Eastleigh College (College House)

Eastleigh College (College House) Inspection report for further education college

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Unique reference number SC061273 Inspection date 01/10/2013 Inspector Brian Mcquoid Type of inspection Full

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Setting address Shepherds Lane, Compton, Winchester, Hampshire, SO21 2AB

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Telephone number 01962 712 816 Email chouse@eastleigh.ac.uk Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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Information about the college

College House is a 14 bed residential facility operated by Eastleigh Further Education College, offering an extended curriculum for male and female students aged 16-18 with moderate learning difficulties. It is open from Monday to Friday term time only and is located in a semi-rural setting approximately six miles from the main college site. All College House residents are students on the College's 'Skills for Independence and Work' course, and also undertake an accredited 'Life and Living Skills' programme operated within the residential provision. College House was last inspected during March 2011 when it was judged to be outstanding in all areas.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Summary report

Overall effectiveness of the provision outstanding

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness of the college's residential provision is outstanding with all national minimum standards being either met or exceeded and lots of excellent practice taking place. Students benefit greatly from the residential experience at College House, with outstanding individual care and support enabling them to make remarkable progress in their personal, social and educational development. Safeguarding arrangements across the college are highly effective. The safety of students is central to practice within the house and there are excellent arrangements for protecting and promoting their welfare. Students feel very safe, their behaviour is exemplary and they enjoy excellent relationships with staff and with each other. Parents have a very high regard for the service and how their children develop during their time there. 'Thank you for making this year so amazing for our daughter, she has grown up so much', was a comment received at the house from one parent.

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Overall effectiveness

College House is exceptionally well organised and managed, and provides a well ordered and safe community which successfully supports the aims and objectives for students. The views of students are central to how the college operates and there is excellent communication and consultation with parents also. Self-evaluation and assessment are real strengths within the college and are used extremely effectively as tools to drive the commitment to continuing improvement that exists. Significant improvements have been made since the previous inspection and include the commissioning of a second independent living flat for use by students, the introduction of a new parents focus group, the addition of a local authority transition social worker to the college house steering group, and the introduction of a student engagement and consultation strategy. Improvements have also been made to the environment with the refurbishment of student bedrooms and facilities, the laundry,

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What should the college do to improve further?

To improve the quality and standards of care further the provider should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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What should the college do to improve further?

 review in conjunction with students the use of the grounds in relation to the provision for recreational activities. (NMS 11.1)  review the role of the college governor with responsibility for visiting students at the residential provision. (NMS 13.4)  include data sheets on files for any medication administered to students. (NMS 14)  ensure that the exterior of the premises and the grounds are maintained to a high standard, specifically in relation to the building's fascia boards, and retaining walls adjacent to the surrounding patio. (NMS 36).

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Outcomes for young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for young people

Outcomes for students accessing the residential provision at the college are outstanding. They enjoy remarkably positive relationships with the staff who look after them, and develop some meaningful and lasting friendships with fellow students. 'Thank you so much for the best two years of my life', was a comment received from a student who had left in the summer term prior to the inspection, and 'like family', was a comment from a second year student when asked during the inspection about their relationships with staff. College House is an inclusive environment where students are extremely well behaved and where there is mutual respect between students and between students and staff.

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Outcomes for young people

Students develop a tolerance and understanding of others, are supportive of one another and make really significant progress in their personal development and in their ability to be independent. 'He is now able to take his place in the world as a sociable and confident young man', reported one parent, while another had seen a 'massive difference' in their child who had developed increased confidence in social situations, and was showing an 'amazing increase in her level of independence'. Students successfully complete spells in one of the independence living flats while at College House, and are supported to cook meals for invited friends and family members while undertaking their stay.

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Outcomes for young people

While at College House all students undertake an accredited programme entitled 'Life and Living Skills'. This programme complements and re-enforces the course 'Skills for Independence and Work' which students complete at college, and success rates are currently at 100% for the previous year. Consulting with students is a real strength of College House and their views have made a significant contribution to their lives there. One example was a student organising a trip to a pop concert in London after the group deciding to do something they hadn't done before. A 'decorating group' have also been highly instrumental in changes made to the décor and furnishings within the house.

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Outcomes for young people

Students enjoy healthy living while at College House and promoting and educating them about healthy lifestyles is a theme that runs throughout their learning while at the college. Provision for preparing students for a successful transition to the next stage in their lives after college house is exceptional. Transition plans are excellent and staff work extremely closely with students, parents, and external agencies to ensure students have a successful move that meets their needs. The College House Steering Group includes a local authority transition social worker, and the manager of the house has over the years developed an extremely successful outreach housing project. The project's most recent success concluded with a student moving into their own house with a fellow student from College House.

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Quality of service

The quality of the service is outstanding .

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Quality of service

The quality of care and support being provided for students at College House is outstanding. There are excellent arrangements for prospective students and their parents to visit and meet staff, followed by comprehensive two day assessments at both the college and College House for successful applicants. Following on from an information and guidance session for students and parents all new students are taken on an enrichment activity one week before joining the house in order to provide some time to get to know each other and lessen their anxiety. Pastoral support for students once they arrive at College House is outstanding and is enhanced by the remarkably close and effective working relationships between residential and education staff. 'Fantastic', was how the head of student support services described the relationship.

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Quality of service

All students have key workers in the residential provision and personal tutors at the main college site. Additional support staff work closely with students on an on-going basis to ensure their needs are being met and to respond to any identified additional needs. A student mentor team provides support for any student who may be struggling for some reason and there is excellent access to a counsellor on-site who also visits College House to ensure students know who they are and how to contact them. An external charitable organisation also visits the college weekly and provides a counselling, advocacy and support service for students. Students undertaking the skills for independence and work course, both day and resident, are totally integrated across the college site and are described as a very vibrant aspect of college life.

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Quality of service

College House is unique in operating an accredited programme for students outside of the educational day which provides them with excellent opportunities to further their personal and social development. Seeking the views of students is a real strength of how College House operates. Students are consulted about all aspects of life in the house which affect them and they have lots of opportunities to make decisions and take responsibility. Time spent in the independence flats is an excellent example of where this occurs. Parents retain the primary responsibility for meeting their children's routine health needs while they are at College House, however all residential staff are first-aid qualified and there are excellent arrangements for the management and administration of medication. Adding data sheets to medical files is a recommendation to further improve these arrangements. Promoting healthy lifestyles is integral to life at College House, with students routinely assisting on a

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Quality of service

Promoting the physical and emotional wellbeing of students is a high priority within the residential provision and staff are acutely aware of each student and their identified needs. Social interaction is actively and successfully promoted and there are lots of opportunities for students to do things that they enjoy doing. Meals out are a regular activity while swimming, bowling, ice-skating and trips to the cinema are examples of others. The physical environment of College House is eminently suitable for its purpose and provides extremely comfortable accommodation which is being maintained to a high standard. The maintenance of the exterior is generally of a similar standard with the exception of two areas, the patio retaining walls and the building's fascia boards. It is a recommendation of the report that these areas are addressed and a further suggestion for improvement is that students are consulted

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Quality of service

about how the large lawns adjacent to the house could best be used for recreational activities. Students are easily able to maintain contact with their families and friends, while staff provide parents with weekly updates. Parents comment extremely positively on their communication with staff.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management are outstanding . Leadership and management of the college's residential provision is outstanding. College House operates extremely smoothly and efficiently on a day to day basis with an enthusiastic and dedicated staff group led remarkably well by a highly qualified and extremely experienced manager. Excellent information about the college and the residential provision is provided for students and their parents via an informative website and a number of documents that make up an introductory 'welcome pack'. The aims and objectives for students are clearly stated and are being extremely successfully translated into practice. College House is exceptionally well integrated into the college as a whole with excellent working relationships between residential and educational staff greatly benefitting students. These relationships support a collaborative approach operating within a culture where there are consistently high

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Leadership and management

Staffing is a strength of the residential provision with the staff group operating highly effectively as a team and receiving excellent support and training which enables them to meet the diverse needs of individual students. Staffing arrangements provide for the appropriate supervision of students at all times, both day and night. Parents hold College House in high regard and report having excellent communication with staff. There is a very clear and strong commitment at the college to the continuing improvement of the residential provision and the service it provides for students. Self-evaluation and assessment are integral aspects of how College House operates and the involvement of students and their parents in the process is outstanding.

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Leadership and management

An external assessment took place during May 2013 saw the provision awarded a customer service excellence standard with the report commenting, 'students and parents are fully engaged in service planning and improvement', and 'students are at the heart of service delivery'. The one recommendation from the previous inspection has been successfully addressed and there have been significant improvements since then, a number of which have been initiated at the suggestion of students. Refurbishing one of the lounges is an example of this. There is a member of the governing body with oversight of the residential provision; there is however a need to fully clarify the role of the governor concerned in relation to their availability to students. College policies and procedures are regularly reviewed and updated as necessary, and there are suitably secure arrangements for all records.

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Safeguarding

Safeguarding arrangements are outstanding

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Safeguarding

Arrangements for safeguarding the welfare of residential students at the college are outstanding with all national minimum standards covering safety and safeguarding fully met. Protecting the welfare of students is central to practice across the college and students feel entirely safe at College House. Excellent information about staying safe is provided both verbally and in written form for students, and this includes details of the different types of bullying such as cyber bullying. The behaviour of students at College House is excellent, they are tolerant and supportive of one another and bullying is not a concern within the house. They are very aware of the house rules and feel fairly treated by staff who deal extremely successfully and in a supportive manner with any behavioural matters that may arise.

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Safeguarding

Significant behavioural incidents and the use of sanctions is extremely rare with only one incident which involved two students having occurred since the previous inspection during March 2011. There is no use of physical intervention permitted within the house and staff, some of whom have been employed there for over 15 years cannot remember there ever having been an incident where a student has run away or gone missing.

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Safeguarding

Policies and procedures relating to safeguarding support and promote good practice across the college with all staff keeping up to date with relevant training and being provided with excellent written information and guidance on all aspects of safeguarding. The College House manager is part of an established college safeguarding team and has completed training specific to the role.

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Safeguarding

The local authority carries out audits of the college's safeguarding arrangements and termly and annual safeguarding reports are produced by the college and submitted to the governing body. There have been no child protection related concerns at College House since the previous inspection. All students are provided with very useful pocket sized booklets providing valuable information on all aspects of personal safety. College House provides a safe and secure physical environment for students where there is excellent provision for the management of risk and for addressing all aspects of safety linked to the premises, including fire safety. Written risk assessments cover all activities undertaken by students both on and off site and are being regularly reviewed. Recruitment procedures provide the necessary safeguards for the protection of students are being rigorously implemented.

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the inspection framework and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of accommodation in further education colleges.

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