Oak Lodge School - Residential Provision Following an Ofsted inspection in October 2024, Oak Lodge Residential can announce that the residential provision was graded as 'Good'. See below or Click here to read the full report
Oak Lodge School - Residential Provision Following an Ofsted inspection in October 2024, Oak Lodge Residential can announce that the residential provision was graded as 'Good'. See below or Click here to read the full report
Ofsted Comments '
'Children make excellent progress and enjoy their experiences while in residence. They build good relationships with their peers and the staff. New children settle in very quickly due to exceptional staff practice. Staff show appropriate understanding of children’s needs and work well with the teaching staff and parents to provide holistic care. New parents said that ‘We are really impressed with the support staff provide, our children were so excited to return following their first week.’
'Children have access to a wide variety of activities. They make effective use of the spacious games area, arts and crafts and a computer room. Weekly inhouse activities include yoga and movie nights. Children also have regular visits from the volunteers from Pets as Therapy (PAT) with their dogs that children enjoy interacting with and taking them for walks. Children can use the large kitchen to cook and bake or prepare snacks independently. They also enjoy community activities such as shopping, attending deaf clubs and walking to the parks. These opportunities help children to broaden their experiences and build their ambitions.'
'The residential provision is a vibrant, diverse community. Children have positive role models from the staff. Many staff are deaf themselves and bring a unique insight into understanding the support that deaf children need to thrive. This means that children can relate to the adults in the residential provision who have a good understanding of children’s communication.'
'Children enjoy and value being in residence as a safe and caring place to stay. Children spoken to say that they are happy and feel safe. They can talk to staff when they are worried or upset. Staff understand children’s individual needs well including their communication methods and provide consistent routines and nurture that helps the children to feel secure.'
Ofsted Comments This residential special school is good because:
'Staff work extremely well with teaching staff to ensure that children have good transitions between the residential provision and the school. Staff from both sides of the school communicate exceptionally well with each other and have detailed handovers. Consequently, children receive consistent care by a team who understand their needs. When children are in residence, they have a predictable daily routine which adds stability to their experience.'
'The safeguarding team has clear systems in place to oversee safeguarding across the school. They have a plan to move to a new recording system that is more user friendly to monitor actions taken when staff raise a concern. Staff spoken to showed appropriate understanding of the school’s safeguarding procedures. They know children exceptionally well and are alert to any changes in behaviour or presentation that may give cause for concern.'