Work begins this week on the foundations of a £14 million 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.

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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.

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.

(CD)