Plan for new specialist school at former Highfield Prep site in Maidenhead

A new independent school for children with special educational needs looks set to open at the site of the closed Highfield Prep School in Maidenhead next year.

School provider Spaghetti Bridge has acquired the site of the historic preparatory school and plans to transform it into a new school known as Bray Bridge School.

Highfield Prep, which dated back more than 100 years, was based at the West Road site until its closure last summer, citing issues including declining pupil numbers, the introduction of VAT on school fees and increases to employer National Insurance contributions.

Since then, the building has remained empty, but the CEO of Spaghetti Bridge Dan Alipaz said his team is ‘incredibly excited’ to expand its provision in Maidenhead.

The proposed new school will provide 65 specialist places for children and young people with a wide range of needs, including speech, language and communication needs; autism; social, emotional and mental health needs; and those with trauma and attachment-related experiences.

Bray Bridge School will be registered for youngsters aged six to 19 and is expected to open in spring 2027, following ‘extensive renovation’.

Spaghetti Bridge said the school will deliver the organisation’s Enterprise Learning approach which integrates ‘strong relational support with project-based academic and skills-focused learning’.

The new school will also ‘fully align’ with Spaghetti Bridge’s Beautiful Schools Policy.

This is a ‘therapeutically informed’ framework which outlines principles for how learning environments are designed and presented.

This approach makes sure that spaces ‘meet a diverse range of needs while providing high-quality, purposeful environments’, which mirror 21st century workplaces and prepare pupils for life beyond school, the organisation explained.

Speaking of the acquisition, CEO Dan Alipaz, said: “We are incredibly excited to be opening Bray Bridge School and expanding our provision in Maidenhead.”

This is Spaghetti Bridge’s 13th school site acquisition.

The organisation has several other schools under its portfolio, including Oak Bridge School in Croydon, Chilton Bridge School in Yeovil, Somerset, Heather Bridge School in Yelverton in Devon and Hampton Bridge School in Northampton.