Moor House School & College

Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 1 Moor House School & College Moor House School & College, Mill Lane, Oxted, Surrey, RH8 9AQ Residential provision inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential special school

Moor House School & College is a co-educational, non-maintained residential and day special school and registered charity. It provides specialist schooling and therapy for children and young people with speech and language difficulties. The school and college are leaders and specialists in developmental language disorder (DLD). At the time of inspection, there were 151 students on roll with 58 residential students. There are 70 residential places that provide weekly boarding.

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Information about this residential special school

The head teacher been in post since 2015.

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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: 24 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 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

 Students benefit as a direct result of residing at this school. They speak highly of their experience joining this school-many describe it as the first time they have felt accepted, heard and have experienced friendships.  Students’ arrivals and departures at the school are planned with precision, focused on individual needs and result in success.  Staff have high aspirations for the students, which are central to the culture of this school and are evident in all that is said and done.  Progress is exceptional. The forensic assessment and treatment plans for students enable them to advance in ways that was not previously thought possible.  There is a strong safeguarding culture, staff know what to report, to whom and when.  Strong collaborative working across the school ensures that the care, education and therapeutic services are delivered cohesively. Frequent communication between the services ensures that staff understand students needs well and their

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Key findings from this inspection

needs are met consistently.  Independence is valued. Students gain the skills necessary to achieve greater autonomy.

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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

 Staff speak positively about the collaborative working across the school, residential and therapeutic teams. However, there are no records of these meetings or the actions arising.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Safeguarding is effective; however, records of the learning that arises from incidents are not always well documented. Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 3

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Recommendations

 Document the learning outcomes from safeguarding incidents.

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Recommendations

 Document the actions and outcomes from collaborative meetings. Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 4

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outstanding

Excellent support is provided to assist students when they arrive at or leave the school. They are supported by the allocation of mentors and ex-students returning to discuss their experiences. Students are supported to navigate the pathway planning process and are helped to make the right decisions for their future. Students have specific needs around speech and language and are provided with special tools to assist their understanding of the transition process.

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outstanding

Students all described many staff that they trust. Relationships between staff and the students were observed to be warm and nurturing. The students’ voice is heard. They are proactive in voicing their opinion about life at the school, changes they would like to see, and putting forward suggestions. For example, the need for a pet, changes to furnishings, activities and meals. Students benefit from highly effective consultation groups including ‘res sez reps’, ’16 up reps’, ‘MHC forum’ and the school council.

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outstanding

Confident students speak highly about the support they receive to meet their educational targets with some achieving very good GCSEs, as well as reaching their independence targets. One student said, ‘The staff have saved my life, because I feel much better about myself and who I am as a person, what I can achieve, so my life is now better.’

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outstanding

Mental health assessments are enhanced through the analysis of data which assists the therapist, academic and residential staff to develop the right support and strategies to help the students. Evidence- based research is used to support students’ development and to design suitable targets and goals. Reviews of the education health care plans and residential plans identify clearly, the outcomes achieved, progress and development. When a target has not been achieved, it is detailed within the review for further action. Dedicated staff help students to achieve good mental health and emotional well-being.

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outstanding

Staff ensure strong links exist between the education health care plans, residential care plan and the therapeutic work. This ensures that reviews are collaborative and address the students’ development in the round. However, there is no documented evidence of the weekly collaborative meetings. Significant weight is placed on the Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 5 benefit of these meetings by all staff. Not recording the outcomes is a missed opportunity to capture the actions and ensure they are acted upon and reviewed.

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outstanding

The safety and welfare of children and young people is at the heart of the school’s practice. The designated safeguarding lead and leaders act promptly to alert the local authority and relevant agencies to any welfare concerns about a student. While the designated safeguarding lead has experienced delays in responses from the local authorities to concerns, she is fully aware of how to escalate concerns. Effective partnership arrangements exist with safeguarding agencies, including the local authority designated officer. Strong communication and information sharing with safeguarding authorities strengthens staff’s awareness and practice . However, lessons learnt from safeguarding incidents are not well documented. This is a missed opportunity to demonstrate learning outcomes. Students say they feel safe and are supported by staff to keep safe and to recognise dangers. They are supported to learn to use the internet safely. Students have high

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outstanding

regard for the help that they receive at the school and are fully aware who they would go to if they had a concern. This includes the standard 20 visitor, the governors and the independent listener. Information about these individuals is prominently displayed around the school.

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outstanding

Since the last inspection, there have been no physical interventions at the school.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The head/designated safeguarding lead (DSL) is highly qualified, with the necessary levels of experience and knowledge of safeguarding to support staff and the deputy designated safeguarding leads (DDSLs). She works closely with the head of care and five other deputy DDSLs across the departments. All DDSLs have a lead focus and have completed the local safeguarding authority’s advanced safeguarding training which is updated annually. The school provides therapeutic services and staff receive the relevant training. A high number of staff have completed the NVQ level 3 with only four staff yet to complete this training. Three of the four team leaders are qualified to NVQ level 5 and there are clear timescales for the fourth to complete this qualification. This Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 6 training increases the capacity within the management team. New staff are provided

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

with safeguarding guidance prior to meeting students and all staff are provided with on-going relevant training and professional appraisal. This results in well- informed staff who provide high-quality quality care. Staff feel well supported. Frequent supervision, and annual appraisal meetings ensure that staff needs are regularly reviewed. Leaders and managers recognise the challenges when there are absences from work and effectively manage the rotas to ensure the service delivery quality remains high. Standard 20 reports are of a high quality and comprehensive. The quality of safeguarding and the visitor’s discussions with the students are detailed in the reports. Recommendations resulting from standard 20 visits are scrutinised and followed up by the governors during their own monitoring visits. Governors are committed to the development of the school. They are aware of the strengths and areas for development and have a comprehensive plan for continued

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

improvement. For example, they have reviewed E-safety arrangements and made several recommendations including the need to allocate one of the DDSLs with the lead responsibility for e-safety. Leaders and managers are outward facing. They make effective use of research in practice to continually review and develop the school and the numerous specialist services provided. Their passion and high aspirations for students are the basis for this school being judged outstanding.

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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 - Moor House School & College 7

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Residential special school details

Social care unique reference number: SC013926

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Residential special school details

Headteacher/teacher in charge: Helen Middleton

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Residential special school details

Type of school: Residential Special School

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Residential special school details

Email address: info@moorhouseschool.co.uk Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 8

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Inspectors

Sarah Olliver, social care inspector (lead) Lolly Rascagneres, additional social care inspector Inspection report for residential special school - Moor House School & College 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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