Special Pathways Limited

Special Pathways Limited

Unique reference number (URN): 2783489 Address: Brunel House Manningham Business Centre 87 Manningham Lane, Bradford, BD1 3BN Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 10/04/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Special Pathways Limited

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

As many children need high levels of support to self-regulate, this is something which the setting supports incredibly well. For example, specialist staff take on this lead role, coaching the staff team to ensure that everyone has consistent and appropriate expectations. They devise and monitor comprehensive behavioural support plans, focused around each child's particular behavioural pathway. This leads to the implementation of a wealth of strategies, including deescalation techniques, tailored to each child's level of need. For example, staff use photos, digital timers, symbols and other visual clues to help children make choices, follow very simple instructions and understand what happens next. Staff plan outings as part of one of the key modules, such as a trip to a local restaurant. This helps children to learn important social skills and safe behaviours, including road safety, which parents explain has

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

made a significant difference to their lives.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Where children show repeatable patterns of behaviour, known as 'schemas', staff positively facilitate these through safe and appropriate alternatives. Staff combine gestures with praise to positively guide children. They systematically build children's focus and engagement to enable their transition to more adult-led activities. Staff motivate children highly through their enthusiasm and energy and creatively set up the environment to support children's self- regulation, independence and engagement. For example, sensory rooms offer a calm and controlled environment, where children can explore texture, sound and light. Regulation rooms are designed to help children to manage larger emotions and expend energy before taking part in more adult-led objectives that require greater focus. Core rooms allow children to build everyday skills through more structured activities, play and exploration that builds on

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff promote children's welfare and emotional wellbeing to a high level. This begins with leaders gathering extensive information during home visits to families. They use this to complete a comprehensive assessment of each child's needs and create meticulous support plans; these are also informed by other statutory plans that ensure a joined-up approach among professionals across different services and settings. Staff work in excellent consultation with parents to plan individually tailored settling-in sessions. The success of this is clearly evident in the positive relationships seen between staff and children.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff place an excellent emphasis on supporting children's independence and self-care. They break specific skills down into sequenced stages, so that provision is adapted accordingly for each child. Children go on outings, such as to soft-play centres and the park. This not only provides children with fresh air and exercise, which promotes their physical well-being, but helps children to learn how to keep themselves safe and learn social behaviours and expectations. Staff ensure that no child is excluded. For example, staff provide noise cancelling headphones to block out overwhelming background noise for children who experience auditory hypersensitivity and sensory overload. Staff introduce particular practices to children that help to promote their health and wellbeing. They continue to work in consultation with parents, including looking at ways to improve the types of food children bring to the setting. Staff encourage children to learn to

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

manage self-care tasks that are appropriate for their stage of development.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Inclusion is at the very heart of this setting. Leaders take decisive action to reduce barriers to children's engagement and wellbeing. They have admirable expectations of what children can achieve and ensure the provision is highly accessible to all children. This includes, for example, making excellent adaptations to the environment and undertaking comprehensive assessments and risk assessments of children's individual needs, alongside parents and other professionals and agencies.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders create their own framework that enables them to set attainable targeted plans focused around covering the skills they want children to develop. These are interwoven with specific plans that support children in school. Staff set broad, long-term goals that are broken down into step-by-step goals that are used daily to build these overarching skills. This means that even the smallest, but hugely significant, achievements can be celebrated. Leaders monitor how children engage closely and review support plans regularly to check that adaptations are improving children's independence, self-regulation skills, engagement and communication.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Staff use a wealth of methods to support children. For example, staff use physical prompting techniques to teach children new motor skills or communication, which are then phased out to encourage children's independence. Contributions from the setting are seen as crucial, where children are on the pathway to diagnosis or require further support services. These contributions are hugely respected and welcomed by other professionals, with whom leaders have continued contact with.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

This is a very special setting that is highly respected among parents and other professionals. Leaders really champion high-quality provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and work relentlessly to ensure inclusion for all children. This includes those with extremely high-level and complex needs. Leaders make decisions with children's best interests in mind. They work with a whole host of professionals and use their professional qualifications, knowledge and experience to provide free training to parents and a wide range of organisations, such as family hubs and hospitals.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders, who also work directly in the setting, are acutely aware of how physically and mentally challenging and demanding this role can be. They are extremely mindful of managing staff wellbeing and workload and provide training and on-the-job coaching, mentoring and support. Superior partnerships with parents and others outside of the setting provide a whole community approach to helping children reach their full potential. Parents are exceptionally well informed about and continuously involved in children's achievements and reviews of children's progress. For example, staff share observations, videos and photos via a secure online journal. Parent feedback is highly complimentary. Leaders have far-reaching goals and aspirations to take the provision forward. Self- evaluation involves staff, service users, wider agencies and professionals and the local authority. Leaders identify a number of key areas for development in this ever-evolving

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

setting. For example, they continue to support the expanding staff team's ongoing professional development and are currently designing a new framework with increased bespoke targets to meet children's individual needs. Once established, leaders would like to roll this out to schools to help inform their provision. The setting is one of the feeder provisions for special schools and is working towards being a flagship setting.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children thrive in this unique and inspiring setting that specialises in providing high-quality care and extensive experiences for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children happily enter the vibrant and highly stimulating environment. Staff have great aspirations for what each child can achieve and work tirelessly to tackle any barriers to children's engagement and wellbeing. Consequently, children make great strides, regardless of their specific needs, and develop confidence from the day they begin. This helps secure a best start in life for children. This is additionally attributed to children's regular attendance of the sessions offered.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children quickly settle with their key person, and other familiar staff, who provide essential increased levels of support, attention and supervision. This helps children to stay safe as they move around and benefit immensely from intensive adult-interactions and everything on offer. Children develop high levels of emotional wellbeing through feeling safe and secure. As children lead their own play, they welcome staff's sensitive, timely and intuitive interventions. Children copy staff, who enthusiastically model actions as children explore musical and tactile resources that stimulate their senses and enrich their fun and enjoyment. These activities also help children to develop important skills that support their learning in school and everyday life, such as hand–eye coordination.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children learn key life skills through the wide array of experiences they take part in. These meet children's individual needs and are targeted in excellent consultation with parents. For example, children develop important social skills, self-regulation and independence through meticulously planned and managed outings; this is something that has been a lifeline for parents, who often feel isolated. Children, non-verbal, respond extremely positively to staff's sensitive cajoling and visual prompts that help to prepare them for changes in the daily routine. Children show how familiar they are with daily routines, such as washing their hands after personal care tasks.

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Next steps

Leaders should continue to implement and embed plans for development that will help to realise a transformational impact on children's engagement and wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with practitioners and both company directors, who also manage the setting.

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About this inspection

The inspector gained the views of parents during the inspection.

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About this inspection

We carried out this inspection under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The

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Address:

Brunel House Manningham Business Centre 87 Manningham Lane Bradford BD1 3BN

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Special Pathways Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 15:30 - 19:00,Saturday,Sunday : 10:30 - 17:00

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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4 to 17

registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children's learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Urgent improvement

You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk . Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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