A £40million Government-funded project will transform two schools in Castle Point.

Glenwood special needs school is to move from Rushbottom Lane, Benfleet, to join Deanes School in brand new premises on the latter’s ample site in Daws Heath Road, Thundersley.

Glenwood, which teaches about 100 children between three and 19, will get £12million of the project’s total budget, enough to build new, modern premises, including a sensory room and a soft play area.

The remaining £28million will provide Deanes School with improved facilities, including a new sports hall and an all-weather outdoor sports pitch.

Deanes headteacher Jan Atkinson said: “We are all really excited about the plans.

“Not only do they mean our pupils will benefit from state-of-the-art facilities, but they will provides a guaranteed future for the school.”

Judith Salter, her counterpart at Glenwood School, said her pupils desperately needed the extra space, the new site would offer.

She explained “A lot of our pupils have quite complex special needs and they need space which is just not available at our current location.

“We do a very good job in restricted space, but this new school will mean we can offer even better provision.”

The work is being funded by the Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

Some of the new buildings will be shared by the two schools, but each will continue to run independently, with separate entrances.

Building work will start in September 2011, with the aim of completing the new facilities in time for the start of the new school years in September 2013.

Glenwood School is oversubscribed and the plans should allow more children to enjoy the specialist education it offers.

Essex County Council, which owns Glenwood’s present site, has yet to decide what will happen to it after the move.