St Rose's Special School

St. Roses Special School, Stratford Lawn, STROUD, Gloucestershire, GL5 4AP

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Overall effectiveness Good 2

Outcomes for residential pupils Good 2 Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding 1 Residential pupils’ safety Good 2 Leadership and management of the residential provision Good 2

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The residential provision is good because

● The overall effectiveness of the school residential provision is good. Children are supported by a competent, professional and well trained staff team that put the needs of children at the heart of their practice. Comprehensive care and support plans clearly identify the needs of the children. Where required, individual risk assessments are implemented and regularly reviewed to reflect the care that is required. ● Children are encouraged to voice their opinion and views by the use of alternative methods of communication including electronic devices. This empowers children and ensures that their voice is heard and that they can make a contribution to the residential provision. ● Parents are extremely positive about the care and support that the residential provision provides and comment that their children love coming to stay at the school and that they are highly delighted with the care and support provided.

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The residential provision is good because

● Leadership and management is strong and the school has developed a variety of self- evaluation processes. Managers promote equality and diversity. Children are provided with aids and adaptations to meet their individual needs. These include aids to meet their mobility, eating and drinking and communication needs. ● The school meets the national minimum standards for residential special schools. However, five areas of improvement were identified and these relate to care and support plans, the format of menus, the behaviour management policy, monitoring systems in respect of staff recruitment and the analysing of parent surveys

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Compliance with the national minimum standards for residential special schools

The school meets the national minimum standards for residential special schools Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 2 of 10

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Information about this inspection

The school was notified on the morning of the day of the inspection. The inspector visited both accommodation areas and meetings took place between residential pupils, Headteacher, parents, head of care, care staff, cook, independent listener and a variety of health care professionals. Surveys from residential pupils and placing authorities were not received prior to the inspection and no comments have been received via Parent View. The inspector observed care practices and scrutinised a number of the schools policies and procedures.

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Inspection team

David Kidner Lead social care inspector Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 3 of 10

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Information about this school

St Rose's School is a co-educational, non-maintained, Roman Catholic day and residential school. It provides a service for children with physical disabilities and associated sensory, communication and learning difficulties. Some children have complex health care issues and 24 hour nursing support is available. Children are aged between two and 19 years.

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Information about this school

The school is located on the outskirts of Stroud, Gloucestershire. The school provides fortnightly residential care. The school also provides flexi-stays during term time and a programme of activity breaks. Residential accommodation for children is available in two buildings on site. The House provides accommodation for younger children and St Joseph's provides post-16 accommodation. At the time of this inspection there were 27 pupils on roll at the school and a total of 18 children were accessing the residential provision. The residential provision was last inspected on 12 November 2012.

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Information about this school

At the time of this inspection the school is experiencing a period of uncertainty. The trustees have requested a plan to be submitted to the trustees by 31 March 2014 who will make decisions about the future of the school. The school has been transparent in respect of this and parents and staff have been informed.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

● Ensure that children's care plans clearly reflect the good practice in respect of how the children's individual religious and cultural needs are identified and met. ● Review the school's behaviour management policy to reflect the schools positive approaches to the management of behaviour. ● Review and evaluate the outcomes of all surveys that are conducted in respect of the care and support provided by the residential provision. In particular the most recent parents survey so that the outcomes of the survey can inform the school's practice. ● Review how information is provided to children in alternative methods of communication, in particular how menus could be presented in a more accessible format. ● Ensure that the monitoring systems that have recently been introduced in respect of safer recruitment practices, reflect the schools good practice. Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 4 of 10

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Outcomes for residential pupils Good

Outcomes for children are very good. Children's individual needs are fully met and there are harmonious and positive relationships between children and residential staff. Children make good progress in developing self esteem, emotional resilience and independence.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Good

Through excellent care and support of their health care needs, children's health and fitness is promoted. Parents speak highly of the support their children receive and this allows their child to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and this in turn supports children to participate in day to day activities and experiences.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Good

Children are supported in developing independence skills and are encouraged as much as possible to undertake day to day living tasks and self help tasks. One parent commented that the school has 'made my daughter more mature, independent and she has made friends with her peers and has a social life'.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Good

Through the use of many alternative methods of communication, including the use of electronic communication aids, children are able to voice their opinion, share their views, make choices and influence the arrangements of the residential provision.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Good

Children enjoy their stay in the residential provision and are confident, happy and relaxed in the environment. Children spoken with stated that they enjoy coming to St Roses and that they make friends.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The quality of the care and support provided to residential children is outstanding. The school supports children with complex needs that at times may compromise their health and well being. However, the children are supported by a dedicated, professional and well trained staff team that ensures that the individual needs of the children are clearly identified and met. The school employs speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and 24 hour nursing care to support and work alongside the care staff to ensure that children are supported in maintaining their heath and well being. Staff place the well-being of the children at the centre of their practice and work in collaboration in order to deliver a high quality service that has a positive impact on the lives of the children.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The head of care ensures that children's individual care plans clearly reflect their needs. This ensures that care staff are guided in how to support each individual child. The care plans contain comprehensive guidance in how to meet children's needs and these are supported by comprehensive risk assessments in relation to their eating and drinking needs, mobility, health care needs and communication needs. The collaboration between care staff, therapists, nurses and teaching staff ensures that any changes in the children's needs are acted upon without delay and appropriate adjustments are then made to care plans. However, some care plans do not clearly evidence the school's good practice in how children's religious and cultural needs are met. The arrangements for the management of medicines is robust and the school now ensures that confirmation is obtained from the prescriber if there are any changes to children's prescriptions.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The lead nurse takes an active role and works closely with the head of care to ensure a high quality service is provided.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Parents speak exceptionally well of the care that their son or daughter receives. Comments received include. 'The staff are very respectful and I have observed them promoting my daughters dignity' There is brilliant communication between me and the staff' 'My daughter is Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 5 of 10 safe and they have empowered her and allowed her to grow up' 'Being at St Roses isn't something that’s done to you, its something that you're involved in'. Parents continually made reference to their child's needs being met, that they are safe and love it at St Roses, and that the staff are excellent. Local Authorities speak well of the care and support provided at the residential provision.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

There are excellent links between residential staff, education and therapy staff. This ensures that children's pastoral and education needs are met. In addition, parents state that there are excellent communication links between them and the school, that ensures that their child's needs are met. Parents confirmed that if there are any causes for concern in respect of their child's health needs that this is immediately addressed.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Children are provided with a broad range of activities both on site and in the wider community. Children thoroughly enjoy using the on-site hydrotherapy pool and have access to the school's excellent recreational facilities outside of the school day. The school and accommodation areas has adapted play and recreation facilities to meet the needs of the children. Children are supported to access local sports and leisure facilities and visit local shops and services. This ensures that children are part of the local community and that they actively play a part in this.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The catering arrangements at the school are very good and specialist diets are extremely well catered for. However, menus are not presented in an accessible format. The school has various aids and adaptation to ensure that children's specific eating and drinking needs are met. At mealtimes, professionals including nurses, speech and language therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists support children with their eating and drinking needs and are available to give support and advice to the residential and teaching staff if needed. Staff were observed to be supporting children with utmost care and attention, promoting children's independence and treating children with dignity when assisting children with their eating and drinking needs.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The standard of the residential provision is good and the accommodation is arranged over two areas. There are limitations in one accommodation area due to the age of the building, but this does not impact on the accessibility of the building to children who have complex mobility needs. The accommodation is well maintained and provides a safe environment. There are many aids and adaptations to ensure that children's care and support needs are met. Children spoken with stated that they like their bedroom and they are able to personalise their bedrooms, including bringing personal items from home. This contributes to promoting a homely and familiar environment. Children access the same bedroom when they come to stay at St Roses. This ensures that children are provided with continuity and consistency of their accommodation.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The school provides a safe and secure environment. There are robust procedures in place to ensure children's safety. Parents state that their children are safe and young people spoken with state that they feel safe at the school.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

There are robust policies and procedures in place to promote safety including child protection, cyber bullying and safer recruitment. There are no episodes of children going missing and there has not been any concerns raised in respect of safeguarding and child protection. The Local Authority Designated Officer confirmed that there has not been any concerns raised. All staff receive regular child protection training and demonstrate a good awareness of safeguarding procedures. Staff are able to name the safeguarding leads in the school. Bullying is not an issue in the school.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

Since the last inspection the school now ensures that there are robust procedures in place for the recruitment and vetting of staff. All appropriate documentation has been obtained prior to any Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 6 of 10 newly appointed person commencing employment at the school. However, the monitoring systems that the school has introduced to record this is not easily accessible.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The school rarely imposes sanctions or uses restraint. However, the behaviour management policy does not reflect the positive approaches the school uses to manage behaviour in order to demonstrate the good practice within the school. Staff are acutely aware of children's individual needs and are extremely familiar with matters that may cause children to become upset and these are managed appropriately.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The school undertakes regular servicing of electrical, gas and fire safety equipment. These are supported by detailed environmental risk assessments and there is a good record of maintenance. Since the last inspection the school now ensures that regular fire drills are carried out at least once a term in 'residential time'. All staff receive fire training. Residential accommodation is well maintained and repairs are acted upon promptly. Environmental risk assessments are completed for both residential settings. These measures ensure that children's health and safety is promoted.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

The leadership and management of the residential provision is good. Senior staff across all levels of the school work in collaboration with all staff to ensure that children receive excellent care and support. The management of the residential provision is strong. The needs of the children are paramount and the head of care works closely with the Headteacher, lead nurse, head of therapy services and education staff to ensure that the residential provision provides an individual service to the children.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

The school demonstrates good self-evaluation procedures and since the last inspection has introduced further monitoring systems to evaluate the quality of care and support provided. Since the last inspection the school now ensures that the records specified in Appendix 2 (Residential Special Schools National Minimum Standards) are monitored and maintained appropriately, and that some monitoring visits take place within residential time. Good records are maintained of these visits.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

The school has a comprehensive development plan and is currently developing a plan that is to be presented to the trustees. The Headteacher confirmed that developments planned for the school will depend on the outcome of the decisions made by the trustees. However, at the time of the inspection it was noted that the school continues to make improvements and adjustments to services in order that children's needs are met.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

Equality and diversity is fully promoted throughout the school and residential provision. Children are provided with a wide range of aids and adaptations to meet the specific needs of the children. This promotes their independence, mobility and self esteem. Children access and take part in the local community and visit a wide range of social and leisure based activities.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

The school maintains a complaints log. There are no reported complaints since the last inspection. Parents spoken with are aware of the complaints procedure but stated that they have never had the need to use this. Parents stated that if there are any concerns these are dealt with professionally, effectively and efficiently by the school. The school has good relationships with parents, carers and the placing authority. This ensures that any matters relating to the care and support of children are identified and addressed without delay.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

Children have access to an independent listener. This ensures that children are able to speak to someone directly about any personal problems or concerns. Since the last inspection the school now ensures that children have access to the contact details of the independent listener. Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 7 of 10 Children are supported by a team of staff that are motivated and committed to meet the needs of the children. Staff feel supported and confirm that they receive regular support and supervision, and an annual appraisal. The school provides staff with a comprehensive training and development plan with specific training to meet the needs of the children. Specific training includes training from nurses, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists. This ensures that staff are provided with the awareness and practical skills to meet the individual needs of children.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Good

Staff speak highly of the senior management team and staff spoken with state that they feel involved in decision making and are kept informed of events at the school. Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 8 of 10

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding A school which provides an exceptional quality of care and significantly exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 2 Good A school which provides a high quality of care that exceeds minimum requirements. Grade 3 Adequate A school which meets minimum requirements but needs to improve the quality of care it provides. Grade 4 Inadequate A school where minimum requirements are not met and the quality of care has serious weaknesses. Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 115813 Social care unique reference number SC034383 DfE registration number 916/7006

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School details

This inspection was carried out under the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Care Standards Act 2000, having regard to the national minimum standards for residential special schools.

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Age range of boarders

Headteacher Mr Jan Daines Date of previous boarding inspection 12/11/2012 Telephone number 01453 763 793 Email address admin@stroses.org.uk Inspection Report St Rose's School, 24/02/2014 Page 10 of 10 guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Age range of boarders

You can use Parent View to give Ofsted your opinion on your child’s school. Ofsted will use the information parents and carers provide when deciding which schools to inspect and when and as part of the inspection.

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Age range of boarders

You can also use Parent View to find out what other parents and carers think about schools in England. You can visit www.parentview.ofsted.gov.uk , or look for the link on the main Ofsted website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Age range of boarders

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection. Further copies of this report are obtainable from the school. Under the Education Act 2005, the school must provide a copy of this report free of charge to certain categories of people. A charge not exceeding the full cost of reproduction may be made for any other copies supplied. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille,

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Age range of boarders

please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may copy all or parts of this document for non-commercial educational purposes, as long as you give details of the source and date of publication and do not alter the information in any way. To receive regular email alerts about new publications, including survey reports and school inspection reports, please visit our website and go to ‘Subscribe’.

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Age range of boarders

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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