The Sheiling School

Thornbury Park, Thornbury, Bristol BS35 1HP

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The overall experiences and progress of children and young people Good 2

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The quality of care and support Good 2 How well children and young people are protected Good 2 The impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers Good 2

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Summary of key findings

The residential provision is good because  Young people benefit from this residential experience to make good progress in their personal development. Collaborative working by residential staff, teaching staff and therapists ensures that young people benefit from a stimulating environment. The pleasant grounds provide a safe space for young people to explore and learn. Young people are valued as individuals. The school ethos promotes that every child has something to give and something to learn in all relationships with others.

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Summary of key findings

 Safeguarding arrangements are good. Senior leaders work well as a team and with other agencies to keep young people safe. Robust systems are applied to the employment of staff and the monitoring of behaviour management. Risk management effectively balances safety with opportunity to challenge any barriers posed by disability.

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Summary of key findings

 The residential provision is well managed. Leaders and managers strive for improvement, making use of monitoring systems to inform development plans.

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Summary of key findings

 Young people enjoy their stay at school. They feel safe, and benefit from structure and routine. They are supported to develop at a pace that suits them. Parents are very satisfied with the quality of care provided, making comments such as, ‘I can’t speak highly enough of this school’, and ‘dedicated and committed staff provide a holistic approach’.

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Summary of key findings

 All the national minimum standards are met. Points for improvement refer to development plans and record keeping. Compliance with the national minimum standards for residential special schools The school meets the national minimum standards for residential special schools.

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Summary of key findings

What does the school need to do to improve further?  Link the risk assessments to the positive behaviour support plans.  Prioritise the refurbishment of bathrooms in the development plan.  Link the use of ‘choice and voice’ to individual targets. Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 2 of 11

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was announced with two weeks’ notice and commenced at 11:00 on 8 March 2016. Inspection activities included discussions with young people, parents, the principal, the senior leadership team, residential staff, the medical needs coordinator and a trustee. Written contributions were obtained from night staff. Key documents and policies were reviewed and contact was made with the Local Authority Designated Officer. Meals were sampled with young people and the inspector observed activities. A tour was undertaken of the residential provision and school facilities. There were fewer than 10 responses to Parent View, therefore information was not available. Through the school’s own survey, the inspectors considered feedback received by the school from parents.

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Inspection team

Clare Davies Lead Social care inspector Nicola Lownds Social care inspector Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 3 of 11

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Information about this school

The Sheiling School is an independent residential special school for boys and girls aged six to 19 years. It is a registered charity and a non-profit making company. The school's approach is based on Rudolf Steiner's philosophy and education curriculum, which combines education with care and a range of therapies. The school is situated on the edge of the market town of Thornbury. It provides for children and young people who have autism and associated learning difficulties. At the time of the inspection, there were 26 pupils attending The Sheiling School, nine of whom use the residential accommodation situated in the school grounds. The residential provision was last inspected in January 2015. Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 4 of 11

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Inspection Judgements

The overall experiences and progress of children and young people Good

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Inspection Judgements

Children and young people benefit from a calm, safe school where they have the freedom to explore the extensive grounds and appreciate their natural environment. The setting provides plenty of open space for young people with autism and associated learning disabilities. Their safety is promoted through good staffing levels and a learning environment where they are encouraged to explore and try new things. Care of vulnerable young people is not governed by restrictions of locked doors and gates.

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Inspection Judgements

The positive relationships between young people and staff contribute to their academic and personal development. Individual targets encourage and support young people to achieve. Staff talk proudly about young people and their achievements, no matter how small. A parent enthusiastically reported on the ‘amazing progress’ her son has made in the six months he has been in the residential provision of this school. Improved speech, writing skills, learning to count and use of cutlery were listed as examples of his progress.

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Inspection Judgements

Incidents of bullying are challenged by staff. Young people are not always aware of the impact their behaviour can have on others. Kindness and helping others are the qualities promoted. One young person who is now a competent swimmer supports another young person by encouraging and helping him to overcome his anxiety of the water. Another young person has shown good awareness of a peer’s fear of dogs and is supporting him to manage the situation when out in the park.

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Inspection Judgements

Through feeling secure and being aware of their surroundings, young people make progress in their learning. Some have not had positive experiences of previous schools. The outdoor curriculum stimulates young people who struggle to manage in a formal classroom setting. A parent described how this school ‘makes learning creative and exciting’. Formal qualifications are obtained in vocational and life skills.

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Inspection Judgements

Residential staff are trained in first aid and the safe administration of medication. The medical needs coordinator oversees the health and well-being of young people and arranges external appointment with health services. Young people are helped to understand puberty, personal hygiene and sexual health through discussions and social stories. Individual health care plans identify medical needs and how they will be met. The school receives appropriate training and support for young people with medical conditions such as epilepsy and diabetes. This ensures that their health needs can be safely managed while away from their parents.

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Inspection Judgements

Healthy living is promoted through diet and exercise. Home-cooked meals using vegetables from the local farm has encouraged young people to increase their choice of food. A parent reports that her son enjoys the homemade soup so much that when he comes home he asks her to make some. Some young people not only tolerate new food items on their plate, but gradually taste them and make healthy choices.

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Inspection Judgements

Young people receive support in developing independence skills in the residential Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 5 of 11 accommodation and wider community, such as with shopping, use of transport, use of self-scan systems, and asking and paying for refreshments in a café. These are life skills that young people develop outside of the school. In the residential provision they learn to cook and take their laundry to the washing machine. One young person has developed a system of containers for recycling materials that he ensures are ready for collection each week.

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The quality of care and support Good

The quality of the residential provision is good. Managers and staff understand the needs of young people well, and are attuned to individual personalities and traits, enabling them to support them effectively. Good levels of communication are maintained across the school and with parents.

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The quality of care and support Good

Managers and staff understand the need for sensitive transitions and are committed to ensuring that young people who are new to residential life have a positive experience. Plans are made with young people, and their parents, for them to spend time in the residential area at a pace that suits them individually. Young people are often established as day pupils before staying overnight at school.

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The quality of care and support Good

Staff with different roles work well together with a shared commitment to ensuring that young people are happy, safe and learning. Residential support workers collaborate with education staff to ensure consistency is applied in both settings. Therapists work alongside care and education staff to devise programmes to support young people. For example, speech and language therapists produce social stories and communication systems to support those with limited or no verbal skills. Residential staff report how valuable it is to work alongside therapists and to have them attend team meetings.

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The quality of care and support Good

The inclusive environment provides security and comfort, enabling young people to grow in confidence. The school community embraces diversity as reflected in the workforce, welcoming staff from outside the United Kingdom on a volunteer scheme. Personalised care planning promotes young people’s identity and individual needs. The ethos of the school is based on the therapeutic principles of Rudolf Steiner. Young people and staff recite a verse by candlelight each day and grace is said before mealtimes. Young people benefit from the calming influence that these collective moments of quiet reflection produce.

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The quality of care and support Good

Mealtimes are an important time for gathering around the table and interacting calmly and politely. Symbols and signing encourage young people to make choices. ‘Choice and Voice’ folders document how young people are consulted, and how they participate in making choices for themselves and the residential group. This is a new initiative and has yet to develop and link directly to individual targets.

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The quality of care and support Good

The residential accommodation in the school grounds consists of two houses. These provide a clean and safe environment. However, the buildings are dated in appearance and in need of modernisation. There is a development plan to improve the environment, and young people have selected colours for new curtains and flooring. Young people’s bedrooms are personalised as they choose. Some have posters and drawings on display, where others have minimal items in response to young people’s low sensory tolerance. Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 6 of 11 Though they require modernisation, the bathrooms are clean and functional, and this work is incorporated into the development plan. The lounge and dining areas provide a good communal space where young people can do activities.

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The quality of care and support Good

Young people have opportunities to try new activities and develop personal interests. A young person enjoyed his first experience of camping in a tent last summer. The grounds provide a fantastic, safe space where young people can play and wander. Playground equipment, a sensory garden, swimming pool, gym hall, climbing wall and computers are all available for young people to use. In addition, young people enjoy visiting shops and cafes in the town, local attractions and places of interest further afield at the weekends.

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The quality of care and support Good

How well children and young people are protected Good

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The quality of care and support Good

Safeguarding is a priority within the school. Designated staff take the lead for child protection and ensure that all staff are trained in this area. Staff have a good awareness of the vulnerabilities of young people with special needs, and the need to protect themselves from false allegations. Safe working practices are underpinned by robust policies and procedures. The principal has employed a consultant to review and update the safeguarding policy and to audit the single central record of recruitment. This is a demonstration of the priority given to safeguarding, to ensure that best practice is being followed and that there is compliance with current legislation and guidance. The Local Authority Designated Officer reports that senior staff report any safeguarding concerns appropriately and seek advice with regards to their practice.

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The quality of care and support Good

Structure and daily routines are well thought out to support young people in managing their feelings and behaviour. These can often be rigidly applied, due to their autism. Effective behaviour management is central to young people and their learning. Positive behaviour support plans provide comprehensive details about known behaviours and how staff should respond. Distraction techniques and de-escalation are effective methods used by staff, resulting in young people being able to calm down when they become upset or distressed.

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The quality of care and support Good

A senior member of staff is responsible for monitoring behaviour through analysis of incident reports. This excellent level of scrutiny identifies patterns and trends. Outcomes are good for the reduction in the use of physical intervention. Staff said they benefit from fortnightly meetings with the senior member of staff to discuss, and reflect on, incidents of behaviour they have been involved with. This provides an additional training session and discussion on how best to support young people.

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The quality of care and support Good

Risk assessment for individual young people varies in quality. One record that was seen had detailed too much information, therefore it failed to be fully effective in enabling staff to absorb risk management. Many documents are relevant to the known risks and provide clear guidance on how to reduce or eliminate them. Records do not always demonstrate the link between the risk assessment and the positive behaviour support plan that is very evident in staff practice. Young people are supported to be adventurous and learn new skills in a safe environment. Climbing the playground equipment, riding scooters and swimming are regular activities. Many young people enjoy the craft and woodland curriculum, in which they are shown how to use tools and equipment to Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 7 of 11 develop their skills in activities such as pottery, woodwork and bushcraft. Participation in

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The quality of care and support Good

these activities ensures that young people are supported to take measured risks as part of their growth and development, regardless of their disabilities.

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The quality of care and support Good

Matters of health and safety are routinely checked by staff. Excellent records are maintained to ensure compliance and regular review. Fire evacuation procedures are known and understood by young people and staff through regular practice at different times of the day. Individual risk assessments identify the likely responses from young people on hearing the fire alarm, particularly those who are sensitive to loud noises.

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The quality of care and support Good

Safe recruitment procedures are followed, ensuring that all staff and volunteers are suitably checked before they begin to work with young people. There are robust systems to employ agency staff and a wealth of knowledge has developed through regular recruitment of staff from overseas. These good practice examples are shared with other independent schools.

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The quality of care and support Good

The impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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The quality of care and support Good

The management and organisation of the residential provision are good. The senior leadership team is visible in the school and has a ‘hands on’ approach. It has a clear vision of continual development of this school and its aim to become registered as a children’s home with Ofsted. This would allow young people to extend their stay in the residential provision during school holidays for longer than the current provision of 294 days in the year. New posts for two deputies have been created to support the care manager with this transition.

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The quality of care and support Good

Residential staff are enthusiastic about their work, and collaborate with staff from both education and therapy. They benefit from plenty of training delivered online, through discussion groups and formal qualifications in residential care at level 3. Residential staff are considering subtle changes to their practice in line with registration as a children’s home. For example, they are changing their language to refer to ‘young people’ instead of ‘pupils’. A member of staff stated that, as staff, ‘we will be guests in the young people’s home’.

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The quality of care and support Good

The senior leadership team makes good use of information management systems in its monitoring of practice to inform developments. Each time a policy is written or revised, the school system generates an email to all staff informing them of this change and their responsibility to read it. Managers are able to look at this system to identify when staff have read the revised or new policy. This monitoring contributes to staff supervision and performance management.

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The quality of care and support Good

To strengthen the level of monitoring of care practices and records, the principal requested that the newly appointed deputy care manager undertook an audit of the residential provision. The aim was to review the provision from an independent view, ‘a fresh pair of eyes’ in comparison to those who have worked here for some time. This effective approach identified good practice and at the same time highlighted areas for improvement. The principal welcomed this audit and went on to commission an independent person to undertake some monitoring visits.

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The quality of care and support Good

Inspections and monitoring visits contribute to the development plan where actions are Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 8 of 11 prioritised, and those that require greater funding are presented to the board of trustees for approval. The trustees have undertaken their own monitoring visits and all have attended training on safeguarding.

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The quality of care and support Good

Predominantly, young people benefit from one-to-one staffing levels to support them. A core team of staff supports the same young person. This ensures that they feel safe with regular staff, who provide strong, consistent responses to their care needs. Shortfalls in staffing are covered by bank and agency staff, in addition to senior managers working in the residential provision. To reduce the impact on young people of these changes, bank and agency staff have all worked at this school for some time, and know the young people and their routines. Agency staff are required to meet certain criteria before being accepted. For example, they must show evidence that they have been trained over two days on a behaviour management course and completed training in child protection. The robust approach to the use of agency staff is captured in a single comprehensive document incorporating their induction. This ensures that senior staff are fully satisfied

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The quality of care and support Good

with the qualities and experience of agency staff before they are permitted to support young people.

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The quality of care and support Good

The school welcomes feedback and consults parents and social care professionals through surveys, correspondence and face-to-face meetings. Parents are very complimentary about this residential school for their children. They said, ‘we feel comfortable knowing he is safe’, ‘they take such good care of him’ and ‘we are delighted, this is an excellent school’. Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 9 of 11

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What inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspections of boarding and residential provision in schools: the inspection framework’.

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What inspection judgements mean

Judgement Description Outstanding A school where the experiences and progress of children and young people consistently exceed the standard of good, and result in sustained progress and achievement. The outcomes achieved by children and young people are outstanding, and the impact the boarding/residential provision has had in supporting this progress and achieving these outcomes is clearly evidenced. Good A school providing effective services which exceed minimum requirements. Children and young people are protected and cared for and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. Requires improvement A school where there are no serious or widespread failures that result in children and young people's welfare not being safeguarded or promoted. However, the overall outcomes, experiences and progress of children and young people are not yet good. Inadequate A school where there are serious and/or widespread failures that mean

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What inspection judgements mean

children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded or if their care and experiences are poor and they are not making progress. Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 10 of 11

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School details

Unique reference number 10010646 Social care unique reference number SC003404 DfE registration number 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. Type of school Residential Special School Number of boarders on roll 9 Gender of boarders Mixed Age range of boarders 6 to 19 Headteacher Nico Sialelli Date of previous boarding inspection 21 January 2015 Telephone number 01454 412194 Email address mail@sheilingschool.org.uk Inspection Report The Sheiling School, 08 March 2016 Page 11 of 11 guidance 'raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted', which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/ofsted. 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.gov.uk/ofsted.

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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, please

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School details

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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School details

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

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