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Nursery at Prospect House Specialist Support Primary School
Last reviewed: October 2026 · Inspection data and key information above update regularly, however, this review below is refreshed bi-annually and may not reflect recent changes. Contact the nursery directly to confirm current arrangements. If you spot anything outdated or inaccurate, please let us know.
Communication, sensory needs and small steps towards independence shape the early years offer at Prospect House. Nursery provision sits within a specialist primary school in Higher Blackley, Manchester, where places start from age 3. The school caters for children with severe learning difficulties, profound and multiple learning difficulties, and autism. This is specialist education from the outset.
Ofsted graded early years provision Outstanding at the inspection on 3 and 4 July 2023. Its early years findings described personalised learning built around children's developmental needs. For parents, the important feature is the starting point: what their child needs to learn, rather than a uniform sequence for everyone.
The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) offer combines communication, learning and personal development. Prospect House calls its approach Know More and Remember More: children return to skills over successive years and apply them to new content. Repetition has a clear purpose here. Learning builds on what a child can already do.
An example timetable shared across EYFS and Key Stage 1 starts with registration, practising key skills and communication groups. Reading, vocabulary and phonics appear in the morning, alongside mathematics and functional communication. Lunch is followed by playground time, with another playground break later. Personal care also has planned points in the day. This is a sample pattern, rather than a promise that every nursery child follows identical lessons.
Music, Creative Studies, Wellbeing Wednesday and Feel-good Friday give the afternoons different emphases. In July 2023, sharing stories and books began in early years, making reading part of children's experience from the start.
Specialist spaces are shared across the school and scheduled for each class. A multisensory room provides space for regulation, while an immersive room uses technology for sensory work and learning. Outdoors, there is an adventure play area and forest school; Fantasy Forest and Imagination Village are also shared learning spaces. These give classroom teams different environments in which to adapt activities to children's needs.
Settling starts before the first school day. Once a place is allocated, families can meet the teacher with their child and spend time in class. Transition planning can include observing children in their existing setting and meeting parents and professionals. The school starts new children together on the first day of term, rather than using a staggered intake, so preparation visits matter.
Class teachers are supported by teaching assistants, with staffing planned around pupils' needs and allocated funding. Assistants help with feeding, personal care and individual or group learning. Speech and language support can address communication as well as eating and drinking. Seesaw lets parents exchange messages with the teacher, keeping questions about learning and wellbeing close to the class team.
Packed lunches are an option alongside school meals. Nuts are excluded, including from packed lunches, and chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks are also prohibited. Family support extends beyond the classroom through weekly coffee mornings, help with forms and Early Help assessments.
Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families should treat the next placement as a separate decision with the local authority, rather than assume that attending nursery settles it. Prospect House uses a specialist admissions route through Manchester's SEN department, involving an education, health and care plan (EHCP) and consultation with the school. Discuss the next stage through that route.
Preparation and allocation are different matters. Visits with a child and time with the class teacher help establish familiarity.
School arrangements run Monday to Friday. The school day is 09:00 to 15:15, with a charged Breakfast Club from 08:30 to 09:00 that requires advance booking through the office and payment through ParentPay. These are school arrangements, rather than a menu of nursery sessions.
Uniform is compulsory: a branded navy sweatshirt or cardigan, a white or navy polo shirt and grey or black bottoms. Transport requires a separate application to the local authority. Parking permits are restricted to families whose children use wheelchairs, so other drivers need surrounding-road parking.
For enquiries, call 0161 850 9829 or email admin@prospecthouse.school. Tours take place twice each half term and are booked through the office; attendance requires residence within Manchester local authority and evidence of that residence.
The school offers places from age 3 for children with significant learning needs and associated additional needs.
No. Work with the local authority through the specialist EHCP placement process rather than assume nursery attendance secures the next place.
Parents can exchange messages with the teacher through Seesaw. Direct conversations can also take place before or after school.
Yes. Packed lunches must exclude nuts, chocolate, crisps and fizzy drinks.
Yes. Tours run twice each half term and can be booked on 0161 850 9829. Families must live within Manchester local authority and provide evidence of residence.
