Koen Claeys is the Principal of Burlington House School, a thriving family of SpLD specialist day schools for children aged 7-19 years old with three campuses across Fulham and Ravenscourt Park and a brand new 11-16 years school opening near Tooting, later in 2024.

Koen also has a wider role as Principal and Education Director at Cavendish Education, overseeing the strategic leadership and operational management of two further schools and leading a group-wide strategic project to review and develop practices around AI in order to secure the best outcomes for learners.

He started his teaching career in Belgium, where he was born and educated, before moving to the UK in 2002 to teach Languages. He spent thirteen years at St James’ Senior Boys School holding several senior positions including Deputy Head. Prior to joining Burlington House School School, Koen was the Headmaster of Bredon School in Gloucestershire, a multi-award winning dyslexia specialist boarding and day school which under Koen’s leadership was named as the number one school in the UK for ‘value added’ at Post-16 for two year’s running.

He values the importance of the relationship between school and home and is a firm believer in providing pupils with access to an appropriate and ‘hands-on’ curriculum, focusing on the needs of the individual, providing specialist support in the form of therapies and assistive technologies, and ensuring the best academic outcomes and opportunities for all.

Koen has been an ISI Inspector since 2017 and became a Reporting Inspector in 2023.