ROBERT Scott, the Oldham company specialising in cleaning products, is stepping in to build a new independent school for autistic children on land next to its head office and mill in Greenfield. The school was told in April its rented premises in Oldham Road, Grasscroft were to be sold and had been living in a state of uncertainty ever since. Robert Scott's operations director Daniel Scott visited the school at that time and learned of its specific needs. The school is reputed to bring a new approach to autism education by seeking to work on the core difficulties at the heart of autism.

These include difficulties with emotional regulation, social understanding, perspective-taking and managing uncertainty and unpredictability.

Due to the specific nature of its requirements for pupils, the school’s management team including proprietor, Zoe Thompson, had been struggling to find suitable premises in the local area within their limited budget.

Following consultation with its board of directors, Robert Scott has offered to build a new school for Bright Futures on the site of a former farm building on vacant land opposite its Greenfield mill. Plans for the build will be submitted for approval to Oldham Council with the hope that the school would be completed and ready for use in 2019.

Zoe said: “Robert Scott has secured our future and given us a platform from which to implement some big plans that we have for our school. We are so grateful to Daniel and the board of directors. The company will also benefit from the development of the site to create a new car park for its staff, but we just couldn’t believe that someone would go to the lengths of building a whole new school for us – it’s so generous.”

Daniel added: “Having heard about the plight of the school and subsequently learned what a fantastic institution it is, we wanted to help. It was clear that Bright Futures School’s needs were unique and as we have a plot of land that would really lend itself to meeting those needs, I was happy to offer to help.

“Between us, we have been working on creating a fantastic small, nurturing learning environment, allowing the school to continue its amazing work with the children.”