Welcome to VAL’s Community
Where children and young people are supported to feel safe, valued and ready to thrive. A specialist provider of education and care for children with special educational needs, physical disabilities, additional learning needs and learning disabilities including autism, complex communication needs and associated difficulties.
Care and education belong together.
Across our schools and children’s homes, our teams work as one to give every child the right environment, the right support and the right opportunities to grow.
We believe care and education belong together. Whether a child lives in one of our homes, attends one of our schools, or both, they experience a joined-up, consistent and deeply personal approach built around who they are never around a label or diagnosis.
Our promise Validate · Achieve · Live
- Validate
- we listen to and accept every child’s view of the world.
- Achieve
- we celebrate progress, measured in meaningful steps.
- Live
- we make sure childhood is full, happy and full of opportunity.
Our Schools
Guided by SHINE
Ofsted- and Estyn-registered specialist day schools delivering bespoke curriculums and educational pathways tailored to individual children that builds confidence, communication and independence.
Explore our schoolsOur Homes
Guided by HEART
More than just a home, our services provide safe, nurturing and stable environments where children and young people with learning disabilities and diverse neurodevelopmental needs can thrive. Through compassionate, therapeutic care delivered by highly skilled specialist teams, we empower children to build confidence, develop independence and achieve meaningful outcomes.
Explore our homesHomes & schools across the UK
Ivie Lodge
Leicester · East Midlands
Ivie Lodge provides medium- to long-term care for up to four children with learning disabilities who may also have emotional, social and behavioural difficulties as a result of past trauma. We offer a happy, homely, safe, nurturing and stimulating environment where children feel safe and positive, cared for by a motivated, passionate and committed team. We aim to help children return to their families where possible, or to achieve a permanent placement suited to their long-term needs building the skills to live as independently as possible.
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Aspiration House School
Lincolnshire · East Midlands
Aspiration House School is a small, specialist day school for children and young people aged 7 to 18 with SEND, including autism and learning disabilities. With a capacity of just twelve, every pupil is genuinely known – their strengths, their interests and the things they find hard. Many of our pupils learn alongside the children who live in our home next door, so care and education join up seamlessly. We offer a bespoke, outcome-driven pathway built around what each child can achieve, never around a label.
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Aspiration House
Lincolnshire · East Midlands
Aspiration House is a learning-disability and autism-specialist children's home for up to eight children, where children are supported with warmth, consistency and respect. Many of our children communicate without spoken language, experience high anxiety during change, and rely on routine, sensory regulation and relational safety. Our ethos is grounded in Positive Behaviour Support, trauma-informed practice and low-arousal approaches, and the home benefits from on-site education, enabling consistent support across both care and learning.
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Care. Learning. Love.
Talk to our placements team about a child you’re commissioning for. We’ll share availability, age range, EHCP fit and arrange a visit.