SOME of England's foremost education experts will today visit an experimental school in Darlington.

The Education and Skills Select Committee will tour the £37.3m Education Village to see how the fully-inclusive school is progressing.

The village opened its doors to 1,400 pupils aged from two to 19 last month.

It is the first school of its kind in the country, where three schools - Haughton Community School, Springfield Primary and Beaumont Hill Technology College, a special school - have come together as a federation under one roof.

The building is designed to put children with special educational needs at its centre.

The scheme has been controversial and was built under the Private Finance Initiative. Darlington Borough Council will pay the equivalent of a mortgage for the next 25 years, before it owns the building.

The village was originally supposed to open in November last year but was delayed after a vandal attack.

Since the plan for the village was unveiled in 2002, local authorities across the country have looked on with interest.

Many have visited the site and the federation is seen as a blueprint for the future.

However, a recent report commissioned by the National Union of Teachers said the policy of including special school pupils in mainstream schools was harming them.

It claimed they were left struggling to survive in the busy environment of mainstream schools.

The select committee will interview staff, pupils and parents as part of its Special Educational Needs inquiry.

During the visit, six MPs will meet the executive director of the village, Dame Dela Smith, and Darlington council bosses.

The committee's report will be published in June.

The group will visit the sports facilities, design and technology rooms, primary food technology classes, drama and dance studios, sensory rooms, TV studio and virtual reality room and observe maths and music lessons.

Dame Dela said: "We are leading the way in providing fully-inclusive education for all ages and abilities and it is exciting to think ideas and practices here are going to help shape the future of education nationally."

MP Barry Sheerman, chairman of the committee, said: "We are looking forward to seeing the school and meeting pupils and staff to find out about life in the new setting."