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. 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. It is situated 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: 6 February 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding 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

 The quality of individualised care and support provided leads to significant improvements in the quality of life experienced by children and their families.  Staff manage situations and behaviour extremely well; consistent boundaries contribute to a feeling of well-being and security for children.  The school’s leaders and managers use and contribute to evidence-based research to develop innovative practice.  Leaders and managers have an excellent grasp of the school’s strengths and weaknesses and have plans in place to build on the former and address the latter. The residential special school’s areas for development are:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Impact risk assessments do not always address all known risks, and do not show the rationale behind decisions made or how identified risks will be specifically addressed.  Annual reviews of the residential provision do not address the statement of purpose, the staffing policy or an internal assessment of compliance with the national minimum standards.  Children’s views are not always represented on relevant documentation.  Not all staff receive individual supervision sessions at the agreed frequency, and records of these do not provide sufficient details of the discussion that takes place.  Not all documents clearly identify who has written them or show that people who need to read and understand them have done so, including children. 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:  20.4 The head teacher (or school equivalent), governing body, trustees, partnership, or organisation responsible for carrying on the school carries out, and records in writing, once each year: a review of the operation and resourcing of the school’s welfare provision for boarding pupils, in relation to: its Statement of Purpose; its staffing policy; the placement plans for individual children; and an internal assessment of its compliance with these standards. Where appropriate such a report may be incorporated within a review of the whole school.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that assessments of the impact of admitting children, both on the child and on existing users of the service, are recorded, together with actions to address this impact.  Ensure that children’s views are represented in placement plans, behaviour development plans and sanction logs.  Record management monitoring of physical interventions and the effectiveness of sanctions.  Ensure that the author of plans, assessments and other documentation is clearly identified.  Ensure that staff receive the agreed number of individual supervision sessions and that records reflect the salient points of discussion. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 4

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outstanding

Children look forward to staying in the residential provision and are very keen to have the opportunity. One child said he had wanted to come for a long time as ‘they get to do lots of cool things and I wanted to be with friends here’. Indeed, having experiences they would not otherwise have the chance to enjoy and to socialise with peers are two of the great benefits for children. Where children have reservations about being away from family, they are sensitively helped and gain a sense of achievement at overcoming their fears. The ability of staff to build nurturing relationships is fundamental to children having the courage to face challenges and make progress. As one child described, ‘Staff listen and help you enjoy yourself.’ This approach has a transforming effect on many of the pupils. The experience of being ‘held’ emotionally and helped to contain volatile emotions means children know that previously overwhelming feelings can be

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outstanding

managed. Children make progress as they become more successful in dealing with difficult feelings and are better able to meet other challenges. The school measures improvement by tracking the number of incidents children are involved in, levels of social and self-care skills and academic achievement. These show improvement over time, often more than parents would have predicted. Where expected progress is not made, the staff team thinks about the reasons and changes its approach accordingly. Children enjoy spending time with staff, all of whom show a strong empathy for those they care for and an aptitude for communicating well with them. High-quality individualised care supports children to enjoy life in the residential provision. They are kept safe when online through age-appropriate strategies, and staff promote participation in a range of fun and social activities. One child described the food as

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outstanding

‘heavenly’ and all those asked about their meals generally agreed. The school’s impact on children’s quality of life and that of their families can be considerable. One parent said, ‘My son was violent and aggressive, but since being at The Lodge things really changed … he tries so hard now.’ Another said, ‘I don’t know what I would do without them.’ The residential provision has made a significant contribution to preventing some children being looked after away from their families. Parts of the accommodation are looking worn and there is some superficial damage. However, there are clear plans in place to make the required improvements. All children told the inspector that they liked their rooms and were encouraged to personalise them and make them their own. The playroom is having a complete makeover, with children being asked for ideas for games and toys, including dressing-up clothes. Staff are keen to ensure that these

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outstanding

do not just include traditional boys’ costumes; as one member of staff commented, ‘We will have princess dresses as well as superhero outfits, handbags as well as Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 5 backpacks.’

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

Managers consider individual risks on the acceptance of a referral, and behaviour plans show how these are addressed. Children who come to stay in the residential provision are already well known to the school and staff draw on this experience to make appropriate decisions to ensure their safety, and that of children already admitted. Practice is therefore sound, but newly developed risk and assessment plans do not include a written record of an assessment of the impact of accepting a new placement. Anyone, such as a new member of staff, relying on the risk and assessment plans to inform their practice or to evidence a thorough consideration of risks would find them lacking. Cultural needs for children whose parents have expressed their wishes arising from their ethnic or religious background are well documented and met. White British children are often described as having ‘no cultural needs’ in assessments but there is

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

no evidence that they are overlooked in practice. Residential staff collaborate well with education and therapy colleagues and with families. This has helped many children to transfer skills learned and progress made in the residential provision to home and school environments. One parent said she appreciated the hints and tips staff give her about how to deal with her son, the input from the family support worker and a course the school put her forward for. Experienced staff are extremely adept at identifying signs that children are struggling to manage in different situations. They intervene without drama or confrontation to help boys to maintain their emotional stability and/or find ways of taking themselves away to calm. There have been occasional incidents of a child targeting a peer, but staff have taken action to avoid a reoccurrence and children feel secure. One child said he trusted staff to keep him safe, ‘like, if there was a fire’, and that ‘you can tell them important

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

things’. The school’s complaints policy addresses complaints in general, and managers and staff have taken significant steps to ensure that children know how to complain. This includes giving information in a children’s meeting and on a noticeboard. Children spoken to knew they could complain and were confident staff would deal with their concerns. They also said who they would speak to outside the school if they were unhappy, including agencies such as Childline. Safer recruitment procedures are followed. Safeguarding issues are dealt with appropriately; staff are well aware of the procedures to report and record concerns, and how they would escalate matters if they thought appropriate actions were not being taken by managers. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have taken a long-term approach to addressing weaknesses rather than make ‘quick fixes’. For example, a recommendation made at the last inspection to ensure that children’s views about measures of control were taken into account has been included in a rethink about the approach to sanctions. The school is to adopt a restorative justice model and amendments to the form for recording sanctions are awaiting this development. Therefore, children’s views are still missing from records, although staff do speak to children after the use of such measures. The form recording physical intervention has been changed and a child-friendly way for pupils to express their feelings about incidents has been successfully incorporated. The head of care has a close involvement in the writing of records of physical interventions and so has a sound knowledge of each incident. Formal written management monitoring is missing from logs, due largely to an anomaly in who had

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

responsibility to conduct it, but plans are in place for this to be corrected. Leaders and managers have made good progress in addressing requirements and recommendations. Despite developing the annual review of welfare provision, it does not address all of the matters specified in national minimum standard 20, but this has no direct impact on the care of children. The standard of files has improved significantly since the last inspection, with relevant documentation frequently updated and graphs charting children’s progress regularly produced. Plans and assessments capture the needs of children well, but some do not state who the author is and the contribution of children is largely absent. Staff feel extremely well supported in their roles and report that several forums allow them to reflect on practice and develop new approaches where necessary. These include recently introduced group supervision sessions. Records of these are detailed,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

demonstrating an effective process for addressing issues raised by staff. However, some staff have not had the agreed number of supervision sessions in a year and records for many do not detail the salient points of discussion, only a list of topics covered. Senior managers continue to look to improve the effectiveness of the service in terms of outcomes for pupils. The success of outcomes is amply demonstrated in the headteacher’s annual review, which includes residential children. Research and the development of provision outside the school are constantly drawn on, particularly to improve children’s mental health. Funding has recently been secured for a pilot project to significantly increase coordinated psychiatric, psychological and occupational therapy input. The project will entail school staff contributing to research into the effectiveness of the approach used. The headteacher has regularly championed meeting the needs of the children who

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

have significant mental health needs, both as individuals and as a group. He has argued the case for improved funding and instigated the sharing of expertise and experience with other education providers. Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 7 Governors take a passionate interest in the welfare of children in the residential provision and make regular visits when pupils are present. They promote the work of the school in a variety of ways, for example by attending job fairs. Minutes show that governors carefully examine the issues considered at their meetings. There have been some difficulties in filling vacancies, but managers have been proactive in addressing these and the team is now at full strength. Staff regard themselves as a cohesive group in which ‘everyone does their jobs and you don’t have to worry if anything has not got done’. They have significant skills and resilience

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

to help children who face high levels of personal difficulties, leading more than one parent to describe them as ‘absolutely amazing’.

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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 8

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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 9

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Inspector

Chris Peel, social care inspector Inspection report for residential special school - Wolverdene Special School 10 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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