Prior’s Court Foundation (operating Prior’s Court School and Young Adult Provision)
Special needs catered for
Autism with learning difficulties. Complex needs including epilepsy, ADHD, and challenging behaviours. National and international catchment area.
Specialist facilities
There are 12 residential homes at Prior�s Court School and a further four within Prior�s Court Young Adult Provision. All homes are designed to provide a comfortable and homely environment that is also autism-specific and suited to the age and needs of the young people living there. Houses are carefully organised, with clearly defined areas (e.g. for socialising, play and relaxation, food preparation, group or individual activities), and visual and physical structure as appropriate to support and encourage independence.
Leisure, exercise and recreational facilities include:
- 50 acres of safe parkland including a 10-acre wood with a sculpture trail and a quiet garden
- indoor, heated sensory swimming pool
- an all-weather activity track for walking, running, cycling, and scooting; swings, trampolines, trim trail and outdoor gym equipment
- indoor gym with equipment including treadmills and static bicycles
- an art room
- a library
- contemporary art and sculptures placed throughout the site, gifted by our Founding Patron, Dame Stephanie Shirley CH.
Vocational facilities include:
- A kitchen garden and horticulture area with greenhouse, polytunnels, horticultural classroom, raised beds and vegetable plots, flower beds, and fruit trees; an on-site orchard (currently in the growing phase of its development)
- an industry-standard bakery
- a Countryside Learning Centre with an outdoor classroom, stable yard and paddocks housing a range of farmyard animals
- fully equipped classrooms for woodworking, metalwork, pottery, and maintenance of bicycles and scooters
- IT suites that reflect an office environment to encourage and support vocational skills
- a Careers Library with accessible information about the world of work and careers available.
Further specialist facilities to support and extend learning:
- Our Piper Arts Centre - Opened in 2025, the Piper Arts Centre is a purpose-built facility supporting autistic young people with complex needs to explore music, movement and drama in an environment tailored to them
- a Health & Wellbeing Hub which contains a medical treatment room to replicate external health settings, an in-house pharmacy, and two therapy engagement rooms
- a multi-sensory suite with interactive multisensory and soft play rooms food technology and independent living skills classroom
- hall space for assemblies, theatre performances and other performing arts usages
- a spacious, purpose built dining room that enables students and staff to eat as family groups in a social setting. Movable screens can subdivide the space and windows are high to minimise distraction
- and a Virtual Reality suite used for a range of purposes including sensory regulation, desensitisation, travel experiences and more.
Support services provided
The most crucial factor in achieving success for the young people we support is consistency of approach.
As such, learning takes place throughout the entire Extended Day and in all settings, including education, residential homes and within the wider community. Learning in all areas is individualised to each young person. Each follows their own personalised programme of learning with activities structured throughout their Extended Day and consistent learning objectives followed by all staff across both education and residential settings.
Consistency is achieved through having a shared approach, careful planning and a focus on ensuring expertise for all staff. Education, residential and therapy teams work together with specialists and parents/carers to ensure consistency. This way, each young person has the opportunity to make progress in all areas of learning.
The Prior's Court Learning Framework consists of seven key Areas of Learning that we feel best support autistic young people with complex needs at Prior’s Court to gain skills and achieve the best quality of life for them as individuals.
The framework's underpinning values are for health, happiness and skills in work/work experiences. The seven Areas of Learning look at developing independence and generalising skills in the areas of Communication, Performing Arts, Daily Living Skills, Healthiness, Keeping Me Safe and either Functional Academics or Vocational Learning.
Home school links
The relationship between parents and Prior’s Court School is regarded as a partnership and parents/carers and families are involved in discussions at all stages of their child’s stay. Arrangements for contact between parents, carers, relatives and friends are agreed during the preadmission visits. These are to meet the needs of the child and parents/carers and are detailed in the young person’s plan.
Education and residential staff communicate frequently to update parents and families on their child’s progress and wellbeing such as through a telephone call at a pre-arranged time once or twice per week, or email correspondence, depending on parental preference.
Young people are encouraged and supported by staff in communicating with their families in a number of ways such as making a telephone call, video call or sending an email. Parents and families are welcome visitors. A family room and a family flat are available for parents and families to use and stay in during visits.
All parents are invited to the Statutory Annual Review and Looked After Children (LAC) Review (where applicable) of their child’s special educational needs.
All parents have access to the Parent Portal section of our big data platform Prior Insight. This portal consists of core reports on a range of areas including behavioural incident counts, seizure activity, detailed food and drink intake, and any injuries. This helps parents get a closer look at what their child is doing on a day-to-day basis and help them to better understand their child’s autism.
A parent newsletter is sent to parents/ carers approximately once a term, giving an overview of news from the site.
General environment
Space is a key feature of Prior’s Court. Set in approximately 50 acres of gardens, woods and paddocks there is a secure and welcoming environment specifically adapted to suit the needs of the young people with a range of exceptional facilities
The environment is adapted to be:
• highly structured
• calm and tranquil
• safe
• provide opportunities to learn, exercise, socialise and relax onsite
• support transitions
• support the strong focuses within our approach on physical exercise and the development of leisure and vocational skills.
Aims and philosophy
Prior’s Court is a registered charity providing education and residential care for autistic young people with complex needs, aged 5-25. Set within a 50-acre site in Berkshire, we have extensive bespoke facilities to help the young people we support to be healthy, happy, more independent and have the opportunity to access the world of work.
Prior’s Court exists to transform the lives of the autistic young people with complex needs in our care; to help them achieve the impossible and give their families the magic moments they never thought they would have.
We understand that the little things are actually the big things for an autistic young person, and we celebrate them as major milestones. A daily life skill gained or an anxiety conquered today is a stepping stone towards tomorrow’s work placement, or a shared special occasion with family.
Prior’s Court never stays still. We are ambitious for our young people and aspire to be a global leader for autistic young people with complex needs. We want to deliver outcomes for them beyond our imagination; to help transform the lives of even more autistic young people, and to develop practice improvements which we can share across the world.
Staff qualification and selection
The staffing community is of a wide cultural and ethnic diversity, with a good balance of male and female staff.
The School aims to provide a very high standard of education and care with well-qualified and well-trained staff. Each class is led by a teacher with the appropriate number of Autism Practitioners to meet young people needs. Each of the residential houses is led by a Care Manager and an Assistant Care Manager with a team of Autism Practitioners with young people assigned a Key Worker. Waking night staff are responsible for young people throughout the night.
A large team of multi-disciplinary and therapeutic professionals include a Speech and Language Therapy team; Occupational Therapists; General Registered Nurses; Positive Behaviour Support specialists; and PE, Swimming, ICT, Horticultural, Countryside Learning and Vocational Skills Instructors.
Regular staff training from induction onwards ensures the highest levels of knowledge and expertise in all our staff.
The Prior Approach is our specialist approach, based on autism best practice and methodologies and is carefully adapted to suit the specialist needs of the young people at Prior's Court and support their physical, intellectual and emotional wellbeing.
At the heart of this is the TEACCH approach - world-renowned for its effectiveness in supporting autistic people.
An exceptionally strong focus on training means staff are experienced in using a range of strategies to support young people's individual needs and development in all settings throughout the Extended Day.
All of our senior staff are trained in advanced TEACCH. As of February 2026:
• more than 130 staff have completed the 3-day Structured Teaching course
• more than 65 staff members have completed the 5- Day hands on TEACCH® classroom training course
• close to 30 staff members have completed the Beyond the Basics: Advanced Applications of TEACCH Principles and Practices course
• and one staff member is a TEACCH Certified Advanced Consultant with pathways open for staff members to advance to TEACCH Certified Practitioner and TEACCH Certified Advanced Consultant level.
TEACCH is at the heart of Prior's Court's approach, and as such, we are dedicated to ensuring our staff are trained in the methodology. We also want to share our experience and expertise with other professionals, parents and anyone wanting to learn more about supporting autistic young people.
2025/26 School Prospectus
2025/26 Young Adult Provision Prospectus
Brochure downloads
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