Chatham is set to get bigger and better this summer as work by Kier Construction on a specialist teaching facility for pupils with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) gets under way.

Students and staff celebrated the official start of work on site with a traditional turf cutting ceremony held yesterday afternoon.

Bradfields is a community special school which currently provides education for 235 pupils with complex learning difficulties and Autistic Spectrum Disorders aged from 11 to 19 years - set to increase to 275 pupils in the 3 to 19 age range from September.

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The new additional specialist provision will include building work on both the Upper and Lower School sites in Churchill Avenue, and the area of land between them. The £1.5m project is part of the council’s commitment to increase specialist autism provision in Medway.

Part of the new construction will include a timber frame building which will be built off site, to minimise disruption for pupils at the school, before being brought in as a prefabricated frame during the summer months for all the final fixtures and fittings. It will provide three classrooms for Key Stage 3 to 5 pupils, office and staff space, a therapy room for use by all pupils and new external sensory garden areas.

The project will also include refurbishment works in the Bradfields Lower School building to create three classrooms specifically for Key Stage 1 and 2 pupils with access to dedicated outside spaces. Small group rooms and a sensory room will also be located within this area for the younger pupils to use as well as lift access to rooms on the first floor.

(CD/GK)