DELAMERE School in Flixton has been awarded Autism Accreditation by the National Autistic Society, the UK's leading charity for people on the autism spectrum and their families.

The award was given in recognition of the school’s good autism practice, including consistent use of visual communication systems, and a strong understanding of the needs of individual children.

Autism Accreditation is an autism-specific quality assurance programme. It was set up in 1992 to improve the support available to autistic people in organisations throughout the UK and across the world, including local authorities, NHS trusts, education authorities, local autism societies and private companies. To gain accreditation, organisations have to meet a standard of excellence and follow a framework for continuous self-examination and development.

Sally Burston, the headteacher at Delamere School, said “We are delighted to receive this award in recognition of the commitment from all my staff to improving the lives of children with complex and additional needs.

"Delamere maintains extremely high standards for children with autism and we are continuously looking to improve further. Autism Accreditation has helped us to achieve even more for our children.”

Rachel Gittens, accreditation adviser, said: “Delamere School should be exceptionally proud of its achievement. The National Autistic Society’s Autism Accreditation programme was launched over 20 years ago and sets extremely high standards, which the school has worked incredibly hard to meet.

"This achievement should inspire other organisations and services to improve the way they support autistic people.”