Celebrations took place today to officially open the new Bridge School, located at two different sites in Islington.<br><br>The school provides first class education for children and young people aged between two and 19, who have special educational needs (SEN) and offers support for their families. Both the secondary and primary sections of the school are located in architecturally outstanding buildings on mainstream schools sites – Hungerford Primary and Holloway Secondary.<br><br>Over £25m has been invested in the school to provide specialist facilities designed to aid the development of communication and interaction skills among pupils. Both sites have state of the art sensory theatres and on the Hungerford site, there is an area specifically created for visually impaired children. Secondary pupils in particular, are encouraged to regularly use the specialist music, drama and food rooms, whilst all pupils benefit from extensive ICT and sports facilities. A hydrotherapy pool enables children to focus on their physical abilities, while carefully designed outside spaces combining greenery and water features, provide further sensory teaching areas.<br><br>Leader of Islington Council, Cllr James Kempton officially opened both sections of the school. He was helped by primary pupils at Hungerford who released balloons into the air and secondary pupils at Holloway whose rock band 'Skirts' laid on a performance. Cllr Kempton said: "The Bridge school has always been educationally outstanding. Now it can offer fantastic facilities to match. I want to give every child in Islington a better start in life and of course that has to include children with severe and complex special needs too."<br><br>"With growing numbers of children identified with autism and related disorders, we need to offer the very best services here in our borough, supporting children, parents and families. With the opening of these brilliant school buildings we are taking a major step towards rebuilding all three of our special needs schools. Each of them will be located with a mainstream school to promote inclusion at a pace and in a way that suits each individual child. Islington is a leader in the field and I am very proud of this."<br><br>Children attending The Bridge spend time with a range of specialist staff, who work alongside their teachers; including nurses, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and health care assistants. Some of the outstanding features that the school offers its pupils are also open to the wider community outside of school hours. Voluntary organisations make use of the specialised areas to provide clubs for disabled youngsters to attend.<br><br>Headteacher of the The Bridge, Penny Barratt spoke of her enthusiasm for the new buildings: "The Bridge School now has two fantastic new premises, adjacent to mainstream schools. These buildings are what our pupils deserve and need to learn and they will help our young people prepare for an independent, knowledge-rich, and fulfilled life."<br><br><br><br><br><br> <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br>
Page Last Updated: 17 December 2009