Wolverdene Special School

Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 1 Wolverdene Special School Wolverdene School, 22 Love Lane, ANDOVER, Hampshire SP10 2AF Residential provision inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential special school

Wolverdene is a local authority school in Hampshire catering for primary age children who are experiencing social, emotional and mental health difficulties. The school uses ‘The Thrive Approach’, which draws on research in neuroscience, attachment, effective learning and child development, and the PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) model to underpin its work.

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Information about this residential special school

The school provides mainly day placements. Ten residential placements are available for boys in The Lodge, where they stay for up to four nights a week. The Lodge accommodation consists of 10 single rooms with shared facilities in a house located in the school grounds.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The residential special school provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the school contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people.

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outstanding

Date of previous inspection: 27 March 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This residential special school is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff form excellent nurturing relationships with children which form the basis for exceptional progress in children’s emotional, social and educational progress.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Managers and staff have an admirable understanding of the effect of trauma on children’s lives and of how they can be successfully helped to manage this impact.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children are helped to reflect on their experiences and behaviour; this promotes their understanding of these issues and the development of better ways of coping with them.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children thoroughly enjoy their stays in the residential provision. The stays enhance their experience of life and promote their life chances effectively.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is a strong team work spirit, matched by an embracing of the school’s ethos. This has sustained team members when they have been under pressure due to staff shortages and children’s challenging behaviour.

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Key findings from this inspection

The residential special school’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Not all staff, including managers and agency workers, receive formal supervision with records that contain salient details about the topics discussed. Not all staff, including managers, have received an annual appraisal.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Risk assessments are not recorded on case files.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Placement plans do not detail how children’s needs will be met in the residential provision, nor how children have contributed to their plans.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The school’s complaints policy does not adequately include details of how complaints that are made by children should be responded to. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 3

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special schools

The school does not meet the following national minimum standard for residential special schools:

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special schools

 19.6: All staff have access to support and advice for their role. They also have regular supervision and formal annual appraisal of their performance.

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Recommendations

 Record risk assessments that are undertaken when pupils are accepted for admission, and demonstrate that action is taken to reduce them.

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Recommendations

 Extend placement plans to clearly identify how the school will care for each child and promote their welfare on a day-to-day basis.

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Recommendations

 Monitor records of major sanctions and the use of any reasonable force to ensure that they are complete, including the views of children and debrief meetings with staff.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that annual reviews of the school’s welfare provision include the placement plans for individual children.

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Recommendations

 Expand the residential provision’s complaints policy to provide guidance for staff on what constitutes a complaint by a child, and the procedure for responding to and recording such complaints. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 4

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outstanding

Children thoroughly enjoy their stays and were unanimous in their appreciation of staff. One said: ‘They are awesome!’ and another said he would give them 10/10 as ‘they are kind, fair and respectful’. Children are keen to board but some parents are reluctant to give care of their sons to others. The admissions process helps all parties to understand what to expect and to agree arrangements. The success of the admissions process is illustrated by one mother, who was initially unwilling to take this step, now calling the residential provision ‘a home from home’ for her son.

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outstanding

The forming of nurturing relationships is fundamental to the contribution that boarding makes to the progress children make. Despite changes in staffing, this has had a transforming effect on many of the pupils. Some gain the consistent and genuine acceptance of trusted adults for the first time in their lives. The experience of being ‘held’ emotionally and helped to contain volatile emotions means that children know that previously overwhelming feelings can be managed, and they learn how to do this themselves.

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outstanding

This is exemplified by records of discussions with children to debrief them after a significant incident, such as being restrained. These records demonstrate excellent reflective practice and skilled encouragement of children to reflect on what has happened. The insight and understanding that have been gained have a direct and positive impact on how children manage their anxiety and behaviour.

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outstanding

Children express a wish to deal with their difficulties better, and they use strategies that they have developed with staff to do so. This has helped them to make significant and, in several cases, remarkable progress in their social, emotional and educational development. Examples include, for one child, helping with simple chores when previously being asked would have resulted in an outburst. Another child who, according to his mother, was ‘a flight risk at his old school’ now manages difficulties in the classroom with ‘just a walk about’.

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outstanding

Children and staff agree which targets, based on individual education plans and social care needs, will be worked on each week. These targets are phrased in professional terms and, although children should be encouraged to use complex language, not every child could explain what their own targets meant.

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outstanding

Many children missed a substantial amount of education prior to admission to the school and were highly resistant to learning. The induction process enables them to get used to being in school, and then to participate in structured lessons. Staying in the residential provision helps to make the transition to and from school as smooth as possible for children, and helps them to process experiences in each setting without one having a negative impact on the other. Staff, parents and children believe that this is, as one parent said, ‘hugely beneficial’. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 5 Children readily talk about having the chance to spend time with friends. Many have few other opportunities to socialise, having been isolated due to their behaviour and to living some distance from the school. One parent said that her son ‘has learned how to be a friend’, and as a result ‘social relationships are a lot better’ with others

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outstanding

too. Children who have stayed in the residential provision for a while understand the value of sharing play and other activities, and therefore of collaboration and tolerance. During the inspection children were observed to be polite to each other and to staff, and even to say ‘excuse me’ when constantly wanting attention. They understand the benefit of agreeing or accepting rules in order to live harmoniously as a group. This is hugely important for their later life.

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outstanding

Children like the residential accommodation, particularly their bedrooms. A few of the bedrooms have signs of damage caused by children, but overall the standard of furnishing is high.

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outstanding

Staff provide activities on school premises or in the community. Children enjoy these activities, particularly because the possibility of participating in them elsewhere is limited. One child told his social worker that boarding is ‘better than fun!’ Some parents report that they are able to do more at home as a result of their children being better able to contain themselves when in public. Thus, children’s experience of life is enhanced while boarding and, for many, when outside of it too.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Residential staff work well with families and education staff, and this has been an important part of achieving the transfer of skills and progress to home and school environments. A social worker said: ‘A behaviour strategy between boarding, school and home is key to the progress made.’ Parents are full of praise for staff in achieving this. One said: ‘They go above and beyond to help out’, and gave an example of staff helping her son to prepare for a family event that everyone was anxious about. With the support of staff this event went extremely well.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Risks are assessed on the acceptance of a referral and are then addressed through behaviour plans. The head of care was able to explain how potential risks are considered when deciding which nights a child who had recently been admitted should attend, and which bedroom he should stay in. However, although details are recorded in the minutes of admission and team meetings they do not appear in case files.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Placement and behaviour support plans are intended to be school-wide’ documents, with the residential provision integrated into the wider setting. However, a combination of the number of pupils who board being a small part of the whole, and residential workers not being able to attend all relevant meetings, has meant that documents have not always included issues that are pertinent to the residential provision. These include children’s own views, their contact with family, diet, meeting cultural needs and bedtime routines.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff assist children to manage their own behaviour by helping them to develop Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 6 strategies to cope when they feel frustrated, anxious or angry. Observations were made during the inspection of workers helping children to think ahead to consider how they might respond if situations get difficult for them, so avoiding potential problems.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The head of care has worked with staff to ensure that sanctions are used as a tool to help manage behaviour, and that they are relevant to a misdemeanour rather than a threat to hold over a child. The use of sanctions has reduced significantly, with none being imposed for two months. Children themselves say that sanctions are fair.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Records of physical interventions demonstrate the emphasis that is placed on helping children and staff to learn from incidents. The log includes questions for staff to complete on, for example, why de-escalation techniques did not avoid a hold and what follow-up has been agreed. However, these and other sections of the form are not always filled in and do not always contain clear accounts. This means that managers do not have complete information when monitoring the use of restraints. The views of children are recorded on debrief records, but these are only created if the incident is deemed to be particularly significant.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Nevertheless, monitoring has been effective, for example in identifying that many incidents involving a particular child were as a result of him being scared that staff would leave him alone, especially at night. Work has been done to lessen this fear, enabling him to voice his concerns and reduce his aggression. This is having a positive impact on the number and severity of incidents.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Managers made changes to the behaviour management policy during the inspection to ensure that staff know that ‘to maintain good order’ is not a reason for a child to be restrained in the residential provision.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff were clear about the procedures to follow if they are concerned about a child’s welfare, and how to escalate this if managers did not take appropriate action. Children have not gone missing from the residential provision for many years, but staff responded appropriately when one left the site, following him at a distance, keeping colleagues informed and, when able to talk to the child, suggesting that they go together to a park. After a while, the child was willing to be taken back to school. This kept the child safe.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Following the last inspection, managers devised methods to gather and record children’s complaints and ‘grumbles’. These include the introduction of a ‘worry monster’ where children can post concerns; those mailed have been about the environment, and led to discussion on such issues as recycling in the school. The school’s complaints policy lacks guidance about what constitutes a complaint from a child and how to record the complaint. Other than an expectation that staff should respond as quickly as possible to children’s grumbles, the policy refers exclusively to complaints made by adults. The great majority of grumbles have been minor matters such as disagreements with peers, although one could have been considered to be a complaint. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 7

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior managers have high expectations of the care being provided in the residential provision and are constantly looking to improve the service. The headteacher makes frequent references to research and publications regarding work on helping pupils with social, emotional and behaviour difficulties. These are used to develop proactive strategies that promote children’s psychological development, such as helping them to understand resilience. The emphasis on creating a nurturing environment in the residential provision is directly related to an understanding of how trauma impacts on children’s attachments, development and ability to learn. The approach is well understood by staff, who apply the principles of PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) to their work, and has led to the substantial progress children have made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s progress is recorded in ‘talk about wheels’. This charts children’s development and target tracking, although this has lapsed in recent months and was only produced for the inspection. Staff and parents give good anecdotal evidence of how children have progressed since moving in, but there are no easily accessible records of this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The school has recently appointed a new head of pupil services, who will be in post shortly. The role will include management of the residential provision. Not having a head of care for several months has placed a significantly increased workload on the deputy. There have been other staff shortages due to resignations, sickness and maternity leave, compounded by frequent requests for residential staff to assist in the school, due to their own recruitment issues. The impact of this has mainly been on administrative work and has contributed to the poor state of case files.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of a long-term agency worker and the return of other staff has led those who were interviewed to consider that things have begun to turn around, and they feel positive about the future. Even through the period of particular pressure, staff report that they were well supported, and ‘looked out for each other’. An agency worker was sufficiently impressed by the ethos and camaraderie of the team that he said, ‘It is the first time in a long time that I have thought I want to be part of this.’ Leaders in the residential provision set the tone for a supportive environment, stepping in if needed to provide a change of face when children are becoming emotionally heightened, and encouraging constructive criticism that leads to improved practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision and appraisals have largely taken place in line with the school’s policy, and are effective in assisting staff to develop, and to manage the emotional impact of the work. However, agency staff have not had formal, recorded supervision, and line management outside of boarding has paid insufficient attention to professional development. Recording of sessions is very limited. Handover and team meetings provide extremely useful forums for reflecting on practice and result in changes in approach towards particular issues or children, which are then consistently applied. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 8 The governing board takes substantial interest in the welfare of children in the residential provision, and visits are regularly made to the service when children are present. These are made by the governor who has particular responsibility for boarding, as well as by the independent visitor. The independent visitor’s reports

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

provide sufficient information for governors to have a good understanding of life for boarders, despite the absence of review-of-care plans. These are also missing from the evaluation of the residential provision carried out by managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the residential provision. Breaches of the national minimum standards and the improvements needed at the last inspection have all been addressed. Operationally, energies have gone into successfully maintaining the standard of the provision during a time when staffing has been a major issue. Strategically, there have been significant developments, including the creation of the head of pupil services role and the sharing of expertise and knowledge beyond the school. This includes taking a lead in producing a strategy for meeting the needs of pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs for the county, and training new teachers in other schools about attachment issues.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the school knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Children Act 1989 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the national minimum standards. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 9

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Residential special school details

Social care unique reference number: SC012029

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Residential special school details

Headteacher/teacher in charge: Paul Van Walwyk

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Residential special school details

Type of school: Residential special school

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Residential special school details

Email address: adminoffice@wolverdene.hants.sch.uk Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 10

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Inspector(s)

Chris Peel, social care inspector (lead) Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 11 to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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