Help your pupils overcome any barriers to learning and reach their full potential.
We know special education can be hugely rewarding, but it also has unique challenges and demands that require a more specialist improvement approach.
Special schools and educational support centres
Special schools and educational support centres (ESC) play a vital role in supporting children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve their full potential.
Our Hertfordshire Improvement Partners (HIP), provide special school improvement services to ensure you have the right tools and processes in place so that even in the most challenging circumstances, children can thrive in specialist education.
Why choose HFL?
We understand children have hugely varied needs and abilities and that it’s difficult for schools and ESCs to support these diverse educational needs while effectively managing behaviour, dealing with difficult and emotional situations, and keeping on top of paperwork.
This specialist knowledge means our highly skilled special school HIPs can act as critical, professional partners who will help you evaluate performance and support your school’s improvement journey. Because we know that each educational establishment is different, we offer customised school improvement services designed around you.
Dedicated school improvement specialists
Our team of HIPs are experienced education professionals and experts in special school services. They are rigorously vetted and accountable for the work they provide.


Tailored special school support packages
Because we know every school is different, we offer different packages so that you can choose the level of support that’s right for you. Whichever option you choose, you’ll receive a visit (typically in autumn) from one of our experienced and quality-assured HIPs and benefit from their expert advice and guidance.
We’ll work with you to tailor a package of support that meets your specific needs. We’ll work with you to assess current performance, identify improvement priorities and make a plan to effectively implement changes.
Our special school support makes a positive impact
Our HIPs have extensive experience in driving improvement by working collaboratively with special schools and ESCs. Whether it's through bringing our first-hand experience to improve services, sharing our know-how, and promoting a reflective culture for continuous improvements, we have a proven track record of positively impacting the schools we partner with.
The high-quality HIP service that HfL has provided us with has secured immensely valuable challenge and support on our journey to continuous school improvement. It has been important for us that our HIP has expert knowledge of the quality of SEN provision, enabling him to provide us with rigorous yet constructive feedback. We value the HIP service that is tailored to meet our federation's bespoke development needs.
The Sunflower Federation
Our team of special school advisers understand the complexities of delivering a high-quality specialist education. We have all the experience, expertise and resources to help you improve your school and help your pupils reach their full potential.
