The Birches School
Community special school in Manchester (Manchester).
Location
iSchool location from Get Information about Schools. Nearby schools are coloured by phase. Open Map+ for a full-screen map with neighbourhood deprivation (England only).About
Welcome to The Birches Specialist Support Primary School! We are a 164 place school that supports pupils with diagnosis of ASC, SLD and PMLD. The Birches is a fun, forward thinking school that has communication at the heart of everything we do.
Maintained by Manchester Local Authority, facilities include a hydrotherapy pool, a range of outdoor play areas, a sensory garden, two multisensory rooms and two soft play areas. We offer a vibrant and exciting curriculum with independence, life skills, comunication and physical development as common threads of all that we do.
We have a large staff team with a vast amount of experience of working with children and young people with learning difficulties. As well as teaching staff the school offers an onsite School Nurse, Physio team, Speech and Language Team, Sleep counselling team, Outreach programme and Occupational Therapy and sensory integration.
Please see Local Authority Local Offer Here you will find.
In the school’s own words, from the school website.
Enrichment
4 activitiesiFound on the school website by WhatSchool. Not verified by Governance Register; the school website is the authority.- Swimming
- Yoga
- Forest School
- Zones of Regulation
Awards
2 awardsiFound on the school website by WhatSchool. Not verified by Governance Register; the school website is the authority.- Leading Parent Partnership AwardWorking with families
- Healthy SchoolsHealth and wellbeing
Key facts
- URN
- 105613
- Type
- Community special school
- Phase
- Not applicable
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Nursery
- No Nursery Classes
- Local authority
- Manchester
- Constituency
- Manchester Withington
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
Governing body (8 current, 7 former)
Special schools governing body.
Leadership
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr Jamie Hibbert Former | Chair of Governors | Appointed by GB/board | since 2026 · term ended 2026 |
| Mr Cieran Cassidy Former | Chair of Governors | Appointed by GB/board | since 2025 · term ended 2026 |
Full governing body
| Name | Role | How appointed | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Joanna Boon | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2026 · until 2030 |
| Caroline Brader | Governor | Elected by parents | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Mr Jamie Hibbert | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Mrs Sarah Marshall | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2024 · until 2028 |
| Mrs Catherine Mullett | Governor | Elected by parents | since 2023 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Ms Victoria Lygo | Governor | Elected by school staff | since 2023 · until 2027 ends 2027 |
| Mr Alastair Dawson | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · until 2026 ends 2026 |
| Mr Rob O'Hara | Governor | Ex-officio by virtue of office as headteacher/principal | since 2015 |
| Mr Cieran Cassidy Former | Governor | Nominated by LA and appointed by GB | since 2026 · term ended 2026 |
| Ms Jamie Bytheway Former | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · term ended 2026 |
| Ms Paula Watt Former | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · term ended 2026 |
| Mr Ciaran Cassidy Former | Governor | Nominated by LA and appointed by GB | since 2022 · term ended 2026 |
| Mrs Barbara Woolley Former | Governor | Appointed by GB/board | since 2022 · term ended 2026 |
Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools (governance records, as at 25 October 2026). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Names are shown as published; there are no addresses or contact details. Current and former are worked out from term end dates when the page loads. Object or ask for removal · Report an issue with this record