Octavia House School Kent, for pupils aged 5 to 16 with SEND, is turning a former Brewer Street church hall into a therapeutic school. Referrals are open now.
A specialist therapeutic school for children and young people aged 5 to 16 is due to open in Maidstone in January 2027, in a former church hall in Brewer Street.
Octavia House School Kent, which will be known as OHS Kent, is being set up for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) who need specialist provision and may need an alternative to a conventional school. Its model is one where teachers and therapists work side by side around each child, and it follows the approach used at the Octavia House Schools in London and Essex, which the organisation describes as outstanding.
The founding headteacher, Liz Brown, is recruiting the school’s first staff now and the school is already taking referrals for places.
“Simply getting through the school gates can feel overwhelming”
Ms Brown said the school was for children whose experience of education so far had been hard.
“Every child deserves to feel that they belong at school, regardless of the challenges they may have experienced,” she said. “For some children, simply getting through the school gates can feel overwhelming, and we need to understand what sits behind that before we can expect learning to happen.
“OHS Kent will be a place where children and young people feel safe, understood and that they genuinely belong; where trusted relationships are built and they are supported to recognise what they are capable of achieving.”
She said the way the school’s staff work together was what drew her to the job.
“As an experienced Headteacher, what particularly drew me to Octavia House Schools is the way education and therapeutic practice genuinely work together around the individual child. Teachers and therapists don’t operate as separate services; they work alongside one another, sharing their understanding and creating an environment in which pupils can feel supported and ready to learn.”
Who is running it
According to the school, Ms Brown has more than a decade of experience as a headteacher and in executive leadership across specialist and mainstream education. She has led school improvement, organisational change, multidisciplinary teams and complex educational provision, and she previously sat on Octavia House Schools’ Quality and Standards Committee, so she knew the organisation before she took on the Kent school.
“There is something incredibly special about having the opportunity to build a new school from the beginning; not simply the building itself, but the team, the culture and ultimately the experience we want children and their families to have,” she said.
“For me, this is about creating a school where every member of the team understands that they have a part to play in helping a child feel that they belong. We have the opportunity to build that culture together from day one, and that is enormously exciting.”
Brewer Street is one of the three town centre streets that gained a pocket park in September.
What it means for you
- Who it is for: children and young people aged 5 to 16 with SEND who need specialist provision and a therapeutic approach.
- When it opens: January 2027 is the planned opening.
- How to ask about a place: the school is taking referrals now, and says it is talking to families, schools, SEND professionals, local authorities and commissioners about children who may benefit.
- Visiting: you can book a visit to the school online.
“We are welcoming referrals for school places now,” Ms Brown said, “and if there is a child or young person who may benefit from a different approach to education, we want families and professionals to be able to find out more about us, come and visit and begin that conversation.”
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