radical programme and vision to completely transform the way children learn both in mainstream and SEN schools.

"The new school is designed with the needs of children with ASD at the heart of the design. It will be a truly groundbreaking and inspiring school.

The Grange development is part of a wider programme of improvements for children and young adults with ASD across Manchester .

The City Council recently announced £1.183 million funding for a supported housing scheme for 18 young adults with ASD in Levenshulme. Currently a number of young adults with ASD are cared for outside Manchester , but the new scheme will allow them to return to the city to be nearer their families.

Grange is part of Manchester 's Building Schools for the Future and Academies programme, one of the largest in the country, with a total investment of £509 million.

The contractor on this project is Willmott Dixon and the architect is Ellis Williams.