EVEN as recently as 20 years ago, the idea of educating a disabled child at a mainstream school would have seemed radical and posed all sorts of accessbility problems.
However, fast forward to today in a quiet corner of Westhoughton and the town boasts one of the first schools in the country which has been purpose-built to cater for children with any disability.
The Gates Primary School, which is an amalgamation of Fourgates and Wingates St John schools, will be used as a blueprint for future schools to be built in Bolton. It is already attracting visitors from other schools and local education authorities wanting advice on how to make their buildings more inclusive.
The sense of space impresses visitors immediately, as the corridors are so much wider, the ceilings are higher and let in more light, the classrooms are more spacious and all have access to the playground.
Any children joining the school in wheelchairs or with walking frames will get around easily. The amount of space means the corridors are never crowded and pupils have more room to make their way from classroom to classroom.
The school, off Manchester Road, which cost nearly £2 million to build, has an impressive central resource area from where all the classrooms lead off . There is also a community room which will be available for Westhoughton groups to hire.
Instead of having a static computer room, The Gates has a mobile ICT suite which involves a trolley of laptop computers being moved to where and when it is needed -- it takes up far less space than a room full of weighty computers.
Therapy rooms are a rarity in mainstream schools, but The Gates will eventually invite speech therapists and physiotherapists to come in and work with whichever pupil needs their help.
Future pupils who are hearing impaired will have no problems studying as a specialist hearing loop radio system has been fitted. Visually impaired youngsters will find life easier thanks to the contrasts between light and dark backgrounds on doors and walls.
There are plenty of disabled toilets and even the door hinges of the toilets are children-friendly with an extra protective coating to get rid of any sharp edges.
The school has been designed to cater for 210 pupils. There are currently 192 children on roll and 30 youngsters in the nursery.
Despite the school's hi-tech facilities, there are no disabled children on the roll as it would have been difficult to accommodate them at the old Fourgates, or especially the two-storey Victorian Wingates St John's building.
But it is hoped that in years to come Westhoughton parents who might have had to send their children to a school out of the borough will now send them to The Gates, and youngsters who have grown up playing together in the same streets will continue to be educated together whatever their educational needs.
For headteacher David Clegg, who was head of Fourgates for 15 years, taking over the reigns of such a futuristic school is extra special, as he has personal knowledge of special needs children due to having an 18-year-old daughter with learning difficulties.
Mr Cleff, aged 56, who lives in Boothstown, said: "To open a new school is a once in a lifetime opportunity, but to open a fully inclusive school with all its endless possibilities is even more exciting.
"The amalgamation has been hard work because both schools were anxious about what might happen and nobody was sure until both school doors were finally closed and the children were all under the new roof.
"The children and staff love the new building, but I don't think the children have particularly picked up on why the corridors are wider. I think they would get a shock if they went back to their old schools and saw how different they were."
Education asset and planning manager Jeff Fletcher has overseen the creation of the new building and admits the process has proved stressful.
"Government policy has developed an awful lot since it was decided we were going to build a new school back in 1999," he said. "The Government watchword is inclusion and it's been exciting to develop a school which is accessible to any youngster.
"I realised that it was worth all the endless meetings when we saw the kids arriving on the first day of term and they were amazed by what they saw."
Every school in Bolton will have to consider their approach to educating disabled pupils since the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 was introduced in September.
All governing bodies of maintained schools will be expected to have an "accessibility plan" in place by April 30 bext year.
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