CROWNBRIDGE School is celebrating after being recognised as a centre of excellence.

It is the first school to be awarded the status in Wales and the 17th in Europe.

The Cwmbran school held a celebratory event on May 24, that included an Oscar-style ceremony where the Move Centre of Excellence plaque was presented.

Move is an activity based programme that enables children with physical disabilities or complex needs to develop and improve their skills in order to achieve maximum independence in sitting, standing and walking.

To achieve centre of excellence status, Crownbridge School has shown it can maintain a high standard over the past three years, in both the interpretation of the theory of Move, and in helping children with disabilities learn the skills to become more independent.

The Move Partnership’s chief executive Nigel Carter commented: “The children, teachers, therapists and parents at Crownbridge School have all worked extremely hard with the Move Programme to achieve Centre of Excellence status.”

Headteacher at the school Lesley Bush added: “The programme has helped us set goals for the pupils which they can work on every day.

“To gain the recognition from is great for our school, pupils and their families.

“It reinforces the extremely high level of good practice we work towards.”

For further information on the Move programme visit themovepartnership.org.uk