Lakeside School

Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 1 Lakeside School

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Lakeside School, Winchester Road, Chandler’s Ford, Eastleigh, Hampshire SO53 2DW Residential provision inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential special school

Lakeside School is a maintained local authority day and residential special school for boys aged between 11 and 16 who have social, mental and/or emotional health difficulties. Many have associated difficulties, including autistic spectrum disorder and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder. At the time of the inspection, there were 85 children on roll, including 15 residential pupils. The residential provision consists of two houses located on the school campus.

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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 outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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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: 9 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside 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

 Leaders and managers, governors and all the staff maintain a positive culture in which residential pupils have effective individualised support to do as well as they can and to develop the skills that they will need in the future.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Highly skilled residential staff are continuously striving to improve residential pupils’ experiences. Managers and staff are creative and innovative.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Residential pupils benefit from sensitive, nurturing care and support, which is focused on their emotional health and well-being. They develop resilience and coping strategies to help them manage their difficulties and consequently, their family life improves.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is particularly effective partnership working with families.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Safeguarding the residential pupils is at the heart of the support provided by staff. Proactive safeguarding practices raise the residential pupils’ awareness and understanding of the risks that they face and educate them in how to keep themselves safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 A strong governing body provides effective scrutiny, challenge and oversight of the residential provision and safeguarding practices.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Extremely positive relationships between the staff and residential pupils are the foundation of successful behaviour strategies.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Residential pupils thrive and make excellent progress, with improvements in their social skills, independence and educational achievements.

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Key findings from this inspection

The residential special school’s areas for development are:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some risk assessments and safety plans do not have sufficient detail to guide staff in providing individualised support to reduce the potential of harm to residential pupils. Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that risk assessments and safety plans provide sufficient details to guide staff in providing individualised support to reduce the potential of harm to residential pupils. Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 4

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outstanding

Residential pupils benefit from individualised, nurturing care and support from the staff. Their positive experiences are directly related to the trusting relationships that they form with staff, who are dedicated to improving residential pupils’ well-being and helping them to build a happy and successful life in the future. Residential pupils commented on how they have fun, they like it being so calm and peaceful and they enjoy doing activities with their friends.

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outstanding

Parents and carers have noticed the progress that residential pupils have made in a short period. A parent commented that staff ‘focus on the individual’ and address difficulties, ‘managing all the little things and nothing is too much trouble’. Their children are happy and now more settled and much calmer at home, with a greater ability to verbalise their feelings. Family life is much improved. Parents and carers appreciate their child’s progress in social development and independence. They value the importance that staff place on working with them to support their child.

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outstanding

Working collaboratively with staff across the school, residential staff use their in- depth knowledge of each residential pupil to ensure that effective support advances their development. Highly sensitive, well-considered plans help pupils to settle quickly into residential life. With a focus on residential pupils’ emotional needs, staff are alert to signs of distress, anxiety and stress. They are trained to provide appropriate support and to refer to specialists when necessary. Through this close attention to their well-being, residential pupils develop resilience and coping strategies to manage their difficulties. A parent commented that ‘staff genuinely care’ and said that her child ‘feels accepted’. Residential pupils develop self-confidence and self-esteem through reliably knowing that staff will respond to their needs.

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outstanding

The staff value the views of residential pupils. Daily meetings after school provide opportunities to choose activities and to discuss issues. Regular key-work sessions enable residential pupils to put forward their views. Residential pupils stated that they can talk to staff if they are worried about anything and staff are ‘kind and generous’. Managers and staff are responsive and act upon residential pupils’ requests, demonstrating that residential pupils are listened to and that their views are important. Staff ensure that residential pupils are aware of how to make a complaint but there have been none recorded and no minor ‘grumbles’, again demonstrating that staff are responsive and skilled in resolving issues at an early stage.

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outstanding

Extremely effective safeguarding measures protect residential pupils. All staff take their responsibility very seriously for ensuring the safety of residential pupils. They Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 5 recognise and understand the residential pupils’ specific vulnerabilities and address these on an individual basis. Their responsibility is not confined to keeping residential pupils safe while in school but, taking a whole-school approach, they continuously strive to extend all pupils’ awareness and understanding of keeping themselves safe in the wider community. Using an effective ‘drip-feed’ approach and using external specialists, staff ensure that pupils are aware of the risks that they may face. Safeguarding permeates all aspects of the school.

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outstanding

Led by a skilled and experienced designated safeguarding lead who works closely with the school’s social worker, the team of safeguarding officers are proactive and respond appropriately to all concerns raised. Systems for reporting concerns are embedded into practice. Successful partnership working between designated safeguarding officers, external safeguarding agencies and families promote the welfare of pupils.

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outstanding

Relationships between staff and residential pupils are positive and are at the heart of successful behaviour management strategies. Structure, routines and clear boundaries help residential pupils to develop a sense of safety, protection and trust. Staff model appropriate social interactions, supporting residential pupils to make friends, to maintain friendships and to learn to live with others.

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outstanding

Individualised placement plans comprehensively identify residential pupils’ needs and the support that they require from staff to develop. Staff know and understand each residential pupil very well and they implement personalised strategies to help residential pupils’ self-regulate their emotions and manage their difficulties. Residential pupils have ‘Keeping Safe Plans’ that identify specific risks and measures to reduce the potential of harm. However, some strategies are not sufficiently detailed to guide staff in providing distinctive support.

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outstanding

Residential pupils respond to the support that staff offer. Staff are skilled in de- escalating potentially difficult situations. Physical intervention is used infrequently. There have been no incidents of residential pupils going missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Senior leaders and managers are highly competent, experienced and confident in maintaining a positive culture in which staff support residential pupils to do as well as they can and to develop the skills that they will need in the future. All staff share this commitment to meeting residential pupils’ diverse needs and believe that residential pupils can flourish through individualised support, advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The highly skilled residential staff team members work cohesively, supporting each other to meet the residential pupils’ individual needs. Managers encourage the staff to be creative and innovative and through this to continuously improve the residential pupils’ experience of living at the school. Through comprehensive training, individual performance plans and regular supervision, the staff receive effective support from managers to improve their practice and their support for residential Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 6 pupils, with a sharp focus on safeguarding them and promoting their well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A strong governing body provides effective scrutiny, challenge and oversight of the residential provision. A particularly knowledgeable and experienced governor closely monitors safeguarding matters. Her depth of knowledge and up-to-date training provides valuable support to the safeguarding team, ensuring that the systems to protect pupils are fully embedded. This governor also regularly visits the residential provision, providing leaders and managers with detailed and comprehensive reports with action points, which help to ensure that high standards of care are maintained and there is continuous improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff across all aspects of the school have a strong determination to work together to identify each pupil’s individual needs and the support that they require to make progress. Residential pupils benefit from all staff applying consistent strategies and sharing resources.

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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 - Lakeside School 7

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Residential special school details

Social care unique reference number: SC012456

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Residential special school details

Headteacher/Teacher in charge: Gareth Evans

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Residential special school details

Type of school: Residential special school

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Residential special school details

Email address: gareth.evans@lakeside.hants.sch.uk Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 8

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Inspector

Jan Hunnam, social care inspector Inspection report for residential special school - Lakeside School 9 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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