Watch stunning drone footage showing construction of new £13m state-of-the-art Sunderland school as staff and students celebrate its opening

The new site has a total floor space equivalent to around two football pitches, allowing bigger classrooms, extra hall and therapy provisions including rebound therapy, hydrotherapy, light and sensory facilities and soft play.

The special school, which caters for for 120 pupils and 16 nursery places, educates children with “severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties”.

Work on the new building commenced in July 2021 to replace the outdated facilities at the school's old Springwell site and Sunderland City Council has released stunning drone footage chronicling the 14 month journey from ‘breaking ground’ to completion of the new school

Following the opening, headteacher James Waller said: "It has been a fantastic experience to watch the building go up and for myself and staff to play a role in its design."Everybody here is really excited about accessing the awesome facilities that the building provides. I would like to thank all of our staff, pupils, families and wider community for their support and extend our gratitude to everyone involved in its construction."

The new school also has a storage area for mobility equipment in every class.

Sunderland City Council's Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills, Councillor Louise Farthing said: "This is a tremendous new school. We want to ensure that our most vulnerable pupils have access to the best facilities we can offer them and I think this new school has achieved exactly that and highlights the city’s commitment to our children and young people."Everybody has been watching the construction closely and it’s great to now see it open and in use. The school already has an 'outstanding' Ofsted rating for the level of teaching and learning it provides but now it also has an outstanding building to deliver that from too."

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The school was created as part of the Council’s £45m programme of school updates and built by Kier Construction.

Operations manager Steve Lynn said: "We are incredibly proud to have built this new school for pupils and residents of Sunderland. As a leading builder of educational facilities, we have utilised our extensive experience to deliver a new building which is light, bright and designed to help students thrive.”

Simon Marshall, Director of Education Services at Together for Children, added: “Sunningdale School is already recognised as an 'outstanding' school for pupils with special educational needs and is a wonderful place for children and young people to be. The building of the new school, with its fantastic facilities, demonstrates the continued commitment to meeting the needs of children in Sunderland, and this is a really exciting time for Sunningdale’s pupils, staff and community."