Meath School residential provision is split into three; Otter, Brox and Maitland.  All areas are decorated and furnished to a high standard and the children choose the decoration and the furniture that is in them.  The whole residential is made to be as homely as possible.

Children are encouraged to personalise their rooms how they wish and can bring photos in from home, as well as having their art work and pictures put up.

Supporting our children to input into their environment supports them to belong and to learn skills that support their independence.

We are committed to keeping a very good standard of accommodation and aim to enhance this where possible.

The furnishings we use are homely and we have a small kitchen where we can make drinks and snacks. The dining facilities are in the same building and are easily accessed.

We have Wi-Fi throughout the residential accommodation enabling children and young people to access the Internet for skyping home or for information if needed. The Internet is filtered to safeguard the children from accessing inappropriate content.

Supporting our children to achieve

To support our children to become as independent as possible we have developed a ‘Personal Development Plan’ which includes sections ranging from washing and dressing to safeguarding and meal planning.  Each child is baselined when they start sleeping over, so we have a starting point.  All children are given opportunities to develop skills through each term and progress will be recorded.

Developing Skills

Learning and developing social skills, socially acceptable behaviour and friendship skills are imperative for our children.  To achieve this we plan activities where these skills can be taught and modelled.

These activities include sports, role play, cooking, cycling, travelling by public transport, trips to the shops, trip to the beach and sessions at our local gymnastics club.

Each evening children join in storytelling, where they listen and take turns interacting with a story.

Through forums and discussions children are given the opportunity to think about activities that they would like to take part in.

All children are involved in whole school events such as Book Week, Sports Day and Meath’s Got Talent.

Children are given the opportunity to show visitors around school and show them what they have achieved.  Children also show children around who are new to residential, explaining how it works and what they take part in.

Families

Families have the opportunity to come and have a tour of the residential before their children start sleeping over.  This gives them the opportunity to give care staff the information they need to know about their child.

Residential staff write a report for each child’s annual review and this includes the targets each child will be working on over the next year.  Families/carers can request that certain skills are focused on.

Staff support children to skype or phone home when they sleep at school.

Keyworkers

Keyworkers are an important link for children within residential, with each child having the option to choose their keyworker. Keyworkers are responsible for building relationships with children and supporting them with their development.  We try to maintain consistency and keep the same keyworker for the children for at least each school year.

Each keyworker builds a good knowledge of individual children’s abilities and needs and supports the child to develop skills and interests, putting in support where needed.  Each half term keyworkers will have a dedicated session with their children.  They will write and support with targets, activities, annual reviews and future placements.

Keyworkers are responsible for maintaining care and personal development plans.

The school actively encourages parents of prospective children’s, and placing authorities to contact Ofsted where past inspection reports can be accessed through their website www.ofsted.gov.uk in order to gauge how our services are rated by an independent source.

Training

The residential team have worked hard to ensure that all staff have completed the Residential Induction Training and where possible all care staff are trained to at least level 3/4 diploma or equivalent or are working towards this.

The delivery of the diploma is achieved through an apprenticeship with staff being given time to learn and train.

In addition, the school delivers training to all residential and school staff to enable them to work effectively with the children.

Induction training includes Safeguarding and Child Protection, Speech, Language and Communication within the school, Health and Safety, Medical Needs and Support and Behaviour Management.

Ongoing training includes Signed Supported English, Dysphagia and eating difficulties, Mental Health and Wellbeing and VERVE.

Training days include Safeguarding and Child Protection, First Aid, Medical, Food Hygiene, Mini-Bus Training, Zones of Regulation and Online Safety.