Prior's Court School
Prior’s Court is a registered charity providing education and residential care for young people with complex autism, aged 5-25. Set within a 50 acre site in Berkshire, we have extensive bespoke facilities to help our young people to be healthy, happy, more independent and have the opportunity to work.
Our purpose is to transform the lives of young people with complex autism, helping them to build a brighter, more independent future.
Prior's Court manages a School, Young Adult Provision and a training centre.
Prior's Court School is an independent special school for children and young people with complex autism aged from 5 to 20 years.
We support young people on the autism spectrum who have moderate to severe learning difficulties and complex needs. The young people at Prior's Court are non-verbal, pre-verbal or have limited language and are working from the equivalent of what were known as lower P levels through to National Curriculum levels 1 and 2. Some have additional diagnoses and exhibit challenging behaviours. We offer day, weekly and termly residential placements over 38, 44 or 52 weeks of the year.
Based in Berkshire, young people at Prior's Court come from 30 different local authority areas across the UK.
This provider was Quality Assured in 2017 and is now an approved provider by Suffolk County Council's Quality Assurance and Provider Development Team - find out more here.
Who to contact
- Name
- Admissions team
- Telephone
-
01635 247202
- admissions@priorscourt.org.uk
- Website
-
Prior's Court
- Social Media
-
Find us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter - Address
-
Priors Court Road
Hermitage
Thatcham
Berkshire - Postcode
- RG18 9NU
Where to go
- Name
- Prior's Court School
- Address
-
Hermitage
Thatcham
Berkshire - Postcode
- RG18 9NU
- View RG18 9NU on a map
- Area served
- All Suffolk
- Venue Email
- mail@priorscourt.org.uk
- Parking available
- Yes
- Parking details
- Accessible parking available
- Transport
- The school is near the M4 and A34 at Chieveley and nearest stations are Newbury or Didcot.
Days & Times
- Prior's Court School offers day, weekly and termly 38 week, 44 week and 52 week placements. It is open all year round.
Other details
- Cost Details
- Fees are dependent on the level of staffing and the length of placement required.
- Referral required?
- Yes
- Referral and availability notes
Prospective parents or carers, Local Authorities and professionals are welcome to visit Prior's Court, see our provision and meet staff. If you would like to discuss whether Prior’s Court School may be suitable for a prospective young person, please get in touch with our Admissions Manager who can advise according to the young person's specific needs. You can also arrange a visit on one of our open mornings.
Our Admissions procedure begins with a pre-placement assessment undertaken the support of the placement authority, following which our admission panel will make a decision about the suitability of the placement. If successful a carefully planned transition is undertaken with parents/carers fully involved. This is a simplified version of the process - see our website for full details.
- Age Groups
- 16-25 years, Children (5-11), Young people
- Accessibility
- Disabled Parking, Wheelchair Access, Sign Language
- Notes
Our vision for all of our young people is for them to be healthy, happy, more independent and have the opportunity to work. The Prior’s Court Learning Framework helps us to work towards that.
There are seven Areas of Learning we focus on, each made up of learning programmes that identify the skills a young person will gain, and the support they will need to gain them. Young people's progress across these areas is measured throughout to show their personal journey of learning.
We have developed a specialist approach for supporting young people with complex autism, which enables them to reach their full potential. We call this the Prior Approach. The Prior Approach is based on autism best practice and methodologies and is carefully adapted to suit the specialist needs of our young people and support their physical, intellectual and emotional wellbeing. Applied across all settings with consistency, our approach provides a toolkit of skills which enable young people with complex autism to make sense of the world around them and support them throughout their life.
Prior’s Court has a range of residential accommodation within our School and Young Adult Provision. We have both purpose-built homes and carefully converted houses, designed to provide an adapted environment that is autistic-specific, homely, realistic, and suited to the age and needs of the young person.
All 16 homes are carefully organised with clearly defined areas (i.e. for play, snack, relaxing, group and activities). Visual and physical structure is used to support and encourage learning and independence throughout the waking day. Young people are grouped within houses according to their age, ability and compatibility, with accommodation varied to reflect a range of needs.
Please note accommodation at Prior’s Court is not a standalone service – it is available only for young people who attend our School or Young Adult Provision.
- Service users involved in planning
-
Yes
Wherever possible the views of the young people are sought. Parents/carers are involved through an annual survey and through Annual reviews and LAC reviews. - School Type
- SpecialSecondaryPost-16 ProvisionPrimary
- Ofsted
- View the latest Ofsted Inspection Report
- DfE Number
- 6014
Support for people with disabilities
- Experience of including people with special educational needs and disabilities
Prior’s Court School is an independent residential special school focussing on meeting the needs of children and young people from 5 to 20 with complex autism and moderate to severe learning difficulties. Based in Berkshire, students come from Local Authorities across the UK.
Some young people at Prior’s Court may have other medical conditions or additional needs such as epilepsy or ADHD. Some young people may exhibit challenging behaviours. Many students are non-verbal, pre-verbal or have limited functional language. Academically, the majority of students are working below national curriculum levels. Prior’s Court School has a levelling system that replaces what were previously known as ‘P levels’ and focuses on ‘I Can statements’.
The school is largely residential with weekly and termly placements over 38, 44 or 52 weeks of the year; there are also a limited number of day places.
As Prior’s Court is an autism-specific school, all young people will have a diagnosis of autism (or may be awaiting a diagnosis) and an Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan.
To identify if the school could meet a young person’s needs, the Practitioner Panel first looks at reports (such as Education Health and Care Plan, Annual Review documents, and reports from specialists). Following this, an assessment of the young person is arranged with parents/carers and the local authority. The assessment usually takes place at Prior’s Court School and is undertaken by senior lead practitioners with significant experience and members of the multi-disciplinary team where appropriate.
- Contact
- Claire Pedley
- Telephone
- 01635 247202
- admissions@priorscourt.org.uk
- Conditions Supported
-
Autistic spectrum conditions
Communication difficulties
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