Oaklands College

Inspection report for further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 1 Oaklands College Oaklands College, Smallford Campus, Oaklands, St. Albans, Hertfordshire AL4 0JA Inspection of residential provision Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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residential accommodation

This general further education college provides a wide range of education and training for adults and young people. The residential department operates a term- time-only provision for up to 81 students in one building. At the time of inspection, there were 80 residential students, all of whom were under 18.

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residential accommodation

The college operates from two sites, but its principal campus is in a village close to a town, a main railway link and motorways. The accommodation is in the form of single bedrooms in the wings of a recently built residential building situated on the principal campus.

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residential accommodation

The suitably qualified residential manager has been in post for four years.

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residential accommodation

The inspectors only inspected the residential provision at this college.

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good

How well 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 college provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 17 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report for further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 2

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

The staff know the students well. They can talk about the students’ individual needs clearly and confidently. Staff are alert and sensitive to changes in behaviour. One student, who is in their first year, spoke of when staff have quickly picked up on subtle differences in their behaviour and checked in with them to make sure that they were OK.

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

Leaders and managers have high expectations of staff and high aspirations for the students. Staff, including leaders and managers, talk with pride about the achievements of former students.

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

Students consistently said that the support that they had to move into the residential provision was a strength. They were aware of the significance of the move and felt that the staff and managers had recognised this and taken action to enable them to move in safely. They said that they had been helped to make friends and to settle in.

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

Students have good relationships with the staff. Students’ views are taken into consideration. Following consultation with students, staff take appropriate actions, for example extending the time that the Wi-Fi is available. When students had concerns about the quality of food, effective action was taken to make the necessary improvements.

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

There are good relationships between coaches and the residential provision. This has enabled timely support to be offered to students who may be struggling on occasion.

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

Achievement rates, including pass rates, are higher for residential students. Students’ attendance at college is better than that of their peers. When there are some dips in attendance, leaders and managers are aware and take steps to explore this.

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Overall experiences and progress of young people: good

Students have access to counsellors and are supported to see them by a dedicated safeguarding link officer. When students have health needs, individual health risk assessments are created. However, the risk assessment for one student lacked the necessary depth and clarity. This was addressed during the inspection, and an appropriate health risk assessment is now in place.

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How well young people are helped and protected: good

Students feel safe in the residential provision. They can name staff who they would go to if they had a concern. They are confident that staff will act in response to these concerns. There are a range of different people, from coaches and tutors to residential staff, who students identified as being available to them. Inspection report for further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 3 Behaviour in the residential provision is generally good. There have been no incidents of bullying. Students said that they have not experienced or witnessed bullying in the residential provision. Staff remain alert to the potential for this to happen. Students are confident that staff would intervene as and when needed.

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How well young people are helped and protected: good

A firewall is in place to reduce the potential of students accessing inappropriate websites. Information on staying safe online is provided to students through one-to- one sessions, informal discussions, presentations from the police and detailed displays in communal areas.

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How well young people are helped and protected: good

There have been no searches of students rooms. Staff do routine room checks to ensure that rooms are kept clean and hygienic. They approach this in a fun, collegiate manner to motivate students.

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How well young people are helped and protected: good

The residential manager now receives clinical supervision to assist in his deployment as a deputy designated safeguarding lead.

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How well young people are helped and protected: good

Staff know who the designated safeguarding leads are. They can explain how they would share significant concerns about colleagues and follow a process of escalation if this was about a line manager. When concerns about staff have necessitated referrals to the local authority designated officer, these have taken place. However, there is a lack of clarity in the staff’s understanding of the management of low-level concerns. This has the potential to reduce the likelihood that staff will use the process to share these concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The residential provision is led by an experienced management team made up of a residential manager and residential supervisor. They complement one another. They are both highly respected by students and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are enthused and excited about the gradual implementation of changes and improvements to the staffing arrangements in the residential provision. These changes have begun to be introduced and have the clear potential to further improve the quality of the provision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good knowledge of the students. They understand how students are progressing in both the sporting academies and academically. Good relationships between the residential managers and the wider network support this in practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have ensured that the physical environment is safe. A recent unannounced internal health and safety inspection took place, focusing on the residential provision. This did not identify any concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a mix of new and long-standing members of staff. The new staff have settled well. Staff feel supported by leaders and managers. They receive a good Inspection report for further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 4 range of training to help them to support the students. Weekly team meetings take place between the residential manager, residential supervisor, staff and the link safeguarding lead to enable discussion and reflection on the needs of students.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A diverse staff team supports the students. Leaders and managers are aware of students’ diverse needs and ensure that these are met. A significant minority of students receive a bursary, enabling students who may not have otherwise been able to access residential places to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers monitor the quality of the provision. They seek feedback from students and parents to inform their understanding of what is working well and what may need to be changed. Governors receive regular reports on the quality of the college, including safeguarding reports. However, the data is not broken down to be specific to the residential provision. This limits the opportunities for oversight and is a point for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management data about allegations and low-level concerns is not shared with the safeguarding team or with the safeguarding governor. This limits their ability to have oversight and offer challenge. For example, the safeguarding governor may have shown curiosity about a series of nil return reports on low-level concerns had this data been included in the safeguarding reports. Equally, it is possible that this data would have provoked some curiosity from safeguarding leads had they been aware of it. Inspection report for further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 5

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Points for improvement

 The college leaders should ensure that the policy outlining the process for staff to share low-level concerns is understood by staff. They should ensure that it is clear about how staff should share concerns, how they should be shared with the principal, whether they should be shared with the designated safeguarding lead and how they should be recorded.  The college leaders should ensure that all management data relating to safeguarding and to the residential provision is shared clearly and used to enable effective monitoring, oversight and challenge.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of 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 further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 6

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accommodation details

Social care unique reference number: SC059818

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Inspectors

Ashley Hinson, Social Care Inspector Anver Rose, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for further education college with residential accommodation: Oaklands College 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 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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