TAVISTOCK Primary School is to forge further links with an independent school in Plymouth by taking part in an innovative project under the Independent/State School Partnership.

Tavistock Primary School and Exeter University will be working with Trengweath School in Plymouth on a project to help include pupils with profound and multiple learning disabilities into a mainstream school environment.

Trengweath School is run by SCOPE and caters for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities. The school wants to start the project by including one of its children in mainstream education at a local primary school.

Headteacher Glynis Pratchett said she was pleased to be working with Tavistock Primary School. 'We are very excited. Tavistock has got a good record for working with children with special needs, and we are very pleased that they want to work with us in a two-way partnership,' she said.

Mrs Pratchett said the type of inclusion work Trengweath School was developing was unique, and the assessors must have thought the project was a good partnership model as only around one third of applicants received grants.

Tavistock Primary School headteacher Joe Flynn said he was delighted to be working with Trengweath School to allow one local child to have access to the experience of mainstream education.

'It's a small start, we are planning for success. We will monitor the situation and maybe the project can be developed later,' he said.

The schools learned last week they had been successful in their application for a general projects grant of £41,000 for the next educational year. The Government scheme aims to break down barriers between independent and state schools through partnership.

The project is set to start in September, though some details still had to be finalised.