National Deaf Children's Society

Good

The residential holiday scheme provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The residential holiday scheme for disabled children is good because:

 Children thrive within the inclusive and nurturing environment. The scheme provides an extensive range of opportunities to engage children in new experiences and help them learn new skills. Children grow in confidence and independence.  Children develop friendships within an amicable, kind family atmosphere. They gain a sense of belonging, establishing a bond from their shared experience of being deaf.  Care planning is holistic and significantly adapted to meet the individuality of each child. Personalised support contributes to improving their self-identity, self-confidence and self-worth.  Children’s wishes and feelings are at the centre of decision-making. They contribute fully to planning, including identifying their likes, dislikes and hobbies. Children set their own personal objectives and targets.  Children receive certificates to mark their achievements. Examples are nationally accredited environmental and sporting awards. I ndividual learning

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The residential holiday scheme for disabled children is good because:

plans clearly evaluate the journey of the child and the progress they make.  Children benefit from effective safeguarding arrangements. The internal safeguarding board coordinates implementation of relevant policies and systems.  Children interact positively with others and behave appropriately. Staff provide effective one-to-one support for children who have additional needs. Children clearly understand the behavioural management strategy put in place to keep them safe.  A stable staff team offers good continuity of care. The scheme benefits from a vast number of dedicated volunteers. An extensive range of training equips staff for their role. A child-focused staff competency assessment ensures that volunteers develop the required skills.  Leaders and managers succeed in providing a well organised, inclusive, empowering and efficient service. Children benefit from good partnership arrangements, which contribute to removing barriers to their achievement.

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The residential holiday scheme for disabled children is good because:

 Shortfalls relate to the legislative requirements regarding documentation. These relate to updating the child protection procedure and statements of purpose, and sending Regulation 29 reports to Ofsted. These shortfalls do not have a negative impact on children’s outcomes or their well-being.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person meets the Care Standards Act 2000, the Residential Holiday Schemes for Disabled Children (England) Regulations 2013 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

Reg The registered person must update the statement of purpose to cover all the matters listed in Schedule 1. This relates to the relevant experience and qualifications of the registered provider and the registered manager (Regulation 3 (1)) 01/05/2017

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Reg. Requirement Due date

Reg The registered person must ensure that the child protection procedure is updated to include that it is a requirement for employees to report a concern about the safety or welfare of a child to one of the following: (i) the registered person; (ii) a police officer; (iii) Ofsted; (iv) the local authority in whose area accommodation is being provided by the scheme; (v) the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. (Regulation 13 (2) (e)) 01/05/2017

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Reg. Requirement Due date

Reg The registered person must ensure that a visit to each site takes place at least once in every twelve-month period, at a time when children are being provided with care and accommodation. A copy of these reports must be sent to Ofsted. (Regulation 29 (3) & (5) (a)) 01/05/2017

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children

This large and diverse charity supports deaf children aged 0 to 25 and their families, through a range of information and support services. The National Deaf Children’s Society plans programmes of activities to challenge and inspire deaf children and young people aged 8 to 18 years. Some children may also have additional needs. The holiday and activity scheme consists of a variety of one-day, weekend and week- long events, dedicated to outdoor, sports or creative activities. Events within the scheme vary in size and are based in a range of venues across the country.

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Good

Children thrive within a nurturing and inclusive atmosphere, which focuses on supporting their ability to achieve. The scheme provides an extensive range of opportunities to engage children in new experiences and help them to learn new skills. Examples are abseiling, beat boxing, film-making and song writing. As a result, children grow in confidence, resilience and independence. A parent highlights that it is ‘good to be in an environment where they succeed’ and ‘deafness is not a barrier’. Children describe the scheme as ‘great’, ‘brilliant’ and ‘awesome’.

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Good

Children enjoy being with and learning from their peers. For example, they enjoy being able to extend their signing skills. Events provide an opportunity to establish new friendships. Staff pride themselves on creating an amicable family atmosphere. Children gain a sense of belonging, establishing a bond from their shared experience of being deaf. A child highlights that it is ‘nice meeting other deaf people’. Another child states, ‘The staff helped translate other people, meaning everyone could talk to each other no matter what.’ Children develop a sense of community, which is demonstrated through their mutual respect and acts of kindness, such as older children naturally looking after the younger attendees.

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Good

The scheme is well organised and efficient. Effective communication ensures that the specific needs of children are understood. Parents benefit from reassuring pre- event discussions, which enable open information sharing. Care planning is holistic and significantly adapted to meet the individuality of each child. A good example of this is seen in identifying and providing one-to-one staff for children who have additional needs. Staff provide constructive feedback to parents on their child’s learning. This enables the continuation of the positive developments when children return home.

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Good

Children’s wishes and feelings are at the centre of decision-making. They are able to identify their own likes, dislikes and hobbies. Prior to events, children receive a diary and a final information pack. This means that children can familiarise themselves with the timetable and the names and faces of staff. This helps to ease anxiety. Children also express their excitement in anticipation of engaging in specific activities. The provision of a diary allows children to capture their thoughts, feelings and emotions. Moreover, this provides a record of how events impact on their lives.

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Good

Children’s personal development is valued. Personalised support contributes to improving their self-identity, self-confidence and self-worth. Children identify their own objectives and capture their achievements. Leaders and managers take pride in the fact that children receive certificates to mark their accomplishments. Examples of these include nationally accredited environmental and sporting awards. I ndividual learning plans evaluate the progress of each child. At the end of each event, a learning plan provides a meaningful record of a child’s achievements. A staff member highlighted that it is ‘nice to see the best of them’. A parent said of their son that they have ‘always known him to be capable of anything and this holiday has proven me right’.

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Good

Children benefit from the different types of age-specific events to meet their particular needs and interests. For example, activities for younger children include discovery, adventure, multi-activity and multi-sport weekends. Children aged over 16 benefit from life skills and transition workshops. These involve external organisations and include financial management and sexual health and relationship training. A parent stated that these workshops assisted the ‘easing of their anxiety’ as their child made ‘the transition to adulthood’.

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Good

Children benefit from effective safeguarding arrangements. The organisation complies with safe recruitment guidelines, which helps to keep children safe. A child confirmed that they are ‘safe, happy and 100% supported’. They say they know whom to contact if they have concerns. Staff sensitively manage homesickness. A child commented, ‘I did have worries but I told the staff and they helped me.’ The wide-ranging safeguarding training ensures that staff and volunteers are aware of relevant issues. Staff benefit from recent training which raised their awareness of radicalisation.

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Good

Staff know who to contact internally and externally if they have child protection concerns. However, the child protection procedure does not include the fact that it is a requirement to report safety or welfare concerns to one of a list of personnel. In practice this is not an issue as staff are fully aware of where they can report concerns. The only organisation not mentioned in the procedure is the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

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Good

The organisation prioritises safeguarding. Governance includes a safeguarding board, chaired by the responsible individual. Managers c oordinate the development and implementation of all safeguarding policies and systems. The responsible individual also gains learning from any incidents and uses this to reflect on practice and make improvements across the organisation.

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Good

Children interact positively with others and behave appropriately. During their welcome meetings, children discuss rules and expectations. They learn the importance of embracing difference and accepting and supporting each other. Staff remind children of unacceptable acts, for example bullying. Children easily understand the traffic light system for managing unacceptable behaviour. The colours red, yellow and green correspond to negative and positive aspects of their behaviour. This approach promotes positive behaviour through encouragement and praise.

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Good

There is recognition that children may have additional needs. Behavioural management strategies are in place to address these needs effectively and consistently. Individual concerns are detailed in risk assessments. Children enjoy being at events and there are no issues with them going missing. They have access to phones to contact their families or others in the event of an emergency.

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Good

The scheme is based at venues that include established outdoor education centres, youth hostel association activity centres, independent boarding schools and arts centres. The venue and activity provider make a firm commitment to ensure that facilities and activities are suitable for and inclusive of deaf children. Comprehensive risk assessments identify hazards and the actions needed to minimise threats to children’s safety. Health and safety checks and engineer certificates confirm the safety of the environment. The organisation has appropriate insurance.

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Good

Leaders and managers succeed in providing an inclusive, empowering and efficient service. One child commented that ‘the staff and volunteers made it an amazing, memorable experience I will cherish.’

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Good

The statement of purpose clearly sets out the ethos and objectives of the holiday scheme. The document contains most of the required regulatory information. However, it lacks details of the relevant experience and qualifications of the registered provider and the registered manager.

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Good

The responsible individual, the registered manager, camp coordinators, supporting staff and volunteers are suitably experienced. A staff member described the registered manager as ‘really supportive’. A parent described the activity coordinator as being ‘really helpful and informative’ and ‘a credit’ to the organisation.

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Good

The scheme benefits from a vast number of dedicated volunteers. A child-focused staff competency assessment ensures that staff develop the required skills for their role. Volunteers benefit from a comprehensive induction programme and regular training. The scheme has a celebration and award ceremony to recognise the valued contribution of staff.

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Good

The stable staff team offers good continuity of care. A staff member gave an example of their pride in seeing children ‘grow and develop’ into ‘well-rounded young people.’ A child describes staff as ‘really nice’, stating that they ‘care about us’. A parent describes them as ‘lovely, positive role models’. Staff receive extensive training. Monthly supervision is aligned to their appraisal objectives. This ensures that staff understand how well they are progressing against their own development objectives.

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Good

The sound quality assurance system contributes to the continual improvement of the service. Evaluation reports influence service development. There is a good system for reviewing the quality of care in accordance with Regulation 30. The organisation has assigned Regulation 29 visitors to undertake the relevant inspections of their holiday scheme venues. However, Ofsted has not received reports for all of the venues used during a 12-month period. Leaders and managers confirm that these have been undertaken.

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Good

Leaders and managers measure success through their internal surveys, which contribute towards informing their quarterly reports. These quantify customer satisfaction and provide qualitative comments through testimonials. Children help to shape future provision through a range of feedback mechanisms. The scheme has a young people’s advisory board and focused sessions at events. This enables leaders and managers to establish what outcomes children would like to achieve.

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Good

Children benefit from good partnership arrangements, which contribute to removing the barriers to their achievement. Staff are kept updated on developments within the sector. Teams and forums within the organisation share their expertise, examples being within the technology and the youth advisory board. Leaders and managers are working with partners to achieve a national award of recognition. There is strong determination to also raise their partners’ standards.

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Good

Leaders and managers have addressed effectively the recommendations from the last inspection. Children benefit from a more accessible and meaningful complaints procedure. Children now understand how their views, wishes and feelings are taken into account. Finally, more stringent venue checks now ensure that children are accommodated in premises which are fit for purpose.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences of children 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 ‘Inspection of residential holiday schemes for disabled children: framework for inspection’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences of children attending the residential holiday scheme. Inspectors considered whether the work of the residential holiday scheme is founded on safe care and individualised support. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children and each other, and discussed the effectiveness of care given to children. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential holiday scheme knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with The Residential Holiday Schemes for Disabled Children (England) Regulations 2013 and the National Minimum Standards. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted's

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Information about this inspection

website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/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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Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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