September 2025 edition

Contents

Introduction

Welcome to the first edition of the parent newsletter for the 2025/26 academic year.

We're looking ahead to what is going on this academic year in this newsletter edition. 

On the following pages, you can see what our organisational priorities are this year, how the new Piper Arts Centre will be used in 2025/26, plans to improve the events we hold for young people and their families and more.

We've also got staff and a sibling of a young person and his friends all taking on fundraisers in the next month. These eight are doing something exceptional for the young people here and we're extremely proud of them.

Here's to a great 2025/26 at Prior's Court!

Natalie Boothroyd - Director of Care

Helen Franks - School Principal

End and start of term information

End of term - Friday, 17th October

On the last day of term, young people will be ready to go home from 14:15. Bags will be ready for collection in Reception, please notify key workers of any items you would specifically like.

Young people will have had a cooked lunch that day in Bradbury Hall Dining Room.

The collection point for medication will also be in Reception. Could we please ensure all young people have been collected by 3pm at the latest. Please make sure Reception is aware of your arrival and then your son/daughter will be brought there to meet you.
Please ensure any medication which is required for the holiday is requested through the Nursing team at least ten days prior to the last day of term. Please send any unused medication back in the Green Bag to us on the first day of the new term.

Extended provision (44-week term):

  • Extended provision week is from 18th to 24th October.

Returning to school for the start of term - Monday, 3 November

Times of arrival:

  • 10am -11am: Giles, Shirley, Millington. Summerhill, Henley house students
  • 11am - noon: Todhunter, Fleming, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring house students
  • Day pupil times as normal 

Please can all parents, carers or taxis returning children ensure that even if the main gates are open, you let Reception know of your arrival by communicating via the intercom at the gates before entering the site. This will enable us to make sure staff are aware and ready to meet you and your child.  Once on site, proceed to park in the Bradbury Hall or Seasons car parks. A staff member from the house will collect your child (and belongings) from your car.

Care Managers and Assistant Care Managers

As of Monday, 1 September, there has been a small adjustment to the management pairings for some homes:

  • Craig Lester and Pari Jevant are managing Shirley and Summerhill as Care Manager and Assistant Care Manager respectively.
  • Emily McEwan and Mark Harper are managing Giles and Beechcroft (ahead its planned opening later this year) as Care Manager and Assistant Care Manager respectively.

These changes are designed to ensure we continue delivering high-quality support across the homes by aligning leadership and staffing where they are most needed.

By introducing these new pairings, we are providing additional managerial capacity, diversified skill sets, and dedicated support from our management team. This structure will enable more direct oversight, enhanced leadership, and stronger day-to-day support for both the young people in our care and the teams supporting them.

Craig, Emily, Pari and Mark will work together as a four with existing knowledge and skills in these homes.

All other home pairings remain unchanged.

School uniform

We have been asked to provide a more comprehensive ‘kit list.’ This is now available here and is on the Parent Information area of the Prior's Court website.

The quantity of items is a suggestion - please adjust according to your child's needs. For example, some may need a couple of school T-shirts per day if they get messy, and will change into non-school uniform once school has finished.

Please ensure all items are named and labelled. Labelling information is available on the Parent Information area of the Prior's Court website.

Parent Handbook being moved

Please be aware the location of the Parent Handbook is currently being moved.

The handbook will soon sit within the Family Information area of the website (this is a "members only" area of the website not accessible to the public). This is to slim down the number of areas in which you need to find relevant information to you. A ParentMail message will be issued once the move is complete.

In the meantime, if you have not registered for the Family Information area (or want the link to bookmark), go to https://www.priorscourt.org.uk/pages/category/family-information 

Events in Term 1 and 2

The 2025/26 calendar of events for Prior's Court is available to view on the Family Information area of the website. The page on this area of the website also gives more details about the events which families are warmly invited to attend.

With our Events Officer Kayleigh Rockell now firmly embedded in the organisation, events this year should be enhanced as we're aware they have become stagnant in recent years with no real innovation to them.

These are the details of the events families can attend in Terms 1 and 2:

Halloween Disco - Friday, 31 October

A disco will be hosted in the Hubbard Room with a Halloween theme. The event will be split into age groups with 45 minutes per group. We're also exploring about getting the Land Train on the Track again for a Halloween-themed experience.

Specific timings:

  • Lower School - 4.30pm to 5.30pm
  • Post-16 - 5.30pm to 6.30pm
  • Young Adult Provision - 6.30pm to 7.30pm

Fireworks Night Saturday, 8 November

Our annual fireworks display for young people and their families and for staff members and their families. The event will be held on the Track as per normal, but we're looking at making changes to the night this year so it can be more accessible and more enjoyable for all guests.

Please arrive from 6pm

Fire entertainers will perform next to the Track from 6:30pm

Fireworks display will take place on the Track from 7pm

The event will finish after the fireworks have finished. at around 7.15pm 

Christmas Theatre Performance - 2nd, 3rd and 10th December

Our Performing Arts Co-Leads Tanya and Elise are now working on creating a festive performance involving all of the young people at Prior's Court. Hosted in Piper Arts Centre, this event is our equivalent of a school Nativity and replaces the filmed festive story which Education and Marketing created in previous years. The performances will be split into Lower School, Post-16 and Young Adult Provision.

The timings are TBC but the dates will be:

  • Lower School - Tuesday. 2nd December
  • Post-16 - Wednesday, 3rd December
  • Young Adult Provision - Wednesday, 10th December

Information on how to attend the performances will be issued in due course.

 Reindeer visit - Wednesday, 17 December

Our annual visit of reindeers to the Countryside Learning Centre. Class and tutor groups will be invited to attend in timeslots.

Specific timings TBC.

Christmas Carol Concert - Friday, 19 December

The Piper Arts Centre will host its first Prior's Court Christmas Carol Concert, with our friends from Watership Brass Band performing. Class and tutor groups will be invited to attend in timeslots.

Specific timings TBC.

Last call to give your feedback on Summer of Fun 2025

PBS grab sheet in Prior Insight Parent Portal

As of Wednesday, 13th September, all parents now have access via the Prior Insight Parent Portal to the PBS grab sheet about their child. This is under the Grab Sheet tab of Prior Insight.

This is accessible via the usual way of logging in and accessing information on the Prior Insight Parent Portal.

Should you have any difficulties accessing the portal or if you forget your password, please email Annette Robinson. 

There is also a user guide available.

Choir fundraiser

The incredible Reading Phoenix Choir will be performing at the stunning Douai Abbey, in Woolhampton, West Berkshire, as a fundraiser for Prior's Court.

The event is on Saturday, 15 November, starting at 7pm. Tickets cost £20 for adults and free for children, but you can save 20% currently.

See our website for more details.

Piper Arts Centre latest

In the 2025/26 academic year, all young people at Prior's Court are timetabled to access the Piper Arts Centre weekly. These will be sessions based on drama which incorporate other creative elements like dance and music.

Our Performing Arts Co-Leads Tanya and Elise are now working on creating a festive performance involving all of the young people at Prior's Court. This creation contribution may not necessarily be performing during the show on the day - it could also involve set design, front-of-house, voiceover, and filmed performance, as well as live performance. As tasks such as set design and front-of-house are an important part of our learning programme in the centre.

Hosted in Piper Arts Centre, this event is our equivalent of a school Nativity and replaces the filmed festive story which Education and Marketing created in previous years.

The performances will be split into Lower School, Post-16 and Young Adult Provision. The timings are TBC but the dates will be:

  • Lower School - Tuesday. 2nd December
  • Post-16 - Wednesday, 3rd December
  • Young Adult Provision - Wednesday, 10th December

Information on how to attend the performances will be issued in due course.

Starters and leavers

Staff changes:

Below is a list of staff changes at Teacher, Care Manager, Assistant Care Manager, Team Manager, therapist or senior management level since the previous newsletter:

Starters:

  • None to note

Leavers:

  • Lynsey Preston - Director of Safeguarding and Health & Safety
    We're currently in the process of recruiting for a Head of Safeguarding to lead the safeguarding team. Our Health & Safety Manager George Chapman is now sitting under the Estates directorate
  • Maria Benito Rozalen - Head of Post-16
    This post is also being recruited for.
  • Maria Loren - Vocational Instructor
    AP Level 3 Sam Ford has been promoted to replace Maria.

Young people moves:

Farewells

Tezira

Tezira has moved on to her adult placement after 14 years at Prior's Court.

Tezira joined us in June 2011 at the age of 11, moving into Giles house. She then moved to Summerhill House in 2013 before moving up to Bradbury Cottages and the Young Adult Provision in 2020.

Tezira will be remembered for her love of animals and relaxing outside in the fresh air, as well as her strong character and very particular way of communicating what she wanted to do and what she didn't want to do!

We made a film discussing Tezira and her incredible bond with Ann and Courtney, two of the staff members she has worked with the most:

Ola

Ola joined Prior's Court in January 2016 in Giles House, before moving to Summerhill, then eventually to Spring House where she has lived up until now.

Ola recently celebrated her graduation with us, during which her achievements were remembered and celebrated, including her ASDAN Readiness To Work Intermediate Level, her artistic talent, and her love of pampering.

Ola is leaving Prior's Court and moving up to her further adult provision, where we are confident she will continue to build strong relationships and thrive. 

Welcomes

None since the last newsletter.

Honouring "Steve"

As you will be well aware, our Founding Patron Dame Stephanie Shirley passed away in August at the age of 91.

Dame Stephanie Shirley standing in front of Priors Court

While marking her passing at an organisational level with statements, and articles etc. we have also been looking at ways of getting young people to pay tribute.

This has included decorating small wooden doves in August. These doves have now been collected and will soon be made into a piece of artwork that will be framed and placed in Reception.

On September 16, what would have been Dame Stephanie's 92nd birthday, young people were invited to explore art and sculpture in a session using the outdoor learning area at Piper Arts Centre.

Fundraisers in action

By the end of October, eight fantastic fundraisers will have completed challenges in aid of Prior's Court.

Jude Geldart, brother of Charlotte House young adult Felix, is cycling 600km across Germany with two friends. They will be cycling from Thursday, 18 September and hoping to finish by Wednesday, 24 September.

While Jude and his friends are cycling, Marketing team members Alfie Weatherhead and Bethany Daley-Franks completed a Tough Mudder. On Saturday, 27 September, AP Mollie MacKay will complete a 15,000ft sponsored skydive. 

Finally, on Sunday, 26 October, fellow Marketing team members Dan Whiteway and Kayleigh Rockell will take on a 21km sponsored walk.

Events, training and more

Events

The Prior's Court calendar of events for 2025/26 can be seen here. This calendar outlines events taking place on-site, including those families are invited to attend.

Some dates are still to be confirmed, but the ones families are invited to attend do have the dates confirmed so you can plan your attendance.

The document will be updated and re-issued as more events are confirmed. And the most up-to-date version of the document will always be available via the Family Information area of the website - https://www.priorscourt.org.uk/pages/category/family-information

Labelling of clothing

  1. Clothing for all young people should either be provided by families or if appropriate the young person will be supported to go and choose and buy their own clothing. In these instances the cost of these clothes will be met via the young person’s own money. More information can be found in the 'Personal items & Support' section of the Parent Handbook.
  2. All young people who attend the school must wear appropriate uniform during the school day and we work with a company called Skoolkit to provide all uniform items. All orders are to be placed via Skoolkit's website here, where you will also find a comprehensive size guide and FAQ page.
  3. Clothes labelling - We are signed up with the two labelling companies, My Name Tags and Stikins.
  • The unique school ID/ fundraising number for Stikins is 36418.
  • The unique school ID/ fundraising number for My Nametags is 11447.

Please use these IDs when ordering your labels. By including these numbers you are helping us fundraise to provide those little extras to enhance the experiences of all the young people.

We have also had recommended a stamp that produces black and white personalised name tags - https://thekiddospacestore.co.uk/products/kiddospace%E2%84%A2-white-black-ink-personalized-name-stamp-new

Parent representative

Our Parent Representatives representing parent views on the Prior’s Court Board of Trustees are Ferial Norfolk and Joanne Barnes.
To contact Ferial or Joanne, please email [email protected].

Accessing the Prior Insight Parent Portal

The parent portal on Prior Insight enables you as a parent/carer to access three key areas of information about your child:

  • Profile - basic placement details
  • Media gallery - a log of all approved media uploaded by staff working with your child
  • Reports - live data displayed virtually to keep you up-to-date with your child's wellbeing and activity

The reports about your child include the following areas:

  • Incident by Severity
  • Incident by Physical Intervention
  • Directed Behaviour
  • Seizure Activity
  • Fluid Intake
  • Bowel Movements
  • Urine
  • Detailed Food
  • Detailed Drink
  • Cause of Injury
  • Sleep

Each of the reports will be a summary of the previous 14 days.

For those already signed up, you can access the portal via https://priors.zonestandard.com/portal/.

Should you have any difficulties accessing the portal or if you forget your password, please email Annette Robinson.

There is also a user guide available.

Term dates

2025/26

Resources

Planning for Adulthood: Support options, housing, personalisation and transition to adult services

These information packs made by The Challenging Behaviour Foundation are aimed at families faced with their relative’s transition to adult services or moving from one type of care placement to another. It is hoped that they will provide the tools families require as they start to plan for future support and opportunities for their relatives, including education, housing, employment and community involvement for the individual. The main topics covered are:

  • Person-centred planning
  • Changes to rights at adulthood
  • transition
  • Choices
  • Funding
  • Safeguards
  • Frequent challenges
  • Who can help

Times of change are hard work. The key is to plan ahead and start as early as you can! Information is essential and this pack has been put together so that you don’t have to do this on your own.

Access the pack

There are a host of transitions advice documents on the Family Information area of the website.

Augmentative and Alternative Communication Awareness Month

October was Augmentative and Alternative Communication Awareness Month - the goal of AAC Awareness Month is to explore and raise awareness of the many different ways people can communicate.

Our Speech and Language Therapy team pulled together some thoughts and ideas around AAC which were shared with staff on a daily basis. But you can see all of these thoughts in one place here.

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