Meath School

Inspection report for residential special school - Meath School 1 Meath School Brox Road, Ottershaw, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0LF Residential provision inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential special school

This school is a non-maintained special primary school. It provides an integrated approach, including education, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and residential care. It currently provides 61 places to children aged four to 11 years, whose primary needs arise from severe and complex speech, language and communication difficulties.

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Information about this residential special school

The school offers residential services and an extended school-day programme. Up to 15 children stay overnight for ‘sleepovers’ at any one time. Children stay between one and four nights a week, as agreed with their parents.

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Information about this residential special school

The school is owned and managed by the children’s communication charity I Can. It is situated across nine acres in the village of Ottershaw in Surrey. The residential accommodation is on the first floor of the main school building.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 17 September 2019 Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for residential special school - Meath School 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by committed and skilled staff, who clearly understand each child’s needs. This support is underpinned effectively by a multi-disciplinary approach to care and education, which includes occupational therapy, speech and language therapy and health professionals. As a result, there is genuine consistency across all settings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress due to accessing the residential provision, for example with their goals and targets as identified in their education, health and care plans. The children’s development and learning are monitored effectively throughout their residential placement. This is supplemented by a separate residential curriculum. Staff and children talk with genuine pride about the level of progress children make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and staff were creative in their response to COVID-19, which resulted in the school being able to stay open. For children who were not able to attend the school, online work was set and calls were made so that they still felt connected to staff and friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy access to a wide range of activities. After-school clubs and evening activities ensure that children have choices and there is always something to do. Parents commented that these activities provide opportunities that would not be readily available at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to talk about their emotions. They are beginning to be able to describe why they feel the way they do. This is significant, given the communication challenges that the children have. Staff have worked well with children to develop the work on the school’s ‘zones of regulation’ to help children with their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who are new to the residential provision are welcomed sensitively and with careful and considered planning. Children are given the opportunity to have their rooms decorated in the way that they like. Children who want to share rooms with their friends are supported to do so where appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are clear, consistent and appropriate boundaries. Children develop skills and strategies to manage conflicts and difficult feelings through developing positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to express their views in a variety of ways, such as one-to- one time, questionnaires and children’s forums. Minutes from these are presented in pictorial symbols to ensure that all children can understand. Inspection report for residential special school - Meath School 3 Children have good contact with their families every day and this is done by internet calling or phone. This ensures that important relationships with parents are maintained while children are away from home.

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improvement to be good

Children feel safe when they stay overnight. Extensive work has been done to ensure that all children understand who they can talk to if they have any ongoing concerns. Children know who their trusted adults are and staff ensure that children have a voice and can raise any issues.

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improvement to be good

Detailed children’s risk assessments record how concerns are both understood and managed by staff working with the children. The residential services manager has good oversight of the assessments and ensures that they are regularly reviewed and updated. Children are supported to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development of independent living skills.

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improvement to be good

Children are supported to develop positive relationships with each other. Staff are proactive in recognising underlying issues between children and put together social stories to assist children to overcome any disagreements they have with each other. Positive behaviour is promoted consistently throughout the school. There is good praise from staff for students and achievements are keenly acknowledged. On the whole, recruitment records show suitable checks for staff. Not all staff, who have been employed for a significant number of years, have complete recruitment checks by more recent standards. Where this applies, a risk assessment is on file. However, these are not always completed consistently and the level of risk is not always identified.

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improvement to be good

There has been one allegation that has not been responded to effectively. The school’s policy was not consistently followed and the allegation was not reported to the designated officer. On another occasion, a concern about a child was referred appropriately to the designated officer. However, the school’s leaders and managers undertook their own investigation into the concerns before confirming advice from external safeguarding professionals. The school’s policies are clear and include appropriate actions to take. However, on these two occasions, the school’s policies have not been followed. This means that here is the potential for compromised safeguarding investigations.

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improvement to be good

When concerns have been raised about a child and their circumstances outside school, these have been promptly shared with the social worker. However, on one occasion, when leaders were not satisfied with the social worker’s response, there was a lack of escalation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report for residential special school - Meath School 4 There has been significant change in the school since the previous inspection, with a new headteacher and senior leadership team in place. They are supported by a newly formed governing body, in which governors’ skills have been carefully matched to their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The school leadership team is aspirational for the children. The head of residential care has high expectations for the children and these are shared with staff. Children are provided with every opportunity to access a wide range of services across the school. As a result, children make good progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with regular training and supervision to support them in their role. There is ongoing assessment of practice through a robust appraisal system. Training provided is specific to the needs of the children, which ensures that staff are well equipped to support the children to progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Varied approaches to monitoring and evaluation of the service lead to a genuine and reflective understanding of the quality of care provided. Children’s progress is monitored to ensure that the residential provision remains appropriate for them. Inspection report for residential special school - Meath School 5

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special schools

The school does not meet the following national minimum standards for residential special schools:

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special schools

 11.1 The school ensures that: - arrangements are made to safeguard and promote the welfare of children at the school; and - such arrangements have regard to any guidance issued by the Secretary of State.  20.2 Most monitoring visits are carried out unannounced. They include: - checks on the school’s records of attendance, complaints, sanctions, use of reasonable force, risk assessments, and where they exist, individual care plans for children; - evaluation of the effectiveness of the care provided to children and whether they are safeguarded; - assessment of the physical condition of the building, furniture and equipment of the school; and - opportunities for any child or member of staff who wishes to meet the visitor (in private if they wish).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that safeguarding discussion in supervision notes is detailed.  Ensure that concerns about a child or their family are escalated to the appropriate agencies within good timescales.  Ensure that any risk assessments written in relation to recruitment are detailed and regularly reviewed.

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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 - Meath School 6

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Residential special school details

Social care unique reference number: SC013925

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Residential special school details

Type of school: Residential special school

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Inspectors

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector (lead) Emeline Evans, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential special school - Meath School 7 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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