Lakeside School

Lakeside School, Winchester Road, Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 2DW

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Inspection dates 1 March to 3 March 2016

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The overall experiences and progress of children and young people Outstanding 1

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The quality of care and support Outstanding 1 How well children and young people are protected Outstanding 1 The impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers Outstanding 1

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Summary of key findings

The residential provision is outstanding because  Arrangements for ensuring the safety and well-being of residential pupils are of an extremely high standard, with practice supported by robust policies and procedures. Senior staff who take the lead in safeguarding are highly effective and have excellent external links with a wide range of agencies in the local authority. As a result, residential pupils receive an exceptionally high quality care and protection.

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Summary of key findings

 The leadership and management of the school is consistently and highly effective. Senior leaders and middle managers know the school’s strengths and are continually looking at areas for development. They have continued to develop from their outstanding judgement received in 2015. The school has not stood still but has developed according to new legislation, research, and the changing environmental and social risks that pupils encounter.  The pupils benefit massively from the residential experience, which has a highly positive impact on their educational and social development. Parental feedback is hugely complimentary about the difference the residential provision makes. One parent said that this school ‘is brilliant, supportive to parents and children’.

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Summary of key findings

 Young people are at the centre of practice. Staff focus on the individual needs and wishes of the pupils. Relationships formed are nurturing, professional and trusting. Pupils’ known pre-admission behaviours soon decrease as a result of the clear boundaries in place, and the nurturing, safe environment that the staff team provides. As a result, there are no incidents of going missing and an extremely low number of physical interventions. One young person said, ‘I love it here, I have lots of people here who help me’. Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 2 of 11  Safeguarding encompasses everything the school provides and practices. It is fully embedded across all aspects. Highly experienced and qualified senior staff lead on child protection and safeguarding. They are supported by a team of staff who are extremely well informed of their responsibilities in recognising and referring any

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Summary of key findings

 One of the school’s real strengths is how it successfully promotes and celebrates British values such as promoting equality and diversity and respect for others.

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Summary of key findings

 Residential pupils enjoy a range of activities they may not otherwise access, some that are outside of their comfort zones. Pupils consistently state how much they enjoy the activities on offer. The staff have an excellent mix of outdoor pursuit qualifications and experience that ensures the safety of pupils.

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Summary of key findings

 Areas the inspection has identified as needing developing include; continued reviewing of the accommodation provision to meet a high standard and the provision of semi-independence living. In addition, the school need to review the timings of fire evacuation drills.

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Summary of key findings

 All national minimum standards are met, and in the majority of cases are exceeded.

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Summary of key findings

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?  Ensure there is variety in the timings of the fire evacuation drills carried out in residential time (NMS 7.2) 

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Summary of key findings

 Continually review the standard of accommodation for its future and long term sustainability to ensure it continues to provide high standard facilities, both structurally and internally (NMS 5)

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Summary of key findings

 Seriously consider the re-development of an existing building to accommodate older pupils so their independence skills programme can be fully implemented and extended, taking account of the pupil’s ages and needs (NMS 2.8). 

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Summary of key findings

 Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 2 of 11

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Information about this inspection

The school was given three hours’ notice of this inspection. An initial meeting was held with the headteacher, head of care and deputy head of care. Interviews were held with key staff, including the headteacher, the head of care, the deputy head of care, the residential social worker, a governor, residential care workers, the independent visitor and the personal, social, health and economic (PHSE) lead teacher. Face-to-face discussions were held with a visiting social worker and parents/carers. Lunch and supper were taken with the residential pupils, and both formal and informal discussions were held with young people. Parents/carers were invited to make comments during the inspection: none responded. Parent View showed no responses. Feedback was sought from the local authority designated officer prior to the inspection. In addition, records, and key policies and procedures were viewed.

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Inspection team

Liz Driver Lead social care inspector Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 3 of 11

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Information about this school

Lakeside School is a maintained local authority day and residential special school for boys aged between 11 and 16 years who have social, mental and/or emotional health difficulties. Many have associated disabilities, including autism and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. The school is funded for 84 pupils with a maximum of 20 weekly residential pupils boarding up to four nights a week, Monday to Thursday. At the time of inspection there were 15 residential pupils and a total of 85 pupils on roll. The boarding house, which is split in two, is located on the school campus. The boarding provision was last inspected in March 2015. Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 4 of 11

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Inspection Judgements

The overall experiences and progress of children and young people Outstanding

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Inspection Judgements

Residential pupils are part of a highly integrated school community that includes group living and education. The exceptionally good relationships between all the teams in the school result in pupils knowing that the whole school staff team understands their difficulties and is working together to help them progress. As well as making excellent progress educationally and behaviourally, pupils successfully learn to make new friends, grow in confidence and experience activities they might not otherwise access.

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Inspection Judgements

Residential pupils’ progress is exceptional, insofar as risky and challenging behaviours identified pre-arrival do not manifest themselves upon, or soon after becoming a residential pupil. This is as a result of the staff providing a consistently nurturing and supportive environment where pupils feel safe and happy. In addition, and taking their starting points into account, pupils make excellent progress in educational attendance, attainment and achievement. Many previous poor school attenders now attend school daily and enjoy the experience. Clear and strong boundaries allow for pupils to make excellent progress in managing their behaviours. Pupils acknowledge the progress they have made. One pupil said, `I love it here, I have got lots of certificates for good work and behaviour’. Parents comment positively about the school, with comments such as ‘this school has given me back a relationship with my son, we work together’.

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Inspection Judgements

The high level of progress made by residential pupils is a result of the constructive relationships they develop with staff which provides consistent and stable support. The passion shown by the residential leaders and staff in caring for and supporting each individual is commendable. The staff team is respectful and treat pupils with dignity; in return, pupils trust staff and warm quickly to them. This role modelling results in excellent individual progress by the vast majority of pupils. Pupils receive care that is sensitive, nurturing and highly professional.

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Inspection Judgements

A tremendous range of activities are on offer, both on and off site. Pupils are encouraged to participate in activities they may not otherwise do. This stretches them and teaches them how to manage feelings outside their comfort zone. Activities include football, climbing, camping, indoor skiing and swimming. Activities positively support their social development.

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Inspection Judgements

Residential pupils are successfully prepared for transitions. The delivery of the recently developed and enhanced life skills programme has been successful. To develop further, the school could seriously consider the use of an existing building to accommodate older pupils who are engaging in the independent skills programme. The school has an impressive track record of pupils going onto further education placements. All current pupils due to leave in July 2016 already have a placement secured for September 2016. Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 5 of 11 The quality of care and support Outstanding

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Inspection Judgements

Residential pupils receive an outstanding quality of care from a team who are led by a highly regarded head and deputy head of care. Both work collaboratively to ensure that individual needs of pupils are consistently met to a high standard. Social workers and parents/carers confirm the high standards of care.

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Inspection Judgements

Pastoral care is exceptional. The staff team know the pupils extremely well and deliver, as part of a multi-professional approach, consistently high-quality support. They practise with sensitivity and professionalism. Pupils respond well to the understanding and nurturing approach. Individual emotional and mental health needs are highlighted in pupils’ records which contain detailed information about each pupil. Pupils are encouraged to lead healthy lifestyles, and they receive sensitive and well-planned guidance regarding health issues, for example smoking and alcohol misuse. An innovative and passionate teacher of PHSE delivers strong messages in a variety of settings: the classroom, external visits, and via music and drama groups. In addition, numerous eye-catching displays around the school and residential house support the messages given. External expert advice, including child and adolescent mental health

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Inspection Judgements

services, is sought where necessary. This informs care planning and ensures that the pupils and their families receive the required levels of support and guidance. Excellent links and relationships have been developed with a wide range of external agencies that ensure timely and effective help is delivered.

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Inspection Judgements

The strong emphasis of support that the leaders at the school apply to pupils and their families, is enhanced by the employment of a qualified social worker. She is involved in day-to-day activities with pupils and their families and provides ongoing support to families, pupils and staff.

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Inspection Judgements

The arrangements for catering meet a high standard. Meals are varied and healthy, special diets are very well catered for. Both in-school and in-house food provision is constantly reviewed as a result of pupils’ feedback, generally via the school council. Pupils overwhelmingly say the food is very good. Residential pupils of a suitable age are encouraged and supported to shop, prepare and cook food on their units. The inspector shared meal times with the pupils and staff, and found them to be very sociable and well-organised events that the pupils clearly enjoyed.

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Inspection Judgements

The care provision is integrated across the whole school, day and residential. Support is carried through from the school day to residential time, for example, numeracy and literacy clubs are provided in the residential house. This multi-disciplinary approach ensures pupils receive the correct input from the most appropriate professional. In addition, there are successful links between education and residential staff through formal and informal daily meetings, as well as communication through email.

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Inspection Judgements

The school provides a wide range of activities that pupils enjoy. Residential pupils say there are many activities they can do. Staff listen to suggestions and ensure that individual choices are met wherever possible. As a result, pupils experience new activities that they can succeed in, and this raises their confidence. Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 6 of 11 The residential accommodation is of a good standard. The staff have worked hard to make the house as homely as they can, despite the age and design of the building. Pupils can personalise their bedrooms. The residential house was seen to operate smoothly with very suitable house rules consistently applied. Moving forward, the school needs to review the standard of accommodation continually, in relation to its natural aging. Long-term plans need to be considered to ensure that the accommodation does not deteriorate over the next few years.

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Inspection Judgements

How well children and young people are protected Outstanding

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Inspection Judgements

The arrangements for pupils’ safety are outstanding. Safeguarding is a high priority across all areas of the school. The school is proactive in implementing and sustaining excellent safeguarding practices. Those who take the lead in child protection and safeguarding are trained, knowledgeable and experienced. They have developed excellent working relationships with external agencies. As a result, allegations and concerns are managed effectively. The school employs a qualified social worker who plays a key role in the management of safeguarding procedures and in providing guidance to the staff team. A real strength is the work the social worker does with families and carers, offering support from referral stage through to transitions and maintaining contact throughout their child’s time at the school, if needed. Staff receive excellent training on all aspects of safeguarding, including child sexual exploitation and

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Inspection Judgements

radicalisation. As a result, staff are fully aware of their responsibilities, and residential pupils consistently report that they feel safe at the school.

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Inspection Judgements

The school is particularly strong at delivering guidance to pupils about how to stay safe when using social media. Numerous displays around the school and residential house provide a constant message for pupils to be safe when using a variety of social media.

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Inspection Judgements

Behaviour management is another real strength of the school. Staff are suitably trained in managing challenging behaviours, in de-escalation and, if necessary, physical intervention. The number of physical interventions undertaken is extremely low, as a result of the expert de-escalation practices of staff. There is excellent monitoring and analysis of all behavioural incidents, including any physical interventions. This enables leaders to identify trends and patterns, and to develop strategies to minimise future risky behaviours. Pupils know what is expected of them in regards to behaviour and they work closely with their key workers to set targets so they can see the progress they make. For most pupils this is exceptional.

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Inspection Judgements

Countering bullying is threaded throughout the day-to-day life at the school. It is not a significant issue for residential pupils, and any instances are dealt with quickly and effectively. A reward and consequence system operates across the school. Pupils are proud of their many achievements and happily display their certificates in their bedrooms.

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Inspection Judgements

Recruitment procedures are robust and provide for enhanced protection. This ensures that only suitable adults are permitted to work with pupils. The school provides a safe environment, where all necessary health and safety checks are undertaken. Robust systems ensure that all aspects of health and safety are managed effectively. Fire drills take place on a regular basis, although records show they mainly occur in the mornings, staff need to vary the timings of drills to include evenings. Pupils are very well informed Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 7 of 11 of the action to take if a fire does occur.

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Inspection Judgements

The impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers Outstanding

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Inspection Judgements

The leadership and management of the residential provision is outstanding. The head of care and deputy head of care oversee the running of the residential provision. They are highly knowledgeable in residential care and have many years’ experience of working with pupils with special needs. They have suitable qualifications to fulfil their roles. The leaders of the residential provision work collaboratively with the education team. This results in a whole-school approach to the care and education of each pupil.

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Inspection Judgements

The school meets the objectives laid out in its statement of purpose. This provides professionals with information so that correct placements can be made, and provides staff with clear information about the ethos of the school.

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Inspection Judgements

The residential provision is at the heart of the school. Staff, parents and pupils are extremely complimentary about the value of boarding, and its contribution to pupils’ personal, social and academic development. The staff team is experienced and enthusiastic. Staff carry out their duties with a smile, and engage respectfully with each other. This provides good role modelling and lets the residential pupils know that staff really do care about them.

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Inspection Judgements

Communication and liaison with parents is another real strength of the school. A placing social worker also spoke very positively about the ‘excellent’ communication between herself and the school. Both pupils and parents know how to raise a concern or complaint, although there have been no complaints since the last inspection. Pupils can access forms entitled ‘grumbles and gripes’ that are located around the school and residential house for staff to action. In addition, pupils have other avenues through which they can raise concerns, including an independent visitor. A photograph of the independent visitor, with contact details, is displayed in the residential house. This was a recommendation made at the last inspection. Pupils know, and say, that they can freely raise issues, confident that they will be taken seriously.

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Inspection Judgements

The school made an accurate self-evaluation of its performance and is keen to continue to develop further, in line with changing legislation and the needs of pupils. Monitoring visits are undertaken by a governor, with reports submitted to leaders and the governing body. The designated governor, with a specific role in the residential provision, works closely with the head of care and deputy head of care. She is experienced and knowledgeable in special educational needs, and can communicate effectively with both staff and pupils. Her reports are shared with the head of care, the headteacher and the governing body. Any recommendations made are discussed, addressed and followed up at the next visit. The school analyses its practices effectively, from physical interventions, accidents, bullying incidents, to the progress made by pupils. The head of care and deputy head of care are instrumental not only in viewing data but also in

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Inspection Judgements

putting context to the data. This they do extremely well. Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 8 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 exceeds the standard of good and results 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 Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 9 of 11

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School details

Unique reference number Social care unique reference number SC012456 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 85 Gender of boarders Boys Age range of boarders 11 to 16 Headteacher Gareth Evans Date of previous boarding inspection 3 March 2015 Telephone number 02380 266 633 Email address paula.rickaby@lakeside.hants.sch.uk Inspection Report Lakeside School, 1 March 2016 Page 10 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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