A new special school for autistic children in Moxon Street, Barnet, is full of surprises. A calm, safe playground on the roof top and a pink and purple sensory room are just two of the many innovative features.

Creating The Windmill School out of the shell of a former warehouse is being described as “a brilliant example” of how to regenerate a dis-used commercial building for community use.

At a ceremony to celebrate the official opening of the £12.5 million new school, headteacher Ginny D’Odorico described The Windmill -- which will eventually have 90 pupils -- as an educational space where autism is embraced.

She praised the vision of those within education, local and national government who had done so much to establish a publicly funded school for boys and girls between the ages of five and 19.

With the start of the new term, the school now has 34 pupils, up from 15 last September, and this will increase steadily to reach its full intake of 90 within about two years.

Finding a site for a new special school had not been easy but working with Barnet Council, the Department of Education had succeeded in purchasing the former clothing warehouse in Moxon Street and authorising the reconstruction.

Capital projects manager Andy Hamer – seen here with Ginny D’Odorico – said that as the father of an autistic daughter he believed that a special effort was needed to create schools to give “very vulnerable children” the best possible start to their academic life.

“By taking on an old warehouse and by adapting the shell of the building, which we have extended with a school assembly hall, we have created a brilliant new school...this is the way to utilise old buildings and regenerate the area.”

Perhaps the greatest wow factor on being shown around the school is an imaginative rooftop playground which includes a sheltered, quiet, area of seating, a wide play area and a securely fenced off area for ball games.

“When the planners told us the school’s play area would be on the roof, we couldn’t envisage what they had in mind,” said Judith Charlesworth (above right) who has just stood down as chair of the Barnet Special Education Trust, which manages The Windmill, Oak Lodge School at East Finchley and the Oakbridge special education centre at Edgware.

“What we now have is an amazing outdoor play space, which is a calm, safe environment, and larger than at many schools, with a quiet sensory garden, lots of space for activities and a self-contained area for ball games.”

Mrs Charlesworth said the challenge – since 2017 -- had been to find a suitable site for the school. An empty warehouse had now been brought back into use to meet a real need.

Val White (above left), who has taken over as chair of the trustees, said the location in Moxon Street was ideal for the school.

“At one end of the road are King George’s Fields and the Hadley countryside and close by at the other end of Moxon Street is Barnet High Street.

“Older children can walk up to the shops in the town centre and that is so important for them.

“On the lower ground floor, we are developing a skills room where children will be able to learn about cooking and other aspects of looking after themselves, so that hopefully they can go on and manage to live independently.”

Ian Kingham, the trust’s business director who was project manager for the construction, took visitors on a tour of the school – starting in the first classroom for children aged five to six.  

Wide corridors around the interior are designed to provide children with as much personal space as possible.

Among the innovations is the brightly coloured sensory room which is especially popular with younger children.

Mr Kingham said purple and pink are two colours which research suggests have a calming effect on children with autism.

Neil Marlowe, chief executive of Barnet Education Learning Services which authorises funding for school places across the borough, said there was increasing demand for greater provision at special schools.

The challenge was to recruit the teachers that were needed and once fully staffed he said the school would not take long to reach capacity.

Minibuses taking children to the school follow a one-way system and exit the school site by the lower entrance in Moxon Street, next to the Hadley Wood Hospital.