Vermont School

What Vermont School does

Vermont School is a state-funded specialist primary school in Southampton, England, dedicated to children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. All pupils enrolled at the school hold an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP), and admissions are managed through the local authority referral process. The school operates as a Foundation school under the Aspire Community Trust, with a governing body comprising local authority, staff, and co-opted governors. Kelly Moss serves as Interim Head of School and Hannah Craggs as Interim Chair of Governors.

The school's core educational product is the Vermont Pathways Curriculum, a seven-pathway framework that uses EHCPs as roadmaps to address individual SEND needs, supplemented by therapeutic interventions including the Thrive Approach, Drawing and Talking, ELSA, and Lego Therapy. The technology stack comprises established educational programmes such as Read Write Inc. phonics, Jigsaw PSHE curriculum, B Squared assessment frameworks, and the Living Difference IV RE syllabus. The school integrates consumer platforms like Class Dojo for parent communication and a rewards system, Oxford Owl for eBooks, and standard social media for community engagement. There is no proprietary AI or ML technology; the digital learning strategy emphasizes purposeful, safe technology use.

The business model is government-funded through per-pupil allocations from the Department for Education, supplemented by Pupil Premium, Sports Premium (£16,535 for 2024-2025), and other grants. Tuition is free, with the only direct consumer charge being school meals at £2.95 per day provided by City Catering Southampton. The school has 44 employees and operates at a single Southampton location, with a customer base of primary-aged children with SEMH needs drawn through local authority referrals. There are no external investors, no funding rounds, and no M&A activity; the organization is a public educational institution within the UK state education framework.

Name

Vermont School

Legal name

Vermont School

Website

https://vermontschool.co.uk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Vermont School is a state-funded specialist primary school in Southampton, England, serving children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs who hold Education, Health and Care Plans. It operates under Aspire Community Trust with 44 employees and a seven-pathway individualized curriculum.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Special Education Services

NAICS

Elementary and Secondary Schools (6111)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Elementary Schools (EDAJAAAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

School Climate, Culture & Belonging Initiatives (DEI-Aligned) (EDAKAMAM)

Keywords

• Specialist primary education
• SEMH education services
• Special educational needs
• Therapeutic school programs
• School catering services

Headquarters

HQ city

Southampton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Government Per-Pupil Funding: As a UK state-funded special school, Vermont School receives government funding based on pupil enrollment. Schools in England receive per-pupil funding from the Department for Education, with additional funding streams including Pupil Premium for disadvantaged pupils, Sports Premium, and other grants.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Vermont School is a UK state-funded specialist primary school in Southampton that provides full-time education for children aged 4 to 11 with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs. It operates as a Foundation school under the Aspire Community Trust, delivering an integrated curriculum that combines academic subjects (English, Mathematics, Science, Computing, PSHE, PE, RE, Music, Art, DT, Geography, History, MFL) with therapeutic interventions such as the Thrive Approach, Drawing and Talking Therapy, ELSA support, Lego Therapy, Sensory Circuits, and a Vermont Pathways Curriculum. The school also provides paid school meals at £2.95 per day.

Product overview

Vermont School is a specialist primary school for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, offering a single unified educational programme built around the Vermont Pathways Curriculum framework. The school combines academic subjects (Maths, English, Science, Humanities, Art, Cookery, PE, RE, PSHE) with therapeutic interventions (The Thrive Approach, Drawing and Talking, ELSA, Lego Therapy) and enrichment activities (Lunch Clubs, DoJo Rewards, Reading Spine). All pupils have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and the curriculum uses Vermont Pathways with seven tailored approaches to address individual SEND needs. The school operates the Jigsaw PSHE Curriculum for personal development and Read Write Inc. Phonics for literacy, supported by external specialists (SALSA, Speech and Language, Occupational Therapy).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Specialist SEMH Primary Education
• School Meals

Quantifiable outcome

• Pupils develop skills for life beyond school through a curriculum tailored to their individual EHCP needs

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Aspire Community TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVermont School is a Foundation school underpinned by the Aspire Community Trust. The trust provides governance oversight and support for the school, with the governing body acting as a 'critical friend' to hold the head teacher to account for educational performance and financial management.
• City Catering SouthamptoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides school meals for Vermont School. City Catering Southampton is a local school caterer that has been providing school meals for 20+ years, serving School Food Plan and Food for Life compliant meals. Meals are cooked in the Great Oaks kitchen and priced at £2.95 per day.
• Sports to AspireminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPE at Vermont School is currently delivered in partnership with Sports to Aspire. The partnership supports physical education activities and sports development for pupils.
• Southampton Healthy High 5 AwardminorOthersThe school is working towards the Southampton Healthy High 5 Award, which recognises schools that embed health and wellbeing at the heart of daily school life.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• The Hospital School: The Hospital School is a Southampton specialist provision referenced through the same governor network, serving pupils whose medical or mental-health needs prevent mainstream attendance — directly comparable to Vermont's SEMH specialist remit under the same local authority commissioning structure.
• Polygon School: Polygon School is referenced as another Southampton-area specialist school where the Vice Chair of Vermont previously clerked, suggesting it operates in a comparable specialist SEND/SEMH space and serves a similar local-authority-referred high-needs primary population.

Others

• Aspire Community Trust: Aspire Community Trust is the multi-school trust that underpins Vermont School and provides governance, financial oversight and central services. It is the parent entity and natural strategic counterparty, not a competitor, but an essential comparator for understanding Vermont's governance, funding, and expansion pathways.

Regional players

• Upper Shirley High: Upper Shirley High is a Southampton secondary school referenced through the same governor network; while it serves an older cohort, it operates under the same Southampton City Council oversight, EHCP admissions processes and local-authority funding mechanisms that shape Vermont's operating environment.
• Hollybrook School: Hollybrook School is another Southampton-area school referenced through the governing-body clerk network; while its pupil profile may differ, it operates within the same local-authority admissions ecosystem and shares regional commissioning, governance and SEND funding flows relevant to Vermont.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/educationgovuk/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/vermont-school

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Vermont School