Kings Brighton

Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 1 Kings Brighton

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27-33 Ditchling Road, Brighton BN1 4SB Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this boarding school

Kings Brighton is part of Kings Education, which runs international colleges in the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Students come from all over the world and undertake a range of academic and English language courses. Students under the age of 18 stay in the boarding provision on site or with host families. There are currently 124 students on roll, and 55 of these are either staying with host families or boarding on site. The school was registered in 2017 and this was its first welfare inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The boarding school provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Date of last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Taking into account the short time that the school has been open, students have settled in and are achieving well.  Senior leaders and managers, who have the required skills, knowledge and experience, have worked well together to ensure that the school operates to a good standard in a short period of time.  Students enjoy their time at the school and benefit from the excellent standard of accommodation.  Students enjoy positive relationships with the staff and their host families. There is an excellent enrichment programme that provides a range of activities both on site and in the local and wider community.  Safeguarding is well managed and understood. Students say that they feel safe and are supported to make safe choices.  The school promotes a positive culture of inclusiveness and learning in a multicultural environment.  Supportive and challenging governance ensures good oversight of the school’s

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Key findings from this inspection

The boarding school’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Review the number of staff across the school as the number of students increases.  Develop further systems that allow for measuring the progress made by students, in addition to the current system that only allows for educational progress to be recorded.  Develop a self-evaluation plan that is in line with the current inspection framework.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The school is meeting its aims to provide a setting where students can study in a safe environment to academically succeed so that they go on to university or other educational establishment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Students benefit from the boarding experience. They gain confidence as a result of living away from home, and improve their independence skills. They enjoy organised weekend activities that take in the local and wider cultural aspects of living in the UK. There is a strong culture of community within the school. The school is successful in creating an environment that is inclusive and non-discriminatory. Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 3 Systems for measuring the progress made by students, other than educational progress, are being reviewed. The school needs to formalise the recording of how it measures non-academic progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff apply a sensitive and thoughtful approach towards the students. Relationships are warm and nurturing. The students make friends with a range of others from different cultures and backgrounds. The students respond well to staff’s guidance and support. As a result, there are extremely low levels of disruptive or negative behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Students who live on site are accommodated in modern, high-quality, individual bedrooms with ensuite facilities. Host families are well supported and report that they are very happy with the service that they receive from the host family coordinator at the school. Students who live with host families are very happy and speak positively about their host family and of their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Students are supported to access health-related professionals if required. Safe medication administration is currently undertaken by a few staff, and this meets the current needs of the students. There are suitable numbers of staff on duty at all times who can administer first aid.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Students are able to stay in touch with friends and family via a wide range of communication methods. They receive guidance and support on the safe use of all forms of social media.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Students benefit from a wide range of healthy food choices provided by the catering department. Meals are nutritious and of a good quality. Mealtimes are social occasions when students enjoy each other’s company. A strength of the school is its focus on bringing students together as a community through activities that they want to participate in. This includes enrichment activities at lunchtime.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Induction processes are very well arranged and delivered. Suitable information is provided prior to and at the time of the students’ arrival. This flow of information continues for the time that they are at the school. The school has a range of staff who are very well informed of decisions that need to be made regarding students moving on at the end of their educational courses.

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

Student behaviour is excellent. Students are polite, pleasant and articulate. Students under the age of 18 occupy the same boarding provision as over 18-year-olds. However, there is well-organised separation of gender and age, with effective close monitoring at all times. This ensures the safety of students.

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

The school has a strong safeguarding culture. Safeguarding is led by an experienced senior manager. The school has systems in place should an allegation be made or a concern be highlighted that a student is at risk of actual or potential harm. There has Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 4 not been the need to make a referral to local safeguarding agencies, to date. The safeguarding lead is very well informed of, and has close working links with, the Local Safeguarding Children Board and its responsibilities.

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

Students said that they feel safe and that there is no bullying or tension between different groups based on culture, religion or ethnicity.

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

The staff have all completed safeguarding training sessions. This includes topics such as radicalisation, sexual exploitation and female genital mutilation. Local risks are known and documented, and staff advise students on how to keep themselves safe when out in the local community. A strength of the school is its use of visual information around the school and the boarding provision, that constantly reminds students how to keep safe and who to talk to if they have a worry or are concerned about a friend. No serious concerns have arisen since the school’s opening.

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

There are robust procedures in place for staff to follow if a student is late or missing. This includes procedures for host families to take. Going missing is not an issue at the school, as students are motivated by their learning as they prepare for university, and generally have a responsible attitude.

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

Host families undertake safeguarding training and are invited into the school for talks and workshops. The training includes the safe use of social media and technology in the host family home. Host families are provided with and adhere to strict rules around safe media use.

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

Students know how to raise a concern and have access to independent advice and support if they need it. The school uses a range of methods to gain the views of students and uses this information to inform development. There are clear procedures in place for the school to respond to any complaints. There have not been any to date.

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

The school applies safer recruitment procedures. Health and safety checks ensure that students live in a safe environment, free from hazards. Fire evacuation drills take place so that students know what action to take if a fire occurred.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders and managers have been successful in getting this school to a good standard since its registration in 2017.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The senior leadership team is effective in implementing and evaluating the school’s practices and procedures. There is very good oversight of how the school has developed in its first year. Senior leaders know the areas for development, going forward. The residential manager has much experience of very similar establishments and has used her knowledge and experience to create a safe and calm environment where all students can thrive. Senior leaders are able to scrutinise and monitor the Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 5 school effectively. They respond positively to challenge and constructive advice. This means that students live in an environment where there is a strong desire for continual development and success.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The school’s self-evaluation welfare report has been undertaken with reference to an outdated inspection framework. There are areas in the report that need developing, such as how progress made against identified actions can be measured and dates for completion.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Governance is effective. Senior leaders and managers are challenged, as well as being in receipt of support. The new auditing systems being introduced will strengthen the oversight of quality across many areas of the school.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This was a welfare-only inspection, so it is not possible to comment on how well students make progress in education. However, inspectors noted that students have a very positive attitude to learning. The very good quality of the host families also supports their education.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management of the host family provision is very good. Organised systems allow for host families to have confidence in student placements and know that they can seek advice and guidance at all times.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers seek continued improvement and development. Staff, host families and students comment positively on the focus that leaders have. They are visible, and provide appropriate support and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All national minimum standards have been met. Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 6

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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 difference 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.

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Boarding school details

Headteacher/teacher in charge: Nigel Addison

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Boarding school details

Email address: nigel.addison@kingseducation.com

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Inspectors

Liz Driver: social care inspector Janet Fraser: SHMI Inspection report for boarding school: Kings Brighton 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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