Welburn Hall School

Progress monitoring inspection residential special school report

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Welburn Hall School Welburn Hall School, Welburn, Kirkbymoorside York YO62 7HQ

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Context of the inspection

This monitoring visit was undertaken to assess the school’s progress towards addressing shortfalls in meeting the national minimum standards at the last inspection. The visit was undertaken virtually due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The headteacher and the head of care have provided verbal evidence and they have facilitated a virtual tour of the school’s residential provision. They also provided additional evidence of updated policies, staff training and photographic evidence of improvements. The impact of the work completed cannot be fully assessed virtually at this inspection.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

The new head of care has been in post since March 2020. This appointment has enabled staff covering management roles to resume their previous posts. The staff team is now stable, and there is no use of agency staff.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

There is a detailed action plan in place. This supports the head of care to prioritise tasks, improve children’s overall experiences and protect them from harm. The school is making good progress towards meeting the shortfalls identified at the last inspection.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

The head of care has updated the children’s healthcare plans. These now consistently reflect the children’s individual and often complex needs. Staff consult with children regarding the contents of these plans. This ensures that their views are known and included.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

Staff have completed a range of training courses to help them to improve care practice and safety for children. These include the required fire marshal training.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

Children’s living and sleeping areas are now appropriately maintained. Recent repairs and improvements mean that children benefit from a homelier and hazard-free environment. Staff encourage children to personalise their individual areas.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

The head of care ensures that staff check the environment daily for cleanliness and hazards. He has introduced environmental and quality of care checks list to make sure that the staff are fulfilling their responsibilities to maintain appropriate standards of care Inspection Report Welburn Hall School, 07/05/2020 Page 2 of 5 and accommodation. This helps the head of care to retain a good oversight of the service, and he is able to quickly address any shortfalls.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

The headteacher has reviewed the school’s policies and amended these where necessary. These policies are easily accessible for staff and clearly outline their roles and responsibilities. The school’s monitoring and surveillance policy has also been revised. The headteacher and the head of care ensure that monitoring devices needed for the safety of individual children do not impose unnecessary restrictions on other children or deprive them of their liberty.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

The head of care has improved recording systems to ensure that staff capture all relevant and necessary information relating to children’s behaviours. The head teacher is revising the school’s behaviour management policy. This will now include pictures of permissible holds. This will ensure that staff practice is clear and consistent. Physical intervention training for staff has started but is temporarily on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The training will resume as soon as it is safe to do so.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

The school’s governors are active. A dedicated residential governor has been appointed. This improves the oversight and development of the residential provision.

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Summary of the progress made in implementing the action plan

Improvements to children’s plans mean that these now demonstrate the progress that children make. Children learn essential skills for later life, such as cooking and budgeting. This supports their journey to independence.

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The school has made good progress and now meets all the national minimum

standards for residential special schools.

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Recommendations

 The school resumes training in physical intervention and continues to develop their recording practices as soon as it is safe to do so. (NMS 12.1)  Update the students’ hand book to include information on how they can make a complaint or raise a concern. (NMS1) Inspection Report Welburn Hall School, 07/05/2020 Page 3 of 5

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Inspection team

Jamie Richardson Lead social care inspector

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Information about this school

Welburn Hall School is a maintained residential special school for 74 boys and girls aged eight to 19 years who have special educational needs. 25 Pupils in the sixth form board between Monday and Thursday in term time. Difficulties experienced by the pupils may include a physical disability, medical conditions, learning difficulties, sensory impairments, language and communication difficulties and autism spectrum disorders. The residential accommodation is mostly provided in the main house, and this includes a ‘college unit’ for students aged over 16. The school also has a detached bungalow, converted into two flats, which accommodates final-year students from the college unit to help them prepare for independent living. The school is situated in grounds of 20 acres near the village of Welburn in North Yorkshire. The residential provision was last inspected in February 2020. Inspection Report Welburn Hall School, 07/05/2020 Page 4 of 5

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School details

Unique reference number SC007943 Social care unique reference number SC007943 DfE registration number 815/7004

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School details

This inspection was carried out under the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Care Standards Act 2000, having regard to the national minimum standards for residential special schools.

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School details

The inspection was conducted at the request of the registration authority for independent schools in order to monitor the progress the school has made in implementing its action plan following the previous inspection.

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School details

Type of school Residential special school Number of boarders on roll 74 Gender of boarders Mixed Age range of boarders 8 to 19 Headteacher Mrs Marianne Best Date of previous boarding inspection 11/02/2020 Telephone number 01751 431218 Email address admin@welburn-hall.n-yorks.sch.uk Inspection Report Welburn Hall School, 07/05/2020 Page 5 of 5 guidance ‘raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.co.uk/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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School details

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School details

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School details

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School details

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School details

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School details

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School details

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School details

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