Welcome to Fred Nicholson School

Fred Nicholson School is an educational setting offering a caring, purposeful and supportive curriculum to meet the requirements of our complex needs children and young people. We are more than this though, we are a community; our staff, pupils and families all work together to ensure our school is a happy, safe and fun place to learn.

Our ethos “building for successful futures” underpins all we do. When a child joins us at Fred Nicholson School they are supported to engage and learn, starting their journey to becoming an independent and successful adult. Our curriculum has a strong focus on all aspects of development; cognition and learning, communication and interaction, sensory and physical and social, emotional and mental health. 

We are currently located in the small market town of Dereham, Norfolk. We have 197 children and young people who attend our school. Due to rapid growth and the ageing buildings, we have an exciting move planned to a new purpose-built school in Swaffham, just 20 minutes up the road. The new building will offer us more specialist provision enabling our curriculum to grow and develop even further. 

I am immensely proud to be the Headteacher at Fred Nicholson School, it is a privilege to work alongside such committed, dedicated and passionate colleagues and a joy to see our children and young people thrive.

Heidi Philpott

Headteacher