St Nicholas School in Chippenham has embarked on plans to turn a home into an educational place for its students to learn life skills.

The school, which teaches pupils from the ages of three to 19 who have a severe or profound learning disability, has submitted a planning application to change the use of a bungalow 100m from its premises from a residential building to a school.

St Nicholas School has a ‘life skills’ curriculum designed to support pupils in achieving the skills they will need to be as independent as possible in their daily lives. It hopes to use the bungalow, in Long Ridings, to deliver this curriculum.

Jill Owen, headteacher at St Nicholas School, said: “We’re very excited about it.

“We don’t have the room to expand the school, so we talked to the local authority and they agreed to buy the bungalow.

“It’s fabulous for us; we have an aspiration that when our young people leave school they are able to make decisions about their lives.

“The bungalow has already been adapted to suit the needs of physically disabled people – that’s one reason we couldn’t believe it, it’s as if it was meant to be.

"The person who lived there before was a wheelchair user so they are buttons to make things happen and ramps. We couldn’t have really asked for anything more perfect for our school.”

If planning permission is granted, the school hopes to use it when the new school year starts in September.

The bungalow will give pupils the chance to learn independent living skills, such as how to spend leisure time and use public facilities.

St Nicholas School rents a house each year on a short-term basis but it needs a fully accessible building that is capable of supporting the needs of any of their older pupils.

Comments on this application can be made by contacting case officer Chris Marsh on (01249) 706657 before July 30.