A SCHOOL for disabled children is set to become a centre of excellence – as plans for top-of-the-range facilities come to fruition.
Humberston Park Special School, which secured academy status a year ago, is building a physiotherapy hub to complement the existing state-of-the-art hydrotherapy pool.
It has also applied to North East Lincolnshire Council for planning permission to build a new nursery and sixth form blocks to accommodate the growing number of children coming to the school.
Head teacher Andy Zielinski is "excited" about the development.
"It is a fulfillment of decades of work for me and the staff, and certainly for our own physiotherapist, parents and governors," he said.
"The fact we have this quality provision for disabled children is a one off for this area.
"What matters to us most is the benefit it is going to have on the children. The fact we are grade one outstanding by Ofsted doesn't jump off the page for me or do anything for the children, these developments are much more tangible and they will be here for years to come."
Construction work on the £250,000 physiotherapy hub – which will adjoin the hydrotherapy pool – is under way and will be completed by December.
The £670,000 nursery and sixth-form blocks, if permission is granted, would be finished by 2013.
The development will also reaffirm the school's specialist status for physical and sensory development, with further ambitions of becoming a centre of excellence for the entire region.
As well as having its own in-house physiotherapist, it also has a speech and language therapist, helping to support the children in every aspect of their physical disability.
Since the school was built in 1995 the number of pupils has risen from 75 children to 108 yet the building – minus the hydrotherapy centre – has remained the same.
The three new facilities – which are being paid for out of the school's £670,000 Department for Education grant – will mean there will be more space for the children so they can learn and play in a more relaxing environment.
The physiotherapy hub will include special trampoline for rebound therapy and a sound and vibration board.
Mr Zielinski continued: "If people think we have good facilities now then if we make circumstances more favourable for children and staff it can only get better.
"The trick is never to stand still. It is no good to say we were number one last year, there is, certainly with these children, always more we can do to make things better."
Parent Sue Merriman believes the new developments will benefit her daughter, Eve, 13, even more.
She said: "Eve loves going to Humberston Park which offers much more than just schooling, it also gives her speech therapy and physiotherapy.
"It has been there such a long time and so many more children come there yet they haven't had more space and the children need that."
