St Anne's School and Sixth Form College

St Anne's Special School, St Helens Drive, Welton, Brough, HU15 1NR

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Overall effectiveness Good 2

Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding 1 Quality of residential provision and care Good 2 Residential pupils’ safety Good 2 Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate 3

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The residential provision is good because

● Residential pupils make excellent progress as a result of the care they receive. In particular they gain social skills, independence skills and their behaviour improves. This helps to ensure they are best-prepared for when they are older and leave the school to move into adulthood. ● The overall arrangements for promoting safety are robust. The head of care conducts a detailed annual assessment of safeguarding arrangements and appropriate measures are taken to address shortfalls. All residential pupils and parents spoken with said they felt safe. Technicians regularly conduct safety tests equipment at appropriate intervals. Children's risk assessments are not sufficiently clear or detailed. ● The team of residential care staff are highly skilled and knowledgeable. They are all qualified in caring for young people and receive ongoing training in relevant topics. Children receive high levels of consistent care because turnover and absence levels are

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The residential provision is good because

low. ● The quality of accommodation is excellent. The residential facilities have been comprehensively refurbished since the previous inspection. As a result the quality of accommodation for young people and staff is much better. Nearly all children now have their own single bedroom. Young people feel included because they helped to choose the décor. ● Monitoring by external persons is not good enough. This is of special concern as Ofsted has highlighted this shortfall in several previous inspections. It demonstrates a weakness in the school's capacity for continuous improvement. Internal monitoring by the headteacher and head of care is much better. The head of care sends questionnaires to parents and residential staff every year. The format enables them to measure progress Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 2 of 10 across eight indicators of care quality between successive years. The school responds

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The residential provision is good because

appropriately to complaints but the written policy and procedure does not reflect government guidance.

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Compliance with the national minimum standards for residential special schools

The school does not meet the national minimum standards for residential special schools. The details are listed in the full report. Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 3 of 10

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Information about this inspection

Ofsted gave the school three hours’ notice of the inspection of its residential provision. Inspection evidence came from discussions with residential pupils and parents; analysis of written surveys received from 14 residential pupils, 10 parents, 20 residential staff and 1 social worker; discussions with residential staff, the head of care and headteacher; a discussion with the governor responsible for child protection; analysis of the school’s policies, records and residential pupils’ case files; a tour of the residential premises and observations of the residential routines.

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Inspection team

Steve Pearson Lead social care inspector Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 4 of 10

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Information about this school

This is a local authority maintained residential special school. The school has 118 children on roll, aged from 2 to 19 years, who have a range of severe and complex needs. The school has an attached residential facility which has separate access from the school. Currently 47 pupils use the residential facility. Up to 14 pupils stay at the residential facility each night. Pupils stay at the residence for short breaks of one or two nights each week, on a regular basis. Some pupils also stay at weekends and during school holidays. The school is situated in its own grounds in the village of Welton near the town of Brough. The residential provision was last inspected in September 2013.

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

● Ensure that where risk assessments identify concerns of behaviour, strategies are fully recorded to reduce hazards. ● In young people's risk assessments, record the likelihood, impact (seriousness) and overall risk rating of any hazards likely to affect them. ● In each young person's placement plan, make clear who wrote it and the date on which it was completed.  The school must meet the following national minimum standards for residential special schools. ● The school has, and follows, an appropriate policy on responding to complaints that is compliant with the relevant regulatory requirements (as referenced in 'Residential Special Schools National Minimum Standards'). (NMS 18) ● Most monitoring visits are carried out unannounced. They include: checks on the school's records of attendance, complaints, sanctions, use of physical interventions, risk assessments, and where they exist, individual care plans for

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What does the school need to do to improve further?

children; assessment of the physical condition of the building, furniture and equipment of the school; and opportunities for any child or member of staff who wishes to meet the visitor (in private if they wish). (NMS 20.2) Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 5 of 10

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Children make excellent progress as a result of the care they receive in the residence. At the inspection, parents were particularly positive about how their children have developed since they started to stay in the residence.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Over time, residential pupils gain skills and confidence to help them live a more independent lifestyle. These gains will be useful when they are older and have left the school. One parent said, 'Staff are good at helping my child to prepare for when they are older. My child does more for him/herself now such as getting dressed without help and helping to cook tea." Another parent said, "The staff have massively helped my child's independence skills. They eat a lot better now and although they are only young they can make their own toast now."

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Residential pupils also gain significant confidence as a result of their time in residence. One parent summed this up saying, 'My child is a lot more confident now.' Parents and residential staff also commented on how residential pupils develop very well in gaining social skills. This arises from the opportunity residential pupils have to socialise with each other in the residence, to make friends and to mix and relate to each other.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Behaviour also improves significantly over time spent in residence. Residential pupils become more settled, they accept boundaries and stress-related conditions improve.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

Young people gain further esteem and confidence because they have a real sense of involvement in how the residence is organised and run. This gives them a sense of involvement and strengthens their sense of identity and self-esteem.

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Outcomes for residential pupils Outstanding

A social worker summed up saying, 'I have been working with the school for several years and have been able to see the progress of the young person who I am responsible for. They are extremely settled and making excellent progress in behaviour and independence skills.'

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

The head of care and team of residential staff provide a very good quality of care.

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

Young people who are new to residence are given an appropriate introduction to help them adjust to being away from home, sometimes for the first time. When young people are much older and leaving the school to move on as an adult, the staff work with social work transition teams to make the change as seamless as possible.

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

The residential staff and education staff work together to maintain consistency and continuity. Improvements in these arrangements are being developed.

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

Effective arrangements are in place to promote children's physical and emotional health. One parent said, 'Since my child started to go into the residence, they have become more calm and they sleep better.' The staff work effectively with professionals such as a speech and language therapist, paediatric physiotherapist, educational psychologist, learning disability nurse and dietician.

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

Parents are supported by effective communication to and from the residential staff. This helps parents to feel up-to-date with how their child is progressing at school. A parent said, 'I can ring the staff at any time. They tell me how my child is doing and they give me support as well.' Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 6 of 10 The quality of accommodation is excellent. The school closed the residence for eight weeks last summer and completed a major refurbishment of the residential facilities. This resulted in improved accommodation for residential pupils and residential staff. Young people helped to choose the décor of the residence. A young person said, 'I like my bedroom. It's nice.'

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

The staff enable young people to take part in a wide range of stimulating activities in residence and in the community. Young people can use computers, play board games, play with toys and use a sensory room. The staff also take young people to a weekly youth club where they meet other young people from the local community. This helps to develop their social skills.

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Quality of residential provision and care Good

Children receive a varied and nutritional diet. The residential pupils make suggestions about what they would like on the menu. Dedicated catering staff provide the meals seven days a week. Several young people said, 'I like the food.'

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

Young people are safe and feel safe. All residential pupils who completed a pre-inspection survey said they felt safe.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

Young people are considerate to each other and behave sociably. Bullying is very rare. Where altercations or inappropriate behaviour arise, the staff quickly diffuse the situation. One member of staff said, 'Our training has been very useful to help us de-escalate challenging behaviour. This means it's very rare that we have to use physical intervention to restrain any young person.'

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The premises are safe and kept well-maintained. Professional technicians regularly service the electrical equipment, gas appliances, equipment for preventing, detecting and extinguishing fires and lifting equipment such as hoists and slings.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The school has comprehensive policies and procedures about safety-related issues such as child protection, recruitment, countering bullying and behaviour management. These policies reflect up-to-date government guidance.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The head of care conducts a thorough annual safety audit and addresses any identified shortfalls in a timely and complete manner.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

The residential staff assess hazards that may affect young people. These risk assessments are insufficiently detailed. They do not give an evaluation of the likelihood or seriousness of the hazard. The resulting degree of risk is unclear. This means it is harder to prioritise risks according to significance. In addition, the recorded information about young people's behaviour does not always accurately reflect reality. For example, for one young person with a known pattern of concerning behaviour in class, there was no mention of this in their risk assessment. During the inspection, an incident occurred in residential time which staff knew was a risk but which was not identified in the young person's risk assessment. The impact of the shortfall is minimal because the staff responded to the incident appropriately and know about their patterns of concerning behaviour.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

Strategies to reduce potential harm are not always recorded when risks have been identified. Ofsted identified this shortfall at the previous inspection and is repeating it here. Without this clarity there is a risk that some staff may not know how to reduce the risk of harm to young people. In relation to the young person whose risk assessment was incomplete, the staff spoken with at the inspection gave satisfactory explanations of how to reduce risks for that child.

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Residential pupils’ safety Good

Appropriate recruitment arrangements are in place which help to ensure that staff employed to work with children are suitable. The school follows up-to-date government guidance on Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 7 of 10 recruitment.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

At the previous inspection, Ofsted suggested three points for improvement. Overall, the school's response to these has been weak. In relation to the suggestion that the school carry through its planned refurbishment programme of the residence, this has now been completed. The school closed the residence for eight weeks and completed a major overhaul of children's and staff accommodation. The facilities and décor are now much improved and all but one of the children's bedrooms are single occupancy. The response to Ofsted's other two recommendations has been less positive. The standard of monitoring by an external person remains below standard; and the shortfall about children's risk assessments is still in place.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

The school has a weak capacity for continuous improvement. This is demonstrated by the failure to address the two points for improvement mentioned at the previous inspection; and by the ongoing failure to address shortfalls in external monitoring identified at five previous inspections.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

The external monitoring by governors is not up to standard. The monitoring visits occur at the recommended frequency. However, the visitor does not always look at all the necessary issues recommended by the national minimum standard. In addition, there is rarely evidence in the reports that the visitor has spoken with young people and residential staff as their views are not mentioned. Sometimes restraints or shortfalls in the recording of restraints are not being identified. The impact of these arrangements is not serious as the headteacher and head of care have already identified this area of weakness. They have developed improved monitoring arrangements which are due to start in the current half term.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

Internal monitoring of the quality of care by the headteacher and head of care is robust. The headteacher reports to the governing body throughout the year on relevant issues. The head of care carries out a thorough annual assessment. This includes asking parents and residential staff to complete an annual questionnaire about the quality of residential care. The format allows comparison of results from one year to the next to measure if progress is being made. The results show that good progress has been made between 2013 and 2014.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

All necessary policies and procedures are in place. Most of these are up-to-date and reflect government guidance. The written complaints policy does not reflect government guidance. This means there is a lack of clarity about such issues as response timescales, stages and what should happen if a complaint is made against the headteacher or a governor.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

Children receive consistent care from the team of residential staff. This helps them feel safe and secure. Absence levels are low because there is minimal staff turnover or sickness absence. The head of care and residential staff are skilled and knowledgeable. They are all appropriately qualified and receive regular training in a range of relevant issues. This training is sometimes delivered by external professionals who bring new and up-to-date ideas and knowledge to the team.

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Leadership and management of the residential provision Adequate

Residential pupils have care plans which describe their needs and how staff are expected to meet them on a day to day basis. There is a lack of accountability for some of these care plans as they are not always dated and the name of the person completing them is not recorded. Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 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 Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 Page 9 of 10

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School details

Unique reference number 118145 Social care unique reference number SC056736 DfE registration number 811/7018

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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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Type of school

Number of boarders on roll 118 Gender of boarders Mixed Age range of boarders 2 to 19 Headteacher Mrs L Davis Date of previous boarding inspection 18/09/2013 Telephone number 01482 667379 Email address stannes.special@eastriding.gov. Inspection Report St Anne's Community Special School, 24/02/2015 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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Type of school

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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Type of school

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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Type of school

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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Type of school

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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Type of school

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

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