Youngsters at Denholme Primary School gave MP Chris Leslie a warm welcome during a fact-finding visit.

The Labour MP for Shipley, whose constituency includes Denholme, toured the school for the first time since its redevelopment was completed.

Mr Leslie was shown around the five new classrooms and the IT suite, which have been added to the Minorca Mount campus since Bradford Council's schools reorganisation.

He met many of the 220 pupils throughout the school, including youngsters in the special education needs department, the only one of its kind in the Bradford district for children with autism.

Mr Leslie said: "The size and range of activities going on at the school is fantastic and from what I can see the quality of education seems very good.

"The extra space that the school now has is a massive improvement on the cramped conditions of a year ago.

"The number of new initiatives, such as the path-finder work and continuation of learning for adults, is really what a good community school should be about.

"The education for children with autism is a specialist provision for not just Denholme, but the whole of the Bradford district, and it is obviously serving an essential need.

"If there are particular funding issues I can raise them with ministerial colleagues."

Denholme is the only primary resource school for children with autism in the Bradford district, providing education for 14 children.

The school is looking to integrate children with special needs into mainstream classes, although they will still have access to the special unit if they feel the need to move back there.

Head teacher Paul Terry said: "What we would like to do is move the unit out of here and more into the mainstream. We feel it's much more inclusive for the children in the unit."

The school is participating in the Excellence in Cities scheme which provides funding to nurture gifted and talented students.

It has also introduced adult classes in conjunction with Keighley College on a range of subjects, such as literacy and numeracy, first aid and coping with challenging behaviour.