St. Andrew's Academy

Inspection report for residential special school - St. Andrew’s Academy 1 St. Andrew’s Academy St. Andrew’s School, St. Andrew’s View, Derby DE21 4EW Residential provision inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this residential special school

This residential special school is based in Derby and is part of Shaw Education Trust. The school provides education and residential provision for disabled children, including those who have learning disabilities and/or have autism. All students have an education, health and care plan.

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Information about this residential special school

The residential accommodation is provided in an annex attached to the main school. At the time of the inspection, the school had 152 students on roll, of which 19 students were accessing the residential provision. A maximum of 10 students can stay at any one time in residence.

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Information about this residential special school

The head of care has been in post since September 2021 and is suitably experienced.

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Information about this residential special school

The inspectors only inspected the social care provision at this school.

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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: 24 May 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for residential special school - St. Andrew’s Academy 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fulfilling experiences and enjoy staying in residence. They are supported by skilled and dedicated residential staff who understand their individual needs. The care and support provided results in children making great progress with their social and independence skills. This progress adds significant value to the children’s overall school experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships between staff and children are strong. Staff act as excellent role models. They respond to children with high levels of respect and warmth. Time in residence provides children with a safe space to learn, grow and make lasting friendships with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to have fun and develop their interests and hobbies. Children take advantage of the school’s good range of sporting, recreational and arts and crafts resources. Children regularly visit the local library and some children volunteer at a local community cafe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are effective communication links between the residential and school staff. This provides strong continuity in children’s participation and achievement in their bronze and silver Duke of Edinburgh awards. This participation has led to several exciting camping expeditions, team-building exercises, and further volunteering opportunities. Childrens confidence, self-determination and well-being is considerably improved because of these experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress with their independence and self-care skills. Staff help the children to develop these skills through tailored plans centred around activities of daily living. Individualised approaches are matched to children’s developmental stages so that the children make progress that is significant for them. Parents unanimously highlighted the positive difference that staffs support has made to children in this area. Well-planned and personalised life skills work is a continued strength of support in residence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly review placement plans and ensure children’s residential and education objectives are unified and in accordance with children’s needs. Children’s health, daily routines and preferences are considered. However, some of the children’s epilepsy plans are not individualised and do not contain accurate and up- to-date information to guide staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are not always mindful that children’s information around intimate care routines and the placement of personal care items are displayed to maintain children’s privacy. Some of these personal items and information relating to children were visible to other children. School leaders addressed this matter during the inspection as they understand that this does not uphold children’s dignity. Inspection report for residential special school - St. Andrew’s Academy 3 Staff have used recent fundraising investment from a parent to create a well- resourced outside gym which is enjoyed by children. Accommodation in residence is spacious and staff ensure children’s bedrooms are personalised. However, there are several areas that need attention. Bathrooms require refurbishment. Some carpets are heavily worn and need replacing. Kitchen cabinet fittings are loose. Some walls are damaged and worn and need redecoration. In addition, cleaning routines in some

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

areas of residence needs to be improved. School leaders recognise that these areas need attention, but plans are not yet formulised to address these works.

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

Staff have an in-depth understanding of children’s additional learning needs and vulnerabilities. There is a good safeguarding culture in residence and in the wider school. School leaders and managers have provided additional training to staff in line with new statutory guidance. This includes understanding additional safeguards in relation to children’s online safety, contextual risks and child on child harm. Staff are well informed to respond to risks.

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

Children’s behaviour in residence is exemplary. Staff respond to any behavioural challenges skilfully and follow well-devised proactive strategies. Staff have a good awareness of potential triggers and are confident in de-escalation interventions. Consequently, there are few behavioural concerns and no incidents where physical interventions have been necessary.

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

Children feel safe, secure and relaxed in residence. Children enjoy positive relationships with one another. On the few occasions, when there are low level disagreements between children, these incidents are well managed. Staff support children to overcome conflicts in ways that help them to consider each other’s feelings.

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

Staff have effective procedures to record, monitor and escalate safeguarding concerns. Designated safeguarding leads are appropriately trained. Weekly safeguarding meetings take place. Although no significant concerns have arisen in residence, there are thorough procedures to identify and act on any such concerns.

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

School leaders maintain appropriate health and safety arrangements to ensure children’s safety. Suitable fire prevention equipment is in place and checked as required. Staff are familiar with fire safety procedures and regularly practise drills with children. All children have personal evacuation plans which provide guidance for staff on the actions they need to take in the event of a fire. This area of practice has been significantly improved by school leaders since the last inspection.

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

Recruitment processes for permanent staff are completed in line with statutory guidance. However, school leaders monitoring systems for agency staff do not always provide the assurances that all necessary checks have been completed before agency staff’s deployment in residence. Inspection report for residential special school - St. Andrew’s Academy 4

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The head of care is experienced and has worked for many years at the school before being appointed the head of care. He has a good understanding of children’s needs and is highly regarded by staff and children. Children, parents and school leaders understand the added value of residence at the school. Places are in high demand. School leaders have good oversight of residence and actively support the head of care who is an integral part of the senior leadership team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A small and cohesive staff team provides a consistent approach to children, who rely on routine-based care and support. Staff demonstrate a highly positive and effective working team ethic. Staff are energised and show great enthusiasm and pride in children’s achievements. Their connected and close-knit working provides children with the security and stability they need to make progress and have enjoyable experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

School leaders actively seek constructive scrutiny. School leaders ensure children’s views are prioritised and represented to inform their understanding of the strengths and development areas of residence. The headteacher undertakes overnight visits in the residential provision and shares his findings, which contributes to wider quality assurance systems. An independent visitor provides good-quality external monitoring that assists in improving the quality of care and support further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

School leaders ensure that staff training is delivered to fully equip staff for their roles. All staff hold a social care level 3 award. Further staff training reflects the children’s needs and enhances the staff’s skills in providing informed support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

School leaders have overseen several recent improvements. These have included robust medication administration audits, better systems to reflect children’s views and increased reflection opportunities for staff and children following incidents of concern. Consequently, one unmet standard and all of the points for improvement raised at the previous inspection have been suitably addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Families shared extremely positive praise about children’s experiences in residence. They said that communication with staff is good and have every confidence that staff are meeting the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

School leaders ensure staff receive regular supervision and annual appraisals when required. However, further development is necessary to ensure records of these meetings capture the depth of discussions held. Currently, supervisions are not recorded in a way that assists the effective monitoring and oversight of staff practice well. Inspection report for residential special school - St. Andrew’s Academy 5

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special schools

The school does not meet the following national minimum standard(s) for residential special schools:

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special schools

 Good quality living accommodation and equipment, including appropriate internet access, is provided. In particular, school leaders should establish a development plan for the maintenance and refurbishment of accommodation in residence and ensure that these plans proceed at an appropriate pace. (Residential special schools: National minimum standards 9.2)

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Points for improvement

 School leaders should ensure monitoring systems are strong enough to identify any gaps in written confirmation of completed agency staff recruitment checks. School leaders should also ensure that children’s epilepsy response plans contain accurate and informed guidance.  School leaders should ensure children’s personal care items and confidential information is kept private and secure.  School leaders should ensure that the recording systems for staff supervisions and appraisals capture the depth of discussions held. They should systematically reflect staff’s achievements, the practice culture in residence and identify annual objectives that support staff’s continuing professional development.

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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 - St. Andrew’s Academy 6

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Residential special school details

Social care unique reference number: SC053344

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Residential special school details

Headteacher/teacher in charge: David Braybrooke

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Residential special school details

Type of school: Residential Special School

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Residential special school details

Email address: david.braybrooke@sas.set.org

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Inspectors

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for residential special school - St. Andrew’s Academy 7 regulates and inspects 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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