Moor House School & College

Moor House School, Mill Lane, OXTED, Surrey, RH8 9AQ

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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

● The school provides excellent levels of high quality inclusive residential care.

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The residential provision is outstanding because

● The extremely positive relationships between staff and residential students is the base for students to develop as individuals knowing they are safe, valued and respected as individuals. ● The residential provision is extremely well organised and managed, with students at the centre of practice. This means that the residential experience is positive with care and support available whenever it is needed. This allows students to make excellent progress. ● The school continuously seeks ways to improve outcomes for residential students through open dialogue and rigorous monitoring.

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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 Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 2 of 10

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Inspection team

Diane Thackrah Lead social care inspector Inspection Report Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 3 of 10

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Information about this school

Moor House School is a co-educational, non-maintained residential and day special school. There are currently 85 pupils on roll between the ages of 7 and 19, of which approximately 50 are residential pupils. All pupils possess varying degrees of speech and language difficulties. Accommodation is provided in one of three boarding houses, two within the main school building, with post 16 pupils being accommodated separately in recently opened facilities on the school campus. Moor House is set within large, well-maintained grounds in Oxted, Surrey. Inspection Report Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 4 of 10

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Outcomes for residential students are outstanding. There is an inclusive boarding community where residential students enjoy high quality relationships with staff and other students. They have an extremely high affiliation with the residential environment and feel safe and comfortable. The excellent relationships enjoyed result in residential students saying there is always an adult to speak to at school if they have any concerns. Staff are effective in facilitating positive relationships between residential students through initiatives such as the mentoring scheme. Residential students feel valued and respected, irrespective of their differences. This helps them to develop a strong sense of their own value and self worth. The high aspirations that staff have for residential students helps them to reach their potential.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Residential students enjoy the boarding experience and are very positive about the care and support that they receive by all staff. They are encouraged by staff to develop personal interests. The exceptional range of opportunities and activities that boarding offers promotes residential student's development. A residential student said 'We get to do great things like horse riding'. Staff are proactive in enabling residential students to be actively involved in a wide range of community activities such as sports clubs and social trips to restaurants or the cinema. This positively supports their social development and skills for independence. Residential students have excellent opportunities to develop their social skills which ensures they are well equipped to take advantage of opportunities for integrating into the community. The travel pass scheme supports residential students to become more independent and develop skills such as making the

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

journey to and from school. Life skills are promoted and residential students are extremely well prepared for leaving school. For example, sixth form students are expected to plan for and prepare all of their own meals.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Residential students make a significant contribution to the operation and development of the boarding community. Their views and ideas are regularly sought through a number of different forums. The school council, half-termly student forums specifically for residential care, meetings with the school’s chef to discuss menus, daily residential care group meetings and key-working sessions all contribute to the residential students feeling that they have a strong sense of ownership of the boarding experience. Residential students know how to keep themselves fit and healthy. They say that the outstanding sporting facilities and opportunities available to them helps them to keep fit and well. The high quality guidance received from staff helps them to have a strong sense of their own safety and well-being. Excellent arrangements are in place for effectively promoting residential student's physical, emotional and psychological health. The

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

school employs staff from a range of health discipline to support this.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

There is a consistently high quality of care and a commitment to promoting equality and diversity by ensuring that all aspects of care planning are highly personalised to meet the individual needs of each residential student. The well-being of individual residential students is central to practice within the school. Targets are devised in collaboration with residential students and these are kept under review. The school offers an extensive choice of high quality activities. External instructors are employed to offer activities such as yoga, judo, drums, guitar, swimming, drama, dance, piano and singing lessons. There is a school link to Chelsea football club. Staff members have trained to become swimming lifeguards and archery teachers in order to improve the opportunities available. As a result, young people develop a wide range of new skills and interests.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Residential students live in a healthy environment where their health needs are extremely well- Inspection Report Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 5 of 10 met. Staff provide safe access to medication and maintain close links with parents and carers to ensure continuity and consistency in identifying and meeting the health needs of their children. Staff are readily available to discuss emotional and physical needs with residential students. They also ensure that residential students are promptly able to access health services in the local community and work collaboratively with agencies such as the child and adolescent mental health service. The emotional health of residential students is well supported by in-house therapeutic staff, who work closely with care staff. Residential students are encouraged to care for themselves through choosing healthy diets and exercise. They benefit from a broad choice of

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

healthy and balanced meals and they influence menus through the school council.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Residential students have a detailed care plan incorporating clear targets and risk assessments. These ensure that their well-being is at the centre of staff's practice. Residential students get many opportunities to develop their life-skills and their residential targets are set using a life skills checklist. Residential students receive regular, formal and informal key-working sessions. They also have access to an independent listener. Residential care groups have daily group meetings where residential students discuss their day and explore their options for the evening; along with the school council these meetings provide the students with a vehicle to influence their environment. Parents are kept involved with their child’s residential experiences through weekly emails home. There are excellent facilities to care for residential students who are sick. The well- equipped healthcare department and experienced staff who work closely with the school’s

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

medical officer, parents and other external professionals to ensure the residential students’ needs are met. Staff receive a wide range of training in health care issues which ensures that they are well-equipped and confident in helping residential students maintain good health.

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Quality of residential provision and care Outstanding

Boarding facilities are of a high standard. They are safe and well maintained and residential students are able to relax and feel comfortable. They offer a homely environment and levels of privacy and reflect residential students levels of maturity, for example, some older residential students have single bedrooms and college students have singles and some have en-suite facilities. Residential students enjoy good quality meals which are healthy and nutritious. Special diets are well catered for unobtrusively.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

Arrangements for residential pupil’s safety are outstanding. Safety is at the heart of the school and there is excellent practice in promoting residential students' well-being. This culture of safety is successful in keeping residential students safe. Staff say 'Children are safe in this school.' and 'I have been well trained in child protection matters.' Residential students say that they feel safe, protected from harm and well-supported by staff. There are three trained child protection officers with a further three staff members currently being trained. All staff have been trained in child protection. Staff have a sound appreciation of child protection issues and protocols. They fully understand their roles and responsibilities, as a result they consistently apply excellent safe caring practices. Staff are alert to signs and symptoms of harm and know what to do if they have concerns for the wellbeing of residential students. Lines of responsibility for safeguarding

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

concerns are well established and ensure a consistent and robust approach to safeguarding residential students. Child protection policies and procedures, based on those of the Local Safeguarding Board, have been regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that they incorporate current best practice and learning from local and national issues. Robust safe recruitment process are effectively implemented. A HR manager is trained to complete all recruitment checks and procedures following safe practices. A safeguarding governor has been appointed which helps to ensure that safeguarding policies and procedures are of extremely high quality.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

E-safety is taken seriously. E safety training has been provided to school staff and parents. There are regular e-safety reminders to students in assemblies and lessons. Residential students say Inspection Report Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 6 of 10 they understand the boundaries and rules and state these are fair. Behaviour is generally exemplary in the school and boarding provision with very few sanctions being imposed. Staff are fully trained to meet any challenging behaviour. Residential students feel fairly treated by staff and their views on the use and impact of sanctions is routinely obtained. Restraint is very rarely used. Staff are aware that restraint should only be used as a last resort and make every effort to defuse tensions and to de-escalate potential risk situations. Senior managers rigorously monitor restraint incidents to reflect on what led to each incident and to identify what could be done

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

differently. The school deals effectively with any bullying and as a result bullying is rare. There is a clear and robust culture of anti-bullying.

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

The school provides a highly safe and secure environment for residential students. Risk management is taken seriously. The school takes an excellent approach in assessing any risks to residential students. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed, updated and endorsed after auditing by senior members of staff. Facilities such as the sports hall and boarding accommodation are checked for safety in detail and well maintained. Fire safety is given a high priority with expert advice gained when necessary to ensure a safe environment. Fire drills take place on a regularly basis and are effective in ensuring that residential students know what to do in the event of a fire. Individual risk assessments and care plans are in place for residential students from the start of their placement. These are clearly recorded and regularly updated. Staff appropriately balance the need to protect residential students from harm with the need to

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Residential pupils’ safety Outstanding

encourage and enable them to take reasonable risks to enable them to develop.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

Leadership and management are outstanding. There are clear aims for the boarding provision that are translated into practice by the highly skilled and motivated staff team. Staff are fully committed to promoting the social and personal development of residential students. They have high aspirations for residential students and there are consistently high expectations to provide high quality care. As a result, routines run smoothly and residential students are fully supported with all aspects of their care. There is high quality evaluation of the schools' performance which is used to drive forward improvement. Robust quality assurance tools such as a self assessment and development plan are used to drive this. The views of residential students, their parents and stakeholders are central to quality assurance.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

Effective staffing arrangements ensure that there are well trained, experienced and suitable staff on duty. Staff development is valued and promoted. A staff member said 'There is a healthy budget for training here.' Another said 'We get the training we need.' On commencement of employment all new staff undertake the CWDC induction standards. In addition, in the first year of service new staff are enrolled in the NVQ level three qualification. Further qualifications currently being studied for include level two courses in safe handling of medicines and diabetes management. Staff have a structured supervision process which reflects a student centred approach. Supervisions occur regularly and staff say these are effective in supporting them to carry out their roles well. Appraisals occur and promote personal development which enhances the welfare of residential students. These measures help to ensure that there is a highly

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

individualised approach to residential students care.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Outstanding

Required policies and procedures are in place and these are used to promote consistent and effective working practices. There is highly organised and detailed record keeping which promotes the welfare of residential students. Exceptional relationships are maintained with parents and stakeholders which helps to ensure that residential students receive care that is consistent and meets their changing needs. The school is proactive in obtaining the views of residential students and takes their views seriously. The boarding routines and environment are developed in conjunction with residential student's views. This ensures that residential students Inspection Report Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 7 of 10 have highly positive experiences. Inspection Report Moor House 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 Moor House School, 24/02/2014 Page 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 125454 Social care unique reference number SC013926 DfE registration number 936/7007

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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 Mrs Hilary Dobbie Date of previous boarding inspection 21/11/2012 Telephone number 01883 712271 Email address info@moorhouseschool.co.uk Inspection Report Moor House 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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