Hadrian School Nursery

Sensory exploration and individual support give Hadrian’s early years provision its character. Equipment is chosen around children’s needs, with opportunities to respond to sensory experiences and engage with their surroundings. For a family choosing specialist provision, that connection between the child’s support plan and the learning environment matters more than a long activity list.

The nursery belongs to Hadrian School on Bertram Crescent in Newcastle upon Tyne. The school’s age range begins at two and extends to eleven; its specialist remit includes severe and complex learning difficulties, alongside profound and multiple learning difficulties. This places the early years provision within a school organised around additional needs.

In March 2023, Ofsted found that early years adults knew children individually and understood their support plans in detail. Resources were selected to help children explore through their senses and interact with the space around them. The practical emphasis is on making participation possible for the individual child.

Past Foundation activities illustrate how movement, music and shared experiences have been combined. One garden-yurt day included moving lycra together in response to instructions, followed after lunch by exploring animal movements through The Animal Boogie. Stories, singing and dancing with scarves also featured. These are examples of activities that have taken place, rather than a fixed nursery timetable.

The yurt itself was a round, fabric-covered tent in the garden, with a wood burner. Children discussed warming the space and went outside to observe smoke rising from its chimney. Toast and hot chocolate formed part of that particular day. The example brings together a physical setting, conversation, movement and sensory experience, giving parents a more concrete picture of Foundation learning.

Detailed knowledge of each child’s support plan was a specific early years strength in March 2023. That matters when children need different ways to engage: adults’ understanding of the child sits alongside the choice of equipment and resources.

Across the school, the staff structure includes nurses, an occupational therapist, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists, as well as teachers and support assistants. These are school-wide roles; families should distinguish that team structure from the particular support arranged for their child. Speech and Language Therapy parent/carer training is another named form of family support.

Separate admissions. Nursery attendance does not guarantee a Reception place. Families must apply again through the appropriate Reception admission process and meet its deadline. Treat the nursery choice and the next placement decision separately, even when considering continued education at the same school.

For nursery enquiries, contact Hadrian School on 0191 273 4440 or email admin@hadrian.newcastle.sch.uk. The school is at Bertram Crescent, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE15 6PY. These are the direct contact details for beginning a conversation about the provision.