Statement of Purpose
March 2014Unique reference number: SC404993 Introduction
This document is publically available and can be found on our web site. It is sent to all placing authorities and parents and is reviewed at least annually.
If any changes are made the document is also sent to Ofsted to ensure they have an up to date record of our services and facilities. The statement of purpose is approved by the responsible individual and registered manager.
Autism Wessex was founded in 1968 and Portfield School in 1971. It is a non-maintained special school located near Christchurch, Dorset. It is administered by the charity, Autism Wessex, formerly The Wessex Autistic Society. Located approximately five miles from the centre of
Christchurch, the borough and town sits, on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Portfield School is ideally situated close to the New Forest and beaches and benefits from good transport links.
The children’s home is attached to the school, and comprises of six houses, five of which are located on the main school site and can accommodate up to seven students in each but in reality this is limited to six currently. Four older and more independent students live in a detached house in the local town of Christchurch a short distance from the school and close to the post 16 education provision.
Five houses offer fixed accommodation for students attending Portfield School.
Wessex Lodge provides flexible overnight short-break services and may also provide fixed short term placement for young people, some of who may be students transitioning into one of the permanent homes.
With a focus on developing skills and strategies for life and using recognised and effective approaches, the home provides education and care specifically tailored to students’ strengths and needs.
We work best when there is trust, honesty and openess between all staff, young people, parents and professionals. By working in such close partnership, we can offer parents and carers emotional and practical support, where required, to achieve the best possible outcomes for young people.
Aims and Objectives
Our vision is of a world where people with autism are active citizens enjoying maximum independence and a good quality of life.
Our mission is to support the education and personal development of each child and young person with autism in order that they can be active citizens enjoying maximum independence and a good quality of life.
The home aims to provide and promote needs led education and care and skills for life through building on student strengths, recognising their achievements and promoting independence, all underpinned by the following core values which are at the forefront of all decision making and service delivery;
To conduct our relationships with integrity and respect
To promote individual development, empowerment and quality of life To promote high quality, professional and needs led services
To promote equal opportunities
We believe that every young person needs a safe, enriching environment and the continuity of positive relationships. All young people need to feel supported, empowered, valued and respected to ensure their individual sense of self-worth is developed and maintained. We believe only the best practice and the highest standards of care are good enough for the young people we support.
Statement of Services
With four main areas of activity, Autism Wessex provides Portfield School for education, residential and short breaks services, Community Wessex for social care and a range of advocacy and advice services and adult residential care.
Portfield School Children’s Home provides flexible accommodation for up to 36 students. All of the Autism Wessex Services work primarily with people who have a diagnosis of autism.
Ethos, Values and Principles
Autism is a lifelong condition affecting one out of every one hundred people. As a neuro developmental disorder, the brain and wider nervous system in people with autism develops differently to the majority of other people. Consequently, our students think and process information differently and this affects how they communicate with and relate to other people, their ability to think and act flexibly and how they perceive and manage their sensory experience.
Whilst there is no cure for autism we believe that with appropriate support and care and by making the world an easier place to understand, the impact of autism can be reduced and our students can become active citizens enjoying maximum independence and a good quality of life. We are committed to fostering an ethos which supports parents and carers and works in partnership with them, listens to and values young people and maintains a safe environment for them.
Statement of Facilities
On site, there are four purpose-built homes for our students attending Portfield School and Wessex Lodge for young people accessing short break services, the grounds include gardens tended by the students, an adventure play area and a tarmac road for bikes and scooters complete with a working pedestrian crossing. There is a fenced grassed area for football and other games.
Our satellite home is a four bedded detached house in the town of Christchurch.
Each house is designed and equipped to cater for up to eight young people, however significant consideration is given to ensure positive outcomes for young people living in larger groups is consistently maintained, and this often results in less than eight young people residing in the home.
The young people in each house are of mixed age, sex and ability and are grouped in order to provide, as far as possible, an environment in which they will learn and develop positive relationships with their peers. The houses offer a modern, safe and homely environment with a caring and supportive atmosphere. Each young person has their own bedroom which they are encouraged to personalise and have communal use of the kitchen, lounge, bathrooms, recreation and dining areas.
The site is monitored externally by CCTV. Three cameras are directed onto the main gates and car park. A video recording is made and held for 24 hours or longer if required.
Some of the young people’s bedrooms have observation holes in the doors. In each case this has been carefully risk assessed and they are in place to ensure young people are closely monitored in for example, cases where there is a high risk of significant self harm.
Name, Address & Qualifications of the Registered Provider, Responsible Individual & Registered Manager Registered Provider
Autism Wessex 22 Bargates Christchurch
Dorset BH23 1QLRegistered charity No. 1000792 Responsible Individual
Robert Lowndes Chief Executive Officer Autism Wessex
Bargates Christchurch Dorset BH23 1QL
Qualifications: Cert Ed, BEd (Hons) SEN, MBA Part 1 Registered Manager
Lisa Jolliffe
Head of Residential Services Portfield School
Parley lane Christchurch Dorset BH23 6BP
Qualifications: DipSW, RMA, NVQ4 Child Care Management. Staff
Our staff members are our greatest asset. With professional support and guidance, their skills and effectiveness are continually enhanced. Highly trained and experts in their areas, all staff members also complete a specialist induction programme of recognised national standard. The Specialist Support Team (SST) provides multi-disciplinary planning support for young people and staff. The team – made up of Speech and Language Therapists, Behaviour Specialists, Nurses and an Occupational Therapist – work in holistic and collaborative ways in order to promote the health, well-being and personal development of each of the young people at the school. They are supported in clinical supervision by external independent consultants.
Good working links have been formed between the home and external organisations and services, for example there is regular input from psychologists, psychiatrists, paediatricians, community nurses, dieticians as well as proactive planning with social workers and special education officers.
The welfare of young people is a priority and we are proud of the positive relationship between staff and young people. Male and female staff are carefully recruited to work within the houses from a cross-section of society and with varying amounts of experience in order to provide good role models to the young people. The number of staff differs in each setting according to the number and needs of the young people residing.
All staff have a line manager to whom they are accountable. Regular supervision is linked to an annual appraisal system that evaluates staff performance and development needs to maximise their contribution to the purpose of the service. We have developed a staff competency framework which is to be implemented in early 2014.
It is recognised that those providing services to young people on the autism spectrum require special skills and knowledge in specific areas. In addition, more general childcare skills and training are also considered an important addition to the development of staff and their ability to carry out their role in the paramount interests of the young people.
Full details of all staff, their DBS and reference checks, and qualifications can be found in the schools single staff register.
Supervision, Training and Development of Employees
It is an expectation that all staff are committed to the Autism Wessex supervision, appraisal, staff competency framework and training systems. These are designed to develop staff competency, challenge practice, develop the quality of their work and ensure they have the skills and personal qualities needed for the meeting Portfield School’s aims and objectives.
Portfield School employs both male and female staff and strives to have a good gender balance in all its departments.
All staff receive a site specific induction to the Portfield site and undertake core Autism Wessex induction training. This includes meeting the common induction standards by completing training in child protection, medication and health care, first aid, fire awareness, principles of good practice, autism induction, team teach and safe practitioner training which covers manual handling and risk assessments. We provide an ongoing rolling training programme for staff to ensure all staff are kept up to date with developments and best practice. All induction training is assessed by the trainers and successful trainees receive certificates to confirm competence.
All staff are expected to have achieved at least 90% of the staff competency framework by the end of their probationary year. Our
competencies include the following sections; values in action, pursuing charity vision and service mission, safeguarding, resources, teamwork and embracing technology as well as autism specific competencies : The individual service user, building relationships, curriculum and learning and enabling environments.
It is part of the requirements of post that all Support Workers undertake a Level 3 Diploma qualification and all those in management posts undertake the level 4 in management. In addition all middle and senior managers complete our own Management Essentials course which is accredited by the Institute of Learning Management.
All staff have regular supervisions, not less than once every six weeks and an annual appraisal during the appraisal season and all staff have an end of probation appraisal at the completion of their probationary year.
All staff are recruited through the Autism Wessex recruitment process and therefore, in addition to two references and qualifications, medical and ID checks, all staff have an enhanced DBS check. This is redone every five years.
Admissions
We are registered as a Children’s Home to take up to 36 young people who are aged between 5 and 19 who have a diagnosis of autism and/or learning/developmental disability and who may have additional complex medical and sensory needs. We offer flexible boarding for up to 52 weeks per year and are committed to providing a personalised, caring approach alongside the highest standards of learning and development.
Most young people have a statement of special educational needs and the majority are diagnosed as having autism.
We welcome visits from interested parents and if they feel that Portfield School might be right for their child they will need to discuss their preference for a place at the school with their local authority. If they then make a formal referral to us, we will promptly carry out a
comprehensive assessment.
Our admissions panel will then consider the assessment’s findings carefully and decide on our ability to meet the child’s needs. We will also take into careful consideration the residential settings, the age of the young person, any additional needs and whether we have an appropriate peer group at the time. If an offer of a placement is made, we will need agreement from the local authority that they are willing to supply funding.
If the place is accepted, we will then work with everyone involved to ensure a thorough and robust transition plan is implemented. This could include us writing social stories, visiting the student, sharing photographs, and arranging visits to the home.
In order to be admitted to the children’s home, a young person must fulfil the following criteria: They will have a diagnosis of autism or two or more related difficulties.
Funding will have been agreed from a reliable body and confirmation of funding must be made in writing.
The young person’s parents or carers have visited the children’s home and agreed to the admissions procedures and policies. Representatives from the children’s home have visited the young person in their current setting, observed their functioning and
assessed suitability for the placement.
The young person has a statement of special educational needs indicating that provision such as that provided by the children’s home will meet their needs.
Students are not admitted on an emergency basis. Wessex Lodge
The service is available to children and young people aged five to nineteen years who have a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder and /or learning/developmental disability. They may have additional complex medical needs.
Attendance patterns will be designed to reflect the age and needs of user children
Whilst the service will always seek to be flexible in responding to the needs of individual children and their families, access will reflect the principle of equal opportunity across user families
The service will accept referrals from children who have ASD and severe challenging behaviour. The number of children accommodated on any one night will reflect their assessed needs.
Emergency referrals will be accepted subject to the service having undertaken a full assessment of need, being able to meet that need and for a maximum stay of three nights. Not sure we should state three night maximum as we also say we might do short term placements
Children and Young Persons Guide and Consultation
All new students are issued with a guide to the Children’s Homes that is relevant to their communication methods, learning style and
comprehension. The guide is accessible as an individualised social story and DVD which informs young people of the environment, structure, opportunities, activities and staff.
Young people are encouraged and supported to participate in the running of the Children’s Home and to voice their thoughts on the quality of care they receive. Young people are consulted with informally through monthly monitoring visits by the responsible individual and registered manager and more formally through a consultation process managed the Children’s Home Committee. Young people also have the opportunity to attend or submit their thoughts to their review processes.
Health and Wellbeing
The home benefits from an extended healthcare team to ensure that any health needs are attended to in a timely and professional manner. The extended team consists of a psychiatrist, clinical educational psychologist, consultant speech and language therapist, consultant occupational therapist, physiotherapist, continence specialist, behaviour outreach service, community dental team, and a dietician.
In-house health professionals work closely with the other professionals in order to ensure that all young people have access to the appropriate support to ensure a healthy lifestyle is maintained and young people are given broad opportunities to reach their full potential. In addition to the internal support and supervision process members of the specialist support team have access to external clinical supervisors. Each young person is offered an annual paediatric check-up in addition to the option of registering with the home’s general practitioner and optician. All young people benefit from an annual health assessment which identifies individual need. Any chronic health condition that impacts on a young person is assessed and monitored through comprehensive and multi-disciplinary health action plans. Portfield utilises nationally recognised assessment tools to support and measure individualised approaches, for example, BMI Chart identification.
SLT initial assessment process includes a variety of informal and formal tools to produce a baseline measure of communication skills. Reassessment takes place as the need is identified in addition to planned assessment at key stages.
Therapists have an overall responsibility to identify staff competencies in providing a supportive and enabling communicative environment Programmes targets are recorded within placement plans and form regular reviews, key documentation is disseminated via a multi-disciplinary team, and for example, placement plans include communication profile, health assessment, and sensory diet.
Education
Portfield School aims to provide education tailored to individuals’ skills as well as their needs, and each student’s personal curriculum to reflect their ability, not just their disability.
In a context of security, enjoyment and respect, we prepare young people to enter adulthood equipped to maximise their independence and quality of life and to engage in their communities as active citizens. The young people benefit from a curriculum which extends beyond their participation within the school setting. The extended curriculum acknowledges each young person as an individual but they share a common pattern of difficulties associated with having autism. These fall within the five broad areas of social relationships, social communication, flexible thinking, sensory inputs and atypical behaviour. We view the extended curriculum as a range of organised experiences and activities designed to meet the individual needs of each student.
We aim to provide young people with a positive, safe and structured home-from-home learning environment which enriches the formal
curriculum by offering a range of opportunities for individuals to generalise skills to other contexts, develop their independence and extend their leisure and social experiences. Within their bedroom, young people have the option of furniture conducive to using their room for private study.
We adopt a range of different communication methods to assist the young people to make choices and decisions about the activities they undertake and express their needs, wishes and feelings. It is acknowledged that some young people may have English as an additional language. The clear, concise language used by staff include visual cues such as photographs, signs and symbols helps with the development and understanding of the English language and communication skills.
Our waking hours curriculum is designed to ensure the learning that takes place at Portfield School’s Children’s Home is relevant, engaging and fun. It is shaped to provide a learning journey to best prepare pupils for the opportunities, experiences and responsibilities of their adult life. We place a strong emphasis on addressing each individual’s social and emotional needs. As a result, our staff members demonstrate
challenges of each individual young person.
The study programmes allow for tailoring each individual’s curriculum around their aspirations and learning needs, focusing on the areas of continued education, vocation, personal health, leisure, relationships, recreation and active community inclusion. Learning takes place in the school and children’s homes; in the community and in local colleges, as appropriate to each individual’s learning objective.
Young people attending Wessex Lodge attend a variety of schools.
We have positive links with all schools and will actively support any programmes of work which the young people are engaged in. We are committed to working in partnership with parents, carers and teachers to support the individual’s educational achievements.
Staff co-operate fully with schools, attending education reviews, meetings and events as appropriate.
Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs
It is considered important to the young people’s development that they are offered community based experiences. Due to the nature of their diagnosis, some young people are vulnerable to putting themselves at risks and are unable to assess and manage these risks appropriately. This includes the risk of becoming a missing person. All young people have a comprehensive risk assessment within their individual placement plans that identifies, amongst others, the risk of becoming missing and the necessary precautions that need to be undertaken to minimise the risk as far as reasonably possible. Whether in a community setting or the children’s home, in case of a missing person, the lead member of staff will follow the procedures identified in the policy.
Because of the nature of some young people’s diagnosis, bullying is normally identified as part of a much wider pattern of behaviour. As a result, bullying behaviours are usually addressed through our behaviour management procedures rather than through the formal use of sanctions.
A Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) approach is adopted when supporting students who display behaviours which challenge, with a focus upon reducing the use of restrictive practices. On occasion however, it is necessary for the safety and welfare of individual young person and their peers to adopt a degree of control and physical control. This is always undertaken within the guidance that any physical / restrictive intervention is used in the best interests of the individual, alongside other strategies to help the individual learn to behave in a non-challenging way. All our staff are Team Teach trained.
We operate within the context of positive handling strategies and a continuum of gradual and graded techniques. Where appropriate, the use of verbal non-physical de-escalation strategies are exhausted prior to the consideration of physical intervention, which is only undertaken by suitably qualified staff. Regular behaviour meetings in consultation with parents, carers and the in-house behaviour co-ordinator ensure that any physical /restrictive interventions are agreed to be in the best interest of the young person, and monitored and reviewed on a regular basis.
In looking holistically at our young people and not completely focusing upon their disability, we acknowledge that our young people may have aspirations for the future and hopes and dreams of what they wish to do. This may be further education or employment. In both cases, we encourage and support young people to fulfil their full potential.
We are committed to providing a broad range of learning experiences within a wide range of recreational activities. We appreciate the fact that some young people and their families wish for them to follow particular religious or cultural instruction and observance. In both cases, young people have the opportunity to learn about different religions and cultures through themed evenings and where identified full support to attend a place of worship or follow religious or cultural instruction or observance.
Safeguarding
The named Child Protection Lead for Portfield School Children’s Homes is the Head of Residential Services. Additional Designated Senior Persons are the Director, the Head Teacher, the School Nurse and two Senior Teachers, all of whom are trained in Dorset to Level 3 Safeguarding.
One of the Governors is allocated responsibility for Child Protection and reports to the board annually.
The safety and welfare needs of the young people is paramount and we endeavour to ensure that all young people are able to develop in a supportive, caring and safe environment in which they can build trusting relationships and feel secure. We follow the Dorset Inter-Agency Safeguarding Procedures and we adhere to statutory requirements and guidelines concerning the safeguarding of children and young people including the recruitment, training and management of staff.
We ensure all staff are aware of signs and symptoms of abuse, know the correct procedures for referring concerns or allegations and receive appropriate training enabling them to carry out these requirements. Staff all exercise their duty to work in partnership with other agencies and share information with them in accordance with legislation.
Fire precautions within each of the homes comply with current legislation and are monitored on a regular basis to ensure that they are in good working order. A process for recording faults is detailed in the fire log books which are located in each home. The emergency procedures are detailed within the fire log book and all staff are aware of the procedures and their individual responsibilities in the event of an emergency. Fire drills are undertaken with young people and staff.
Our policy in respect of Anti-Discriminatory Practice acknowledges that individuals or groups within society experience unfair discrimination as a result of prejudices and stereotyping and pledges to eliminate this from its organisation and service delivery. In the event of
Anti-Discriminatory Practice being identified, we strive to ensure that it is addressed at the earliest opportunity and addressed appropriately. Our policy is available on request.
Unauthorised Absences
Portfield has a procedure for managing unauthorised absence. This can be found in the main policy folder. This is adhered to at all times. All absences are fully reported on and measures are taken immediately to prevent a repeat of the absconding.
Participation
Young people are given the option to attend or contribute towards statutory reviews, person-centred planning meetings and placement plan reviews that concern the care they receive. It is recognised that young people develop and change and as a result, a constant process of monitoring and reviewing takes place. This is formalised through Individual Learning Plans and welcomes input from parents, carers and professionals from relevant disciplines. Young people are also encouraged, where possible to contribute towards the development and operation of the home. Each young person is allocated a key-worker with whom they can discuss any concerns or suggestions which are then recorded for any action to be considered. Young people also have the option of discussing issues with members of the governing body
responsible for monitoring the home.
Young people living in the Children’s Home are encouraged and supported to participate in a wide variety of individualised onsite and community based activities they demonstrate an interest in. Young people with autism can find it a challenge to experience any new recreational activity so the home promotes participation by identifying age appropriate activities and recognising and implementing support mechanisms to enable young people to make informed choices and to be able to achieve a social network.
The Children Home recognise young people’s cultural and religious needs and this is supported by ensuring young people have access to practice and partake in, for example, religious ceremonies, and menu planning and cultural celebrations. Young people for whom English is not their first language are provided with the appropriate resources to ensure effective communication is maintained.
The Children’s Home operates an open door policy for parents and immediate family members to visit their child. This enables young people to maintain family relationships and strong attachments when living away from home. In addition students are able to receive and make private phone calls and Skype. Young people are also supported in sending home letters and pictures.
Individuals are facilitated in inviting friends to participate in their activities, both in the home and in the community and are supported to reciprocate to promote socialisation skills and friendships.
Complaints Procedures
As part of the Children’s Guide young people are issued with details of what to do if they are unhappy with an aspect of life at Portfield. Young people have access to information that will enable them to complain via internal and external agencies such as Childline. In addition staff proactively address any changes to an individual’s wellbeing by using communication tools that enable all young people to express their emotions
Parents and Carers are also informed of the Portfield School complaints procedure through written documentation upon a student’s admission. Young people must know how and feel able to complain if they are unhappy about any aspect of living in the home. Any complaint is addressed seriously and without delay, and a complaint will be fully responded to within a maximum of 28 days, and young people are kept informed of the progress. In addition young people their families, significant others and independent visitors are provided with information on how to complain including how they can secure access to an advocate.
Informal complaints however will be responded to within 5 days and resolved within 14 days. The full complaints policy is readily available on request.
How Can Children and Young People Raise Concerns?
The following information is available to all students on arrival at Portfield. How to find out about their rights.
How to contact their IRO ( independent Reviewing Officer):
Students are informed that contact details can be given to them by the staff working with them in the home or in school. How to contact the Children’s Rights Director:
Office of the Children's Rights Director Ofsted Aviation House 125 Kingsway London WC2B 6SE Tel: 0800 528 0731 Web: www.rights4me.org
How to contact Ofsted: Ofsted, 3rd Floor
Royal Exchange Buildings St Ann’s Square Manchester M2 7LA Tel: 0300 123 1231 Web: www.ofsted.gov.uk Email: [email protected]
How to gain access to an independent advocate:
Students are told that this can be requested through the IRO at their reviews or direct to their local authority social workers. Our staff will assist students with this.
How to contact Child Line www.childline.org.uk
Tel: 08001111
Further Information Contacts:
Email: enquiries@ portfieldschool.org.uk Tel: 01202 573808
Fax: 01202 580532
Other documents/ information available: www.autismwessex.org.uk
Prospectus
Leaflets
