Millgate School

Millgate School, 18 Scott Street, LEICESTER, LE2 6DW

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Inspection dates 11/03/2014 to 13/03/2014

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Overall effectiveness Outstanding 1

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

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The residential provision is outstanding because

● This school has been judged as outstanding in all areas. There have been no failures of national minimum standards. Three recommendations have been made which will enable the residential provision to improve further. These relate to the development plan for the residential provision, records of physical intervention which are not always fully completed and to ensure the security of controlled medication is completely robust. These development points are to ensure best practice and have little or no impact on the outcomes for residential students currently. ● The school's ethos and underpinning philosophy are strong throughout; ensuring residential students are in a supportive and nurturing community within which they are valued and safe. Residential students develop strong relationships with staff. They enjoy the residential experience. Staff build trusted and supportive relationships with the families of residential students which not only safeguard students but also promote their

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The residential provision is outstanding because

social and emotional well-being as well as significantly enhancing their academic achievement. ● Care, education, parents/carers and external professionals work closely together to provide an holistic, cohesive and consistent approach which ensures significant progress and achievement for residential students. ● Safeguarding is a high priority at this school. Residential students feel safe and are safe.

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The residential provision is outstanding because

● The residential provision is well organised. The senior leadership team are committed and focussed to continually improving the service to ensure a high quality provision for residential students to enable them to thrive.

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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 Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 2 of 11 Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 3 of 11

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was announced on the morning of the start of the inspection. The inspector visited the residential accommodation, spoke to residential pupils and staff, including key staff with responsibility for the residential provision. The inspector gathered information from Parent View and online surveys of residential pupils and placing authorities. The inspector also observed practice in the residential provision and scrutinised school policies and records.

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Inspection team

Joanne Vyas Lead social care inspector Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 4 of 11

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Information about this school

Millgate School is a maintained residential special school run by Leicester City Council. It caters for 65 boys with emotional, behavioural and social difficulties aged between 11 and 16 years. The school has a residential facility which is currently operating for four nights a week, term time only and can accommodate up to 10 students. There are also facilities within the residence for students to attend an extended day provision. The residential accommodation is situated on the first floor of the school. The school is in a residential area on the outskirts of the city.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

● provide a development plan following SMART principles which is clearly linked to any self- evaluation of the residential provision ● ensure physical intervention records are fully completed ● ensure all controlled medication is frequently checked and the keys for the controlled medication cabinet is held by a limited number of staff to aid effective tracking. Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 5 of 11

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Outcomes for residential students at this school are outstanding. Residential students say they enjoy their stays in ‘the flat’. A student said he would rate ‘the flat’ 10,000 out of 10. Parents report that their children make good progress particularly with regard to their confidence. For example, through work completed in school and ‘the flat’, a student now is able to go into town independently. A parent also said that ‘the flat’ provides opportunities for their son to expand their knowledge and experiences. For example, a student who was previously not interested in sport was introduced to kayaking through activities in ‘the flat’ and now regularly attends kayaking sessions in and outside of school time. Residential students benefit from strong relationships with staff which means they are happy and relaxed. A diverse staff team and cultural trips outs help residential students to become accustomed to people from different races

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Residential students make significant progress with regards to their health and well-being. For example, students are supported to attend healthcare appointments which they may not have attended if care staff had not facilitated them. Furthermore, a parent said that her son has made significant progress with regards to his personal hygiene, something he had not been interested in before staying in ‘the flat’. Students also have access to mental health services as well as other healthcare professionals such as a school nurse, General Practitioner, dentist and optician. Students also benefit from the help of a local barber which means they start to take pride in their appearance.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Residential students mostly behave well in the residential provision. Students were certainly polite, well behaved and a credit to the school during this inspection. There is a strong emphasis on building positive relationships between peers, and students learning to manage their own behaviour. This means residential students learn respect for each other, themselves and the adults around them.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Residential students significantly contribute to the running of the school. The student voice is highly respected throughout the school and residential students are actively involved in ‘flat’ meetings. Furthermore, a significant number of residential students sit on the school council, which is heavily involved in a range of school activities. These include forming an interview panel for the recruitment of new staff, travelling to possible venues for off-site trips to risk assess the venue’s suitability, and choosing the new school uniform. Students are keen to introduce a blazer and tie as they feel it is important to be smart. Residential students are encouraged to add their comments to displays of photographs depicting a wide range of activities. It is clear, from these comments, the activities are thoroughly enjoyed by the residential students.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The quality of residential provision and care is outstanding. Staff have consistently high aspirations for students. Residential students benefit from experienced and caring staff who are knowledgeable and highly skilled in delivering individual support. A parent said, ‘I can’t fault the staff at all.’ A student said, ‘Kids want to be here so don’t break the rules.’ Parents feel they can trust staff to look after their children. They are happy with the school and feel their sons have made good progress since starting at the school. Parents feel they work in partnership with the school (care and education) which enables their child to make significant progress specifically with regards to their behaviour. Furthermore, staff say it is important to gain a student’s trust. They do this by building strong relationships with them and their families. Staff are passionate about providing support outside of school to the whole family. This will involve visits to the home,

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

facilitating and supporting outings with students, their parents and siblings and providing support Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 6 of 11 for healthcare appointments. Staff feel this is a very important part of their work as it means parents and students are able to rebuild positive relationships and students are more able and willing to learn during the school day.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Staff provide a cohesive package of education and care for residential students. Residential students benefit from a high quality of provision which ensures the personal, social and academic development of the child is central to all practice. There are effective links between residential and academic staff ensuring students are provided with a seamless holistic package. Staff also work in partnership with parents, providing reassurance as well as good parenting guidance. A parent said how much she appreciates the support staff give her and commented, ‘They’ve got to know us as individuals.’

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Residential students say they enjoy their meals. They have a new dining hall within the new building, which is light and spacious. They are provided with a wide variety of food and are encouraged to try new foods thereby promoting a healthier diet. Staff and residential students eat together at small dining tables to enjoy a sociable and relaxed meal. They benefit greatly from this experience as they learn to conform to mealtime social etiquette. Residential students are encouraged to get involved with the preparation and cooking of meals during activities. Specialist diets are catered for and alternatives are offered if required.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Medication is managed safely, ensuring residential students are given medication as has been prescribed. The management of controlled medication is good. Controlled medication is stored in a locked dedicated cupboard within the medication cupboard. Minor improvements can be made by ensuring the security of keys: currently keys are kept in a locked room separate from the medication cabinet keys so students are unable to access them. However, all staff have access to the keys. Similarly, controlled medication that is not used regularly does not undergo the same rigour as regularly used controlled medicines with regards to stock management. These practices would make it difficult to track who accessed the cupboard last should any medication go missing and when it went missing. It should be stressed, however, that no medication has gone missing at this school and these are merely best practice recommendations.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Residential students benefit from an excellent range of activities. They say they particularly enjoy the activities on offer such as football, kayaking, design and technology, cinema, cycling and fishing, to mention just a few. Activities are clearly linked to the curriculum so offer a valuable learning experience which supports students to achieve academically. They also provide excellent opportunities for students to develop their social and emotional skills as well as their leadership and team-working skills. Furthermore, activities can be community-based such as army cadets and swimming. This provides opportunities for residential students to meet up with their mainstream peers, helping them to develop socially acceptable behaviour. There are robust risk management systems in place which ensure activities are carried out with minimal risk to students. Risk management enables students to take reasonable risks as part of their growth and

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

development. For example, activities carried out in design and technology mean students use a variety of tools including soldering irons. Appropriate safety precautions are taken and students are able to learn valuable skills which will help them in the future.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

The residential accommodation is homely and comfortable. The accommodation is a little worn and tired in places but there are plans in place for redecoration. Residential students benefit from single bedrooms which they say they like and afford appropriate privacy. Communal areas are spacious and well resourced with a new and popular addition of a pool table. Vibrant displays adorn the walls of activities students have taken part in, including students holding reptiles and large spiders. The residential students can also access the school facilities which include the music rooms, the cookery room, the design and technology room and a brand new sports hall within the new building. Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 7 of 11

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

Residential students’ safety is at the heart of this school and therefore outstanding. Staff have a comprehensive knowledge of the safeguarding and child protection procedures. The designated safeguarding person has a broad and in-depth knowledge of all safeguarding concerns affecting residential students and manages these effectively, ensuring the appropriate services are involved where necessary.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

Residential students feel safe and are safe in this school. The high staffing ratio means students feel safe and secure. Residential students confirm that bullying is not an issue. A residential student said, ‘There is no bullying. There is always the odd fight but it’s dealt with on the spot.’ Some residential students felt the consequences of bullying could be stronger but there was no evidence to show these were ineffective.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

The attention to partnership working with parents ensures a robust safeguarding approach and is a strength of the school. Residential students have trusting relationships with staff which means they will ask staff to go out to their homes to talk to parents when issues are bubbling. This work means residential students are safer in their homes and the community. Staff know and understand the students very well which allows them to be proactive in their safeguarding strategies. They also build strong relationships with parents, which helps to keep students safe because they know about any issues within the home. Staff also work closely with external professionals and carers for those children who are looked after by the local authority. Together, this practice provides a holistic approach to safeguarding students.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

Staff celebrate achievement and reward good behaviour. Behaviour that challenges is managed competently, calmly and safely. Residential students begin to understand and develop socially acceptable behaviour. Strong routines, boundaries and structure ensure residential students know what is expected and enables them to grow and develop into secure, healthy and happy adults. Staff receive training in physical intervention but rarely use it in the residential provision. The training focuses on de-escalation techniques which help to prevent the need for carrying out restraints. When restraints are used, it is for the right reasons and done in the right way. Records completed after a restraint could be improved to demonstrate the good work that staff do and to make clear the reasons for the restraint occurring.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

Residential students regularly practice evacuating the building in fire drills to fully prepare them should there be a fire. There are good fire safety procedures in place. The school also has robust health and safety procedures.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

There are effective procedures in place for the safe recruitment of staff which ensures the safety of students. Furthermore, all visitors are asked to show identification and sign in and out of the school.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

The leadership and management of the residential provision are outstanding. At the previous inspection, the school was asked to enhance governor reports to reflect more fully the activities they undertake in the residential provision. Governors now write in-depth reports which offer good challenge culminating in recommendations for action. The school was also asked to provide evidence that gaps in employment are explored during the recruitment process. The school now has a proforma for questions to be asked at interview which clearly discuss this. Finally, the school was asked to give consideration to the objectives and learning outcomes of activities provided in the extended day provision. Activities are now linked closely to the curriculum with clear objectives and learning outcomes for all activities. Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 8 of 11 The residential provision is an integral part of the school, which has clear aims that are translated

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

into practice. Staff are passionate and committed to providing a high quality service for the benefit of residential students ensuring their health, well-being and educational achievement. A testament to this is the popularity of the residential provision, with a huge increase in numbers of students wanting to access both the extended day and residential provision.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

Parents and residential students report that they know how to complain and who to complain to. A parent said, ‘As a parent I can talk to the staff about anything.’ A residential student said, ‘I can talk to any of the staff.’ No complaints have been made since the last inspection.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

Staff are qualified, caring, professional and highly competent. They attend a range of training courses throughout the year, including mandatory and more specialist training covering topics such as attachment disorders and speech and language difficulties. They feel well supported by each other and the senior leadership team. This means that they are provided with opportunities to reflect and improve practice, ensuring a high standard of care is provided to residential students.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

The senior leadership team has a strong commitment to improving practice and ensuring the quality of the service provided. They have a clear vision for the future of the residential provision. There is insightful and challenging self-evaluation. However, the development plan for the residential provision is not fully linked to the provision’s self-evaluation. Nevertheless, the school has good monitoring systems in place, such as regular meetings between key members of staff and regular monitoring of records by the senior leadership team. Therefore, the school continually strives to drive up standards to provide a high quality service for students. Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 9 of 11

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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 Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 10 of 11

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School details

Unique reference number 120362 Social care unique reference number SC006452 DfE registration number 856/7215

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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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School details

Type of school Maintained residential special school Number of boarders on roll 14 Gender of boarders Boys Age range of boarders 11 to 16 Headteacher Mr Chris Bruce Date of previous boarding inspection 28/02/2013 Telephone number 0116 2704922 Email address cbruce@millgate.leicester.sch.uk Inspection Report Millgate School, 11/03/2014 Page 11 of 11 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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School details

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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School details

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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School details

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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School details

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School details

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

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