A revolution in the education of hearing-impaired children has started in Bradford.

The first of three centres with acoustically-tuned classrooms has opened at Girlington Primary School, in Girlington Road, Bradford.

About 30 pupils at the school are deaf or hearing-impaired and a refurbishment project is now complete which makes concentrating in lessons easier.

The Telegraph & Argus was yesterday invited to tour the refitted section of the school ahead of its official opening.

Evidence of the transformation is unnoticeable from outside, but beyond the reception area is a pristine corridor, flanked by two new classrooms and two new group study areas.

A flight of stairs, created with materials that limit the noise they make when you walk on it, leads upwards to a newly-created mezzanine level. Here there is another classroom and two further smaller study areas.

As well as looking the part, these rooms have been built to the highest acoustic standards. The doors are sealed and walls insulated to limit the intrusion of background noise.

Head teacher Sue Wood said the refurbishment was hugely beneficial to her pupils whose hearing is damaged.

“When they are in this special acoustic environment, they can learn more effectively. They can concentrate because it’s easier for them to pick out what the teacher is saying,” she said.

One thing immediately noticeable is the microphones the teachers wear, like performers on stage. Others don electronic devices around their necks.

Mrs Wood explains how these are features of soundfield systems which each classroom comes equipped with. The devices transmit what the teacher is saying at a constant noise level that is most audible to hearing impaired pupils. While the technology is fitted in every classroom, the sound clarity is enhanced even greater in the new teaching areas.

Mrs Wood said she was very proud of the new facilities.

A centre providing places for a further 55 primary school children with hearing difficulties is set to open at Swain House Primary School in September, while 65 secondary school places will be created at a centre due to open at Hanson School next year.