The Marchant-Holliday School

Inspection report for residential special school – The Marchant-Holliday School 1 The Marchant-Holliday School North Cheriton, Templecombe, Somerset BA8 0AH Residential provision inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential special school

The school is an independent residential special school located in rural Somerset. The school is a registered charity that provides education and residential provision for boys aged between five and 13 years who have behavioural and/or emotional and/or social needs. The school provides a residential service for up to 20 boys during term time.

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Information about this residential special school

The residential provision forms part of the main school building. The residential provision was last inspected in January 2020.

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Information about this residential special school

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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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 residential special school provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of previous inspection: 28 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for residential special school – The Marchant-Holliday School 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from receiving good-quality, individualised care from staff who know them well and understand their needs. Staff are skilled at building strong, positive and trusting relationships with the children and their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s day-to-day experiences in the residential provision are good. Children said that they love their residential stay and especially the wide range of fun activities. These activities provide opportunities for children to develop their social and independence skills, make friends and build their self-confidence. Parents state that this has helped their children to make friends in their local communities as well as at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff communicate with parents, families and other professionals effectively. Information about children’s needs, how to support them and children’s achievements are shared. Families praised the staff for the care their children receive, and the support given to families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Clear plans are in place which provide appropriate guidance to staff. New ‘My Target’ documents have been introduced to enable children’s progress to be tracked. The review of children’s previous plans confirms that they are making progress in their social skills as well as in their education. Currently, children’s review documents and annual school reports do not adequately reflect the work and progress the child has made in the residential provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a nurturing family-style environment with accommodation and facilities which range from good to excellent quality. Children’s bedrooms have recently been redecorated and new furniture has been purchased for the communal rooms. There is a wide selection of games and DVDs which reflect the children’s interests. Children particularly love the new adventure and climbing playground.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s healthcare needs are met. Staff sensitively and appropriately help children to understand their individual healthcare needs and developing bodies. The management and storage of medication are good.

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

Safeguarding arrangements are effective. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of their safeguarding role and responsibilities and work in partnership with families and other professionals to keep children safe. Records of safeguarding events contain the required information and demonstrate that appropriate actions are taken.

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

Behaviour is well managed. Staff support children to understand their emotions and help them to develop self-management strategies. Risk assessments and behaviour Inspection report for residential special school – The Marchant-Holliday School 3 support plans are of a good quality and provide staff with guidance on how to support positive behaviours and mitigate risk.

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

Restraint is rarely used. Restraint records have improved since the previous inspection, but further improvement is required. The description of what happened and the holds used are not consistently recorded and sometimes language used in reports is vague and emotive. Children are spoken to after incidents when restraint is used but not always by a person independent of the incident. Likewise, sometimes the manager involved in the incident also reviews what happened. This does not provide effective independent scrutiny.

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

Staff recruitment files generally contain all required information, with one exception. In this instance, the file did not contain both sets of interview notes. In addition, records of interviews do not consistently contain enough detail on the discussion held.

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

There are effective fire safety systems in place which include regular fire drills and checks on firefighting equipment that protects children. A fire drill was observed during the inspection. This was carried out in a calm way and demonstrated that the children know what to do when the fire alarm sounds.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers understand the strengths and the areas for improvement within the residential provision. They have a clear vision for the future of the school, which reflects their ambition and high expectations for children and staff. An important part of their success is the positive sense of community they and the staff have created. Leaders and managers have a strong presence in the day-to-day life of the residential provision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are child-focused, having the children’s well-being and development central to their practice. They talk with pride about the children and their achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from high staff levels which enable staff to provide children with regular one-to-one support. The high staffing levels also enable children to access a very wide range of activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have regular supervision and are supported to reflect on their practice and their well-being. However, supervisions lack aspiration as staff are not often set development targets that arise from a review of their performance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The members of the governing body are now established in their roles and are supporting the school to develop. The independent visitor carries out regular visits covering all the required areas and meets with children to gain their views. Information from these visits is used by leaders and managers to develop the residential provision. Inspection report for residential special school – The Marchant-Holliday School 4

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Recommendations

 Improve the quality of records of staff recruitment interviews so that they reflect the discussion held. In addition, a record of each interview panel member is to be retained on the new member of staff’s file.  Ensure that staff supervision is aspirational and contains actions to aid in staff development.  Improve the quality of restraint records. In addition, ensure that debriefs and monitoring of restraint are carried out by people independent of the incident.  Ensure that children’s review and annual school reports provider greater information about the work and progress the child has made in the residential provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people 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 – The Marchant-Holliday School 5

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Residential special school details

Social care unique reference number: SC033089

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Residential special school details

Headteacher/teacher in charge: Mr Danny Kitts

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Residential special school details

Type of school: Residential special school

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Residential special school details

Email address: office@marchant-holliday.co.uk

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential special school – The Marchant-Holliday School 6 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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