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Hertfordshire County Council is working in partnership with the Agora Trust to deliver 60 new special school places for primary aged pupils with complex communication and autism needs, through the development of the new Journeys Academy.

According to government statistics there are more than 1.7 million pupils in England with special educational needs (out of a total school population of nine million), an increase of 93,700 since 2024.

This development is part of the Hertfordshire County Council’s strategy to increase SEND provision to meet increasing need. This includes large-scale building projects, such as Journeys Academy, the creation of satellite provision of existing special schools, and the development of specialist resource provisions and SEND units attached to mainstream schools.

Ashe Construction is building Journeys Academy on the site of the former Sunny Bank School in Potters Bar. It takes the total value of the contractor’s education projects in the last year to £30m.

Holmes Miller is the architect for the building, which is designed to be net zero carbon in operation.

Ashe has a growing portfolio of education projects providing SEND facilities including the £16.9m Valley SEND School in Stevenage, also for Hertfordshire County Council.

Other education projects include a recently completed £17.3m project to upgrade Sandy Upper School in Bedfordshire, and a £24m contract to build a new primary school and health centre in Milton Keynes East.

Ashe has also recently handed over a £12m teaching block at Bedford Academy and is currently working on a number of projects for the University of Hertfordshire. 

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