Merchiston Castle School School Care Accommodation Service Road Colinton EH13 0PU Telephone: 0131 312 2203

Inspected by: Marion Neil Iain Lamb Type of inspection: Unannounced Inspection completed on: 4 September 2013 Inspection report continued

Contents

Page No Summary 3 1 About the service we inspected 5 2 How we inspected this service 7 3 The inspection 11 4 Other information 33 5 Summary of grades 34 6 Inspection and grading history 34

Service provided by: Castle School Board of Governors

Service provider number: SP2006008428

Care service number: CS2005101538

Contact details for the inspector who inspected this service: Marion Neil Telephone 0131 653 4100 Email [email protected]

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Summary

This report and grades represent our assessment of the quality of the areas of performance which were examined during this inspection.

Grades for this care service may change after this inspection following other regulatory activity. For example, if we have to take enforcement action to make the service improve, or if we investigate and agree with a complaint someone makes about the service.

We gave the service these grades Quality of Care and Support 6 Excellent Quality of Environment 6 Excellent Quality of Staffing 6 Excellent Quality of Management and Leadership 6 Excellent

What the service does well

• The School's outstanding pastoral care and support for pupils by staff and by senior pupils. • The School's high quality leadership from the Headmaster and the School's Senior Leadership Team. • Pupils' enthusiasm about the ideal boarding experience and the outstanding opportunities given to them eg development of leadership, learning journeys, sports experiences, trips and tours.

What the service could do better

• The School may wish to consider, as an ongoing area for improvement, reviewing the use of pupil profiles and GIRFEC care plans, to produce an integrated plan. • The School should continue to develop a formal appraisal/evaluation system for activities. • The School should continue to monitor the effectiveness of increasing pupil participation in the Houses.

Merchiston Castle School, page 3 of 36 Inspection report continued What the service has done since the last inspection

• The School had reviewed and trialled its staff Review and Development policy and procedure. • The School had shown a well of resilience in the staff support for pupils, staff and parents during the difficulties of the Summer Term. Parents provided positive feedback on the high level of support that the School initiated. • The School has appointed 'dynamic' new staff, which included internal appointments of 2 Housemasters.

Conclusion Merchiston Castle School continues to provide a high quality boarding experience which takes account of individual pupils development and health needs. The School is led in an exemplary way by the School's Senior Leadership Team under the strong guidance of the Headmaster.

Who did this inspection Marion Neil Iain Lamb

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1 About the service we inspected

Merchiston Castle School is an which provides boarding facilities for the majority of its pupils. The School is situated in extensive grounds in the Colinton district of Edinburgh. The School was deemed registered with Social Care and Social Work Improvement , (SCSWIS), on 1 April 2011, to provide boarding facilities for a maximum of 349 pupils at any one time. Prior to that date the School was registered with the Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care (Care Commission). It was first egisterr ed with the Care Commission in April 2005.

The School's conditions of registration with SCSWIS are:

To provide a School care accommodation service to a maximum of 349 pupils at any one time:

1. A maximum of 58 pupils may be accommodated in Pringle, Merchiston Castle School, Colinton Road, Colinton, Edinburgh EH13 OPU.

A maximum of 126 pupils may be accommodated in Laidlaw, Merchiston Castle School, Colinton Road, Colinton, Edinburgh EH13 OPU.

A maximum of 61 pupils may be accommodated in Rogerson, Merchiston Castle School, Colinton Road, Colinton, Edinburgh EH13 OPU.

A maximum of 104 pupils may be accommodated in Chalmers, Merchiston Castle School, Colinton Road, Colinton, Edinburgh EH13 OPU.

2. The School care accommodation service will be provided during the School terms.

3. To comply with the current staffing schedule dated 17 August 2010 which must be displayed together with the certificate.

The School's vision states -

• to achieve the highest possible academic standards; • then to achieve, within the sport-for-all philosophy, the highest possible sporting standards and to instill a lifelong love of sport; • to achieve, within a wide degree of participation, the highest level of cultural standards and a love of art, drama and music for life; • to provide the best possible pastoral care in a boarding school which has day pupils within it; • to help our pupils to develop communication skills;

Merchiston Castle School, page 5 of 36 Inspection report continued • to enable our pupils to become leaders and to have a sense of adventure and of service, of belonging to the world and a desire to contribute to society; • to help our pupils develop an awareness of environmental issues and an understanding of how to live in a sustainable way; • to ensure that our boys understand the difference between right and wrong, between decent and poor behaviour; that they respect each other as being different and unique; and that they understand the importance of "Manners Makyth Man" - in other words, we wish to help them to develop as good people; • to foster in our pupils a sense of the spiritual and encourage them to value relationships.

Ref: Merchiston Castle School website.

Based on the findings of this inspection this service has been awarded the following grades:

Quality of Care and Support - Grade 6 - Excellent Quality of Environment - Grade 6 - Excellent Quality of Staffing - Grade 6 - Excellent Quality of Management and Leadership - Grade 6 - Excellent

This report and grades represent our assessment of the quality of the areas of performance which were examined during this inspection.

Grades for this care service may change following other regulatory activity. You can find the most up-to-date grades for this service by visiting our website www.careinspectorate.com or by calling us on 0845 600 9527 or visiting one of our offices.

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2 How we inspected this service

The level of inspection we carried out In this service we carried out a medium intensity inspection. We carry out these inspections where we have assessed the service may need a more intense inspection.

What we did during the inspection This report was written following an unannounced inspection visit on 03 September 2013, and an arranged visit on 04 September 2013, when we completed the inspection and gave feedback to the Headmaster and the Senior Deputy Head. The inspection visit was carried out by Marion Neil and Iain Lamb, Inspectors, Care Inspectorate. The inspection visits took approximately 12 hours, in total.

We carried out a medium intensity inspection. We carry out these inspections when we need to follow up concerns which we have been notified to us by the School, in this case, historical child protection issues. At the School's last inspection it was awarded grades of 6 - excellent, for the areas we looked at under the Quality Statements.

We looked at all 4 themes - the Quality of Care and Support, the Quality of the Environment, the Quality of Staffing and the Quality of Management and Leadership. We looked at evidence for 2 Quality Statements in each of these themes. We were satisfied with the overall participation of the pupils and their parents/carers in the School's decision making processes. Because of this, we are reporting our findings for Quality Statements 1.1, 2.1, 3.1 and 4.1 under 1.1. Due to the issues of a child protection nature that the School faced last term, which referred to historical events, this inspection focused on a review of the School's current safeguarding policies and procedures.

The service, as requested, sent us an Annual Return and a Self Assessment form. We talked to the Headmaster and members of the staff teams about the service and the progress made since the last inspection visit. We looked at a sample of the service's policies and procedures. We sampled evidence to support what had been written in the service's Self Assessment, under the Quality Statements we looked at.

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We looked at a sample of the service's records during the visit. These included:

• certificate of egistrr ation and staffing schedule, • public liability insurance, • records of the purchase, storage, administration and disposal of medication, • accidents and incidents, • written risk assessments, • photographs of pupils taking part in a variety of activities, • information to parents, eg newsletters, • questionnaires and surveys carried out by the service, • consultation with the pupils, • a sample of pupils' care (GIRFEC) and education plans (pupil profiles), • information on the service's website, • minutes of meetings including meetings with the Board of Governors, Senior Leadership Team meetings, Housemasters' meetings, Prefects' meetings etc, • and the service's self evaluation and quality assurance systems.

We met with two groups of six pupils. We talked to them about how well they liked boarding at Merchiston Castle School and what activities and experiences they had the opportunity to take part in. We attended two School management meetings and one of the Prefects' meetings. We talked to the Headteacher, the Senior Deputy Head, members of the School's Senior Leadership Team, the School's Child Protection Coordinator and the Assistant Child Protection Coordinator, members of the School's medical team, four Housemasters, a Housemother and a Housekeeper.

We would like to thank the School for their cooperation during the inspection process and the School's hospitality.

Grading the service against quality themes and statements We inspect and grade elements of care that we call 'quality themes'. For example, one of the quality themes we might look at is 'Quality of care and support'. Under each quality theme are 'quality statements' which describe what a service should be doing well for that theme. We grade how the service performs against the quality themes and statements.

Details of what we found are in Section 3: The inspection

Inspection Focus Areas (IFAs) In any year we may decide on specific aspects of care to focus on during our inspections. These are extra checks we make on top of all the normal ones we make during inspection. We do this to gather information about the quality of these aspects

Merchiston Castle School, page 8 of 36 Inspection report continued of care on a national basis. Where we have examined an inspection focus area we will clearly identify it under the relevant quality statement.

Fire safety issues We do not regulate fire safety. Local fire and rescue services are responsible for checking services. However, where significant fire safety issues become apparent, we will alert the relevant fire and rescue services so they may consider what action to take. You can find out more about care services' responsibilities for fire safety at www.firelawscotland.org

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The annual return Every year all care services must complete an 'annual return' form to make sure the information we hold is up to date. We also use annual returns to decide how we will inspect the service. Annual Return Received: Yes - Electronic

Comments on Self Assessment Every year all care services must complete a 'self assessment' form telling us how their service is performing. We check to make sure this assessment is accurate. The Care Inspectorate received a fully completed Self assessment document from the School. This identified what the School did well, along with the sources of evidence for these areas, and proposed improvements.

The School may wish to consider that when using the Self assessment document as part of the overall quality assurance of the School, they provide detailed examples of the School's high quality practice and how this impacts on the outcomes for boarding pupils.

Taking the views of people using the care service into account The views of the pupils who spoke to us are summarised under Quality Statements 1.1 and 1.3. All the pupils who spoke with us were extremely positive about their boarding experiences.

Taking carers' views into account We did not seek the views of parents at this inspection. We took account of parents' views, given to the School in e-mails to the Headmaster and in the School's parents' survey. Where appropriate some of their comments are included in this report.

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3 The inspection We looked at how the service performs against the following quality themes and statements. Here are the details of what we found.

Quality Theme 1: Quality of Care and Support Grade awarded for this theme: 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving the quality of the care and support provided by the service. Service strengths We found that the School was performing exceptionally well in the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement. We concluded this after talking with a group of younger pupils (6) and a group of older pupils (6). We took account of the information we had from -

• attending a Heads of House (Prefects) meeting, • attending a Senior Leadership Team meeting, • reviewing the results of surveys given to parents/carers, • reviewing minutes of School committee meetings, • the school's Self assessment form.

We spoke with members of staff, including members of the School's Senior Leadership Team and 4 Housemasters. We gave the School a grade 6 - excellent, for the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement.

On this inspection visit we found that the School's staff teams, and especially house staff, were continuing their outstanding consultative approach with pupils. This was confirmed by the older pupils who spoke with us. All of the pupils who spoke with us made very positive comments about all aspects of the service. They told us that they felt cared for and supported and encouraged in all areas of their life. All spoke very positively about the staff and the sense of community was referred to by a number of pupils in a positive way.

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A letter from a parent to the School confirmed this view -

"So thank you Merchiston for making (pupil's name) such a fantastic first year, where the values and beliefs you described in our initial visit to the School, are so passionately delivered by all your team consistently and authentically. As a pupil, and as a parent, it is a wonderful and unique experience."

We noted that pupils had opportunities to contribute to day to day decisions about the running of the School eg through serving on School committees. A sample of minutes of meetings we looked at confirmed pupils' involvement in decision-making eg the library committee - pupils chose magazines and newspapers, and the books for the 'bag a book' scheme, and the minutes of the sustainability committee confirmed pupils' involvement in re-cycling.

Other ways in which pupils participated included -

• regular House meetings, • Heads of House and Prefects based in Houses meeting regularly with Housemasters to discuss the support and safeguarding for pupils in the Houses, • Housemasters told us that increasing pupils' participation in the Houses remained a priority this year, • pupils, in the Junior House, had made fun, innovative posters of the House rules, • the School's student forum, • the Forum for international pupils.

Working in this way meant that pupils accepted and understood the appropriate rules that were in place. All pupils who spoke with us were clear that they could talk with members of staff, especially house staff. They said that their suggestions and views would be listened to.

The Prefects' meeting we attended confirmed the sensitive way in which senior pupils clearly saw that their role in the Houses included mentoring and looking after the younger pupils. An ideal example of this was the way in which they discussed, at the meeting, what support could be put in place for younger pupils who were homesick.

We saw that there were regular surveys of pupils and their parents/carers. In an example of best practice, these included a survey of guardianship for international students. This gave us strong evidence that parents/carers views were taken into account. An example of this was that one parent/carer highlighted the following in the last survey -

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"All requests to the housemother are directed through the housemaster. We have not been made to feel that we can contact the housemother directly ourselves."

Housemasters who spoke with us confirmed that parents/carers were now encouraged to contact Housemother directly, if they preferred to speak to them first. One of the Housemothers who spoke with us confirmed that this was now in place. She stated that it helped free up the Housemaster's time, if the matter raised by the parents was minor and routine. Both the Housemaster and the Housemother who spoke with us confirmed that working in this way helped reassure parents about their child's well-being.

The results of the survey we looked at confirmed that the communication from boarding staff was of a high standard - their comments on communication included -

"Always on time, concerning of the matter." "Much more than adequate - (name of member of staff) is fabulous." "No issues, very effective communication"

Their comments confirmed that af mily atmosphere in the Houses -

"Good interaction between the Housemasters and the boys."

Regularly seeking parents' views in this way meant that the school was listening to parents' views and where appropriate, making changes.

When we visited the Houses, we saw that pupils' choices and preferences had influenced the environment eg in the Houses for the Middle Years and Sixth Form, pupils had chosen posters and art work. In the Junior House, an informal area for relaxing and playing games was now in place. This had a wide range of resources including board games, chosen by the junior pupils. Working in this way helps to create a homely atmosphere for pupils. It promotes pupils' decision-making skills and helps create a sense of belonging eg to the Junior House.

When we talked to one of the School's recently appointed Housemasters, he confirmed that -

• his interview process included an interview by pupils, • he delivered a lesson and pupils gave feedback to a member of the Senior Leadership team about the lesson.

Working in this way was an example of ideal practice. It meant that pupils' views were taken into account as part of the interview process. It provided pupils with ideal experiences about recruitment and selection.

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The School had a robust Self assessment process in place - see Quality Statement 4.4. Pupils' views, given both informally to staff and formally through surveys, were taken into account by the Senior Leadership Team when the Self assessment was completed. The School had a well-established and highly effective Parents' Forum. This met at least 3 times a year, providing parents with ideal opportunities to make their views known and to suggest improvements. Working with pupils and parents in this way allowed the school to identify areas for improvement, ensuring a continual high standard of boarding and pastoral care.

In conclusion, the School was continuing to provide high quality boarding for pupils. The care and support for pupils was exemplary. Pupils had a wide range of highly effective forums to give their views. They had outstanding relationships with House staff, who involved them in decisions about the day to day running of the boarding houses. Pupils told us that staff listened to their points of view, and where appropriate, took forward their suggestions. Areas for improvement We noted that the School had senior pupils leading some of the School's forums. This was another example of best practice. In the School's Self assessment form they highlighted ongoing monitoring of the effectiveness of pupil's leading various forums-

"We now have senior pupils leading groups in various forums. Present level to be monitored and maintained."

This remains an ongoing area for improvement.

Housemasters who spoke with us told us that they wished to further develop pupils' participation in the Houses. The School may wish to monitor the effectiveness of this, as an ongoing area for improvement.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

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Statement 3 We ensure that service users' health and wellbeing needs are met. Service strengths We gave the School a grade 6 - excellent for the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement. We concluded this after talking to the Headmaster, Senior Deputy Head, 4 Housemasters and the School's Child Protection Coordinator and Assistant Child Protection Coordinator, and a Housemother and Housekeeper. We visited the school's medical centre and spoke with the School's nurses and nurse assistant. We looked at a wide range of documents to support what we were told by members of staff. These included samples of minutes of meetings, including House meetings, Senior Leadership Team meetings and minutes of Board of Governors' meetings. We looked at a sample of GIRFEC (Getting It Right For Every Child), care plans for pupils and Housemasters' moving on notes, for pupils moving to another boarding house. We spoke with 2 groups of pupils - one of junior pupils and one of senior pupils. We attended a Heads of House (Prefects) meeting. We talked to pupils about all aspects of their boarding experiences.

We saw evidence for other areas of this Quality Statement, not mentioned below, which confirmed that the School was continuing to deliver high quality pastoral care to pupils. The areas we mention below highlight key areas under this Quality Statement, including aspects of this Quality Statement that we have not reported on in previous reports, eg the outdoor learning area and support for international pupils.

The School was continuing the development of GIRFEC care plans to support pupils with any identified concerns, health, personal or developmental needs. The result was that pupils with a GIRFEC care plan had an additional identified member of staff who supported them, maintained ideal contact with the pupil's parents, and if appropriate, liaised with other members of staff. We saw that using GIRFEC care plans and pupils' profiles in this way meant that staff were kept informed, where appropriate, about support strategies for individual pupils. We noted that for Housemasters, this information was further supported by detailed 'moving on' notes from Housemasters, for all pupils who were moving to a different House. Working in this way was another example of how well developed the School's sense of community was - see Quality statement 1.1.

We found that there was outstanding review and development of further medical support for pupils. An example of innovative practice included, eg benchmarking all pupils in the School for concussion. This meant that any head injuries sustained either through an accident or sports injury, was monitored against the benchmark. Medical staff told us that working in this way had resulted in more effective and prompt treatment of head injuries. We found that the medical team and the Director of Sport were continuing the analysis of rugby injuries.

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Working in this way helped, they said, to minimise the frequency of such injuries.

The minutes of House meetings confirmed that pupils think that the of od is outstanding - comments, to be passed on to catering staff were recorded in the minutes of the student forum -

"Thank you to the kitchen team, School meals have been really good recently."

We noted that the menus took account of pupils' preferences and dietary requirements. The ideal attention to detail from the catering staff included support for senior pupils who may be training for sports at a high level. Pupils who spoke to us confirmed that the of od was of a high standard. They said that there was enough choice and plenty of fruit. Providing high quality food choices in this way promotes healthy eating for pupils.

On this visit we saw the School's Innovative practice to promote outdoor learning. It included -

• strong links with the curriculum, especially in the areas of biology and art, • vegetable plots for younger pupils - pupils were encouraged to plant and grow vegetables, • the School pond which provided a variety of learning experiences linked to pond life and biology, • hatching and rearing chickens, turkeys and ducks, • solar power for outdoor classroom resources' base, • assisting a member of staff to care for his harrier hawk.

Working in this way was an ideal example of the innovative learning experiences offered to Merchiston pupils. The member of staff who showed us the outdoor learning area told us that another benefit of working in this way included helping pupils from an agricultural background to settle in. We noted that the School had clear policies in place about keeping pets, using the School's dog crèche and walking dogs on campus. We saw that there were pets in some of the Houses, and this helped to promote a homely atmosphere in the Houses for pupils.

We found that the pastoral role of senior pupils, especially prefects, was outstanding. This was because of the exceptionally well-developed way in which the School nurtured these pupils as young leaders, eg

• They have additional responsibilities in the Houses to support Housemasters in monitoring behaviour, and the day to day running of the House.

Merchiston Castle School, page 16 of 36 Inspection report continued • They have training in the first week of term to prepare them for this role. • It included child protection and safeguarding. • Their role included presentation of part of the School's Personal Social Health Education, (PSHE), programme by senior pupils to junior ones. • The School monitored this to ensure the delivery of the PSHE programme was consistent. • Senior pupils volunteered to complete 'Place2Be' training. This trained them to be 'big friends', working in primary schools in the wider Edinburgh community.

The Housemaster of the senior boarding house was, at the time of the inspection visit, taking forward the further development support for international students and integration into Merchiston boarding life. She had delegated responsibility as International Coordinator. This role meant that, at the time of the inspection visits, she was carrying out a review of the guardianship arrangements for international pupils. As mentioned in 1.1, a survey was carried out with parents and with pupils. This showed that almost all of the pupils were satisfied with the guardianship arrangements. However, the results of the survey meant that the School was continuing to improve the guardianship arrangements for international pupils - 2 of the four areas for improvement were completed prior to the start of the Autumn Term - the remaining ongoing areas for improvement are detailed below.

In an example of ideal practice, the International Coordinator had developed a glossary for new pupils, including international pupils. This provided pupils with a definition of words unique to Merchiston School - the glossary stated -

"All schools have special words that create a very unique vocabulary to that individual School and the same happens at Merchiston. Some are names given to certain areas of School, some are names of certain activities, actions or periods of time."

This proved so useful that it has now been shared with recently appointed staff, including Housemasters, at their request. This was an outstanding example of the way in which the School was supporting pupils new to the School, including those for whom English was not their first language.

The group of younger pupils we spoke with confirmed that they were well cared for -

"They enjoyed all the different sports and activities they could access. They said they liked sharing rooms with their friends. They confirmed they elf t safe and said that if they were unwell at any time they could access help or support. All spoke very positively of staff in their houses and said they had someone to confide in if they needed it."

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We found that outstanding support was offered to pupils during the difficult events which the School as a community suffered last term. We saw feedback from parents which confirmed that the support was of a very high level and that giving the necessary information to pupils was handled very sensitively. (See Quality Statement 2.2).

Comments from parents included -

".... I think you and the school have handled a very difficult situation in a sensitive and exemplary manner."

In conclusion, the staff teams, ably led by the School's Senior Leadership Team, provided high quality care and support for pupils. The school had robust systems in place to identify where pupils may need additional support. Information was used effectively by staff to ensure that appropriate care plans were in place. The School's medical centre staff team was continuing to provide exceptional health care. Areas for improvement The School identified the ollof wing areas for improvement, following its survey of guardianship arrangements -

• to revise the guardianship arrangements across all years, • to initiate a programme of home visits to ensure appropriate provisions are in place.

The School may wish to consider, as an ongoing area for improvement, reviewing the use of pupil profiles and GIRFEC care plans, to produce an integrated plan. Working in this way is an effective way to develop a holistic approach to the management of pupil's health and well-being needs.

The service's record keeping was of a very high quality. However we noted some instances where records were not dated. It is important to date all records - documents like these provide an audit trail of action taken; when they are dated it assists members of the Senior Leadership Team in monitoring record keeping.

The service may wish to consider moving to an electronic system of record keeping. Keeping paper copies of all documents, where they are already stored electronically means that there is duplication of records and of the work to maintain these records appropriately.

Merchiston Castle School, page 18 of 36 Inspection report continued Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

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Quality Theme 2: Quality of Environment Grade awarded for this theme: 6 - Excellent

Statement 1

We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving the quality of the environment within the service. Service strengths What we looked at for this Quality Statement is reported under Quality Statement 1.1. Based on these findings, we gave the School a grade 6 - excellent for the areas we looked at under these Quality Statements. Areas for improvement These are detailed under Quality Statement 1.1.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

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Statement 2 We make sure that the environment is safe and service users are protected. Service strengths We found that the School was performing exceptionally well in the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement. We concluded this after talking to members of the Senior Leadership Team, 4 Housemasters. We spoke with 2 groups of pupils - one of junior pupils and one of senior pupils. We attended a Heads of House (Prefects) meeting. We talked to pupils about how safe they felt in their boarding Houses, and what they would do if they were unhappy or wished to make a complaint. We also talked to the School's Child Protection Coordinator and the Assistant Child Protection Coordinator. We reviewed records associated with this Quality Statement, including the School's audit of child protection, and the School's child protection policies and procedures. We reviewed records associated with safety, including fire safety and maintenance records. The records we looked at verified the information we had from staff and pupils. We visited 4 of the boarding Houses.

We gave the School a grade 6 - excellent, for the areas we reviewed for this Quality Statement.

Due to the issues of a child protection nature that the School faced last term, which referred to historical events, this inspection focused on a review of the School's current safeguarding policies and procedures.

As noted in the previous inspection report, the School carried out a review of child protection policies and procedures in the Autumn Term 2012. The review was led by the Board Member with delegated responsiblity for the School's safeguarding. A number of recommendations were made following this review. At this inspection, we noted that all the recommendations were now in place. At the In-set at the start of the Autumn Term 2013, the School's Child Protection Coordinator ran a workshop to make sure that all staff were familiar with the revised child protection procedures. Working in this way meant that all staff were kept up to date with the School's revised policies and procedures.

We reviewed the audit that the School had carried out of historical child protection issues. We were satisfied that any lessons learned from this audit will be taken forward by the school in its action plan. The Headmaster confirmed that lessons learned would inform any further amendments to the current robust policies and procedures already in place. We noted that, throughout the child protection concerns, the School had cooperated fully with external agencies, including the Care Inspectorate. The result was that we were kept informed about the School's progress in this area. This meant that throughout the many months taken to deal with the historical concerns we knew that the School was following an agreed, appropriate course of action, whilst taking account of its responsibilities to keep the pupils safe.

Merchiston Castle School, page 21 of 36 Inspection report continued We saw comments from parents, confirming that they thought that the School had dealt with the difficult issues of last term in a sensitive way - their comments included -

"Well done with this. Observing from the outside it looks like you and governors have handled a really tricky and difficult situation with both common sense and good judgement."

We spoke with the School's Child Protection Coordinators, members of the Senior Leadership Team and other members of staff. We were satisfied that the current procedures are known and understood by staff and that appropriate training was in place for staff. A review of the training calendar for In-set confirmed that child protection and safeguarding training were re-visited at least annually. We also noted that the Child Protection Coordinators had access to further, higher level, child protection training - Scottish Council for Independent Schools (SCIS) Level 4. In an example of ideal practice the School's staff who run activity camps over the summer had attended SCIS Level 4 training. Working in this way meant that all staff had their knowledge and understanding of child protection revised and updated on an ongoing basis. A review of the School's training calendar confirmed that the Child Protection Coordinators would be delivering child protection training to the Board of Governors. The Headmaster confirmed that this would now be an annual event. This meant that all staff, including the Board of Governors, knew what the correct procedures for reporting concerns were, as they were reminded about these each year.

We saw that the individual boarding Houses were kept safe and secure, visitors are monitored and that child protection and safeguarding information was prominently displayed for pupils' information. We noted (see Quality Statement 1.3) that senior pupils had training in child protection and safeguarding. This was an example of best practice. Working in this way meant that pupils were given an understanding about the context of child protection, safeguarding and bullying. If Schools work in this way, it creates a more open culture, where pupils are not afraid to tell a member of staff if they have concerns.

Pupils who spoke with us confirmed that there was always someone they could go to if they were unhappy or had concerns about any aspects of boarding life. They told us that they could speak to the Senior pupils in their House, including the prefects. They said that they could talk to their Housemaster, House Tutor or any member of staff. They told us that there was a School counsellor and also a School chaplain. They knew about the safeguarding information that was displayed in their Houses, which provided them with contact details for external sources of support, eg Childline. When we looked at a sample of records, these confirmed that in addition to all of the above, some pupils, especially younger ones, would talk to their own families and get their parents/carers to talk to an appropriate person, eg their Housemaster.

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The pupils who spoke with us confirmed that staff listened to them and took their views seriously. They spoke highly of the positive and open relationships that they had with boarding House staff.

The School's Child Protection Coordinator held weekly meetings with the Heads of House (Prefects), to give them an opportunity to raise any concerns they may have about the safety and well-being of any of the pupils in their House. This provided the Heads of House, under the guidance of the Child Protection Coordinator, with an opportunity to share good practice to support any pupils who were experiencing difficulties, eg homesickness.

Working in this way ensured that pupils knew that there was a wide range of people, including older pupils, whom they could go to for support, and who would take the appropriate action to sort out their concerns.

Risks assessments were in place. The Director of Co-curricular programme was very clear about the School's responsibilities to assess and manage risks, particularly in relation to high impact sports, and to trips abroad. Working in this way was good practice, as it meant that the risks associated with high impact sports and with trips and outings were managed in a planned, appropriate way.

We saw, from sampling records and speaking to staff, that there were ideal arrangements in place to ensure that -

• appropriate fire safety was in place, • fire evacuation practices took place regularly, • maintenance issues were dealt with timeously and appropriate records were kept, • robust health and safety systems were in place, • infection control was highlighted in the Houses, eg there were posters reminding pupils about correct hand washing procedures throughout the School, • associated policies were in place, eg the management of dogs on campus, and a clear policy for the dog crèche, the management of School vehicles and the safety of staff's, pupils' and parents' vehicles, when on campus.

Paying attention to health and safety in this way meant that the school was minimising the risks of accidents on campus.

Merchiston Castle School, page 23 of 36 Inspection report continued

In conclusion, the School was continuing to review and develop its safeguarding of pupils. The School's child protection policies and procedures were known and understood by staff. Appropriate child protection training was in place for all staff. They understood their responsibilities to report any safeguarding concerns. Areas for improvement When we talked to the School's Senior Leadership Team, they confirmed that the Director of external trips and outings was to attend specific child protection training for School Trips Coordinators Programme - a child protection course organised by Scottish Council for Independent Schools, entitled Safeguarding Pupils on School Trips. The School may wish to consider making this training available to all staff who organise and attend external trips, especially residential ones. At the time of writing this report, this area for improvement had already been actioned by School, with training for staff scheduled for this term.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

Merchiston Castle School, page 24 of 36 Inspection report continued

Quality Theme 3: Quality of Staffing Grade awarded for this theme: 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving the quality of staffing in the service. Service strengths What we looked at for this Quality Statement is reported under Quality Statement 1.1. Based on these findings, we gave the School a grade 6 - excellent for the areas we looked at under these Quality Statements. Areas for improvement These are detailed under Quality Statement 1.1.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

Merchiston Castle School, page 25 of 36 Inspection report continued

Statement 3 We have a professional, trained and motivated workforce which operates to National Care Standards, legislation and best practice. Service strengths We found that the School was continuing to perform to an exceptionally high level in the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement. Pupils who spoke with us told us about the staff who cared for them. We talked to members of staff, including four Housemasters, members of the Senior Leadership Team, and to members of the medical team. We reviewed staff files, and sampled the support given to staff, and notes of development review meetings. We looked at the records held by the School confirming staff qualifications and registration with professional bodies. We looked at the recruitment process for new Housemasters and talked to two new staff about their induction. The records we looked at verified the information we had from staff and pupils. We gave the School a grade 6, for the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement.

We saw that the School's audit of historical events had informed the development of the School's staff training programmes in child protection and safeguarding - see Quality Statement 2.2. Changes made included changes to the management of risks and to the induction processes for recently appointed Housemasters and recently appointed staff across the School's staff teams. Recently appointed staff who spoke with us confirmed that a member of the Senior Leadership Team and the School's Child Protection Coordinator had talked to them about the School's child protection policy and procedures. They told us that they were confident that they would know what to do in the event of any concerns being raised. Working in this way meant that importance of safeguarding pupils was highlighted to recently appointed staff.

When we talked with the medical staff, they confirmed that they had recently reviewed their induction process for any staff recently appointed to the medical team. This was, they told us, to ensure that all the necessary aspects of medical and nurse protocols were covered in the induction. This was ideal practice. Working in this way meant that all staff at the medical centre fully understood the links with the GPs practice, how to keep pupil's records up to date and the importance of liaising with Housemasters and parents.

The three recently appointed housemasters all confirmed that they had received in depth induction training, that the recruitment process was robust, and involved pupils at the School. They stated that they had received exceptional, ongoing support and guidance from the school's Senior Leadership Team, House staff and other colleagues. Providing appropriate support and guidance to recently appointed staff in this way meant that the School's well established care and support for pupils was delivered in a consistent way.

Merchiston Castle School, page 26 of 36 Inspection report continued We noted that the School had a clear system to identify individual staff training needs and the wider training to meet the needs of the School. We saw ideal examples of where training was clearly linked to identified development needs of individual pupils, eg recent training had included training on mental health issues and eating disorders. Working in this way ensures that staff have the necessary insight and knowledge to support pupils' additional support needs.

All staff took part in an annual Development Review meeting. In an example of ideal practice this included a 360 degree review, eg each member of staff was reviewed by their line manager, completed a self assessment of their own performance and was reviewed either by colleagues or by colleagues for whom they were the line manager. The Senior Deputy Head confirmed that the School's revised Review and Development plan includes ongoing monitoring and support for staff by their line manager. Working in this way meant that line managers had a high quality overview of the way in which each member of staff worked. It meant that they could identify key strengths and any areas where the staff member could work on improvements.

We saw that staff were registered with professional bodies, eg General Teaching Council (GTC), Scottish Social Services Council, (SSSC). This meant that all staff were aware of the codes of conduct that they must adhere to as registered teachers and care professionals. In an example of best practice, a review of staff qualifications confirmed that boarding House staff were either already qualified or orkingw towards qualifications. They confirmed, when they spoke with us, that they were encouraged and supported by the School to complete their qualifications and to identify their personal training needs. Working in this way meant that boarding House staff had an ideal understanding of the importance of providing consistent care and support to boarding pupils.

In conclusion, we found that the School staff we spoke with were enthusiastic and motivated about their work in the boarding Houses. They had an exceptionally good understanding about how to provide consistent care and support to boarding pupils. They were qualified or working towards qualifications and had access to high level training. This supported and informed their work in the boarding houses. Areas for improvement We noted (see Quality Statement 1.3) that the Housemasters provided comprehensive 'moving on' notes for each boarding pupil when they moved to a different House. However, we saw in one of these notes, that the language used to describe a pupil did not take account of his additional support needs. We acknowledge that in almost all instances, additional support was in place in Houses, where additional support needs were identified, but note that it would be helpful to have this detailed in the 'moving' on notes.

Merchiston Castle School, page 27 of 36 Inspection report continued

Working in this way would ensure that the moving on notes had a brief description of strategies that have been tried out by House staff and which work to support individual pupils, eg providing additional guidance in organising homework, and books for classes, for pupils who may be dyslexic.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

Merchiston Castle School, page 28 of 36 Inspection report continued

Quality Theme 4: Quality of Management and Leadership Grade awarded for this theme: 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 We ensure that service users and carers participate in assessing and improving the quality of the management and leadership of the service. Service strengths What we looked at for this Quality Statement is reported under Quality Statement 1.1. Based on these findings, we gave the School a grade 6 - excellent for the areas we looked at under these Quality Statements. Areas for improvement These are detailed under Quality Statement 1.1.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

Merchiston Castle School, page 29 of 36 Inspection report continued

Statement 4 We use quality assurance systems and processes which involve service users, carers, staff and stakeholders to assess the quality of service we provide Service strengths We found that the service was continuing to perform at a very high standard in the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement. We concluded this after speaking to members of the Senior Leadership Team and four of the Housemasters. We reviewed records, eg the School's Improvement Plan, Self assessments of Houses, and associated audits. The records we looked at verified the information we had from staff and pupils. We gave the School a grade 6, excellent, for the areas we looked at under this Quality Statement.

We found that the School was carrying out regular audits. These included, eg

• accidents, • incidents, • complaints, • pupils' behaviour and sanctions, • health and safety, • external trips and tours, • the purchase, storage, administration and storage of medication.

This was a sample of the audits carried out by the School. Working in this way meant that the Senior Leadership Team ensured that the systems in place to ensure that the School ran smoothly were working well. It allowed them to identifiy any areas for improvement in these systems.

In the School's Self assessment document, the School detailed the School's quality assurance systems -

"We promote quality assurance in many different ways including the following:

• Four SLT meetings per week; weekly Housemasters' meeting; weekly Housemaster and Prefects' meetings; regular meeting between the Housemaster and the Housekeeper; regular departmental meetings. • Service Level Agreements exist for all catering and domestic issues. • Regular Food Forum meetings are held. • Frequent reference is made to the National Care Standards and HGIOS. (Education Scotland's Self assessment tool - 'How Good Is Our School?'). • The Health and Safety Committee meets at least once every term. • The Parents' Forum meets three times a year.

Merchiston Castle School, page 30 of 36 Inspection report continued • There are opportunities for staff to meet Governors. • The Governors' Educational and Pastoral Committee involves Housemasters, Heads of Department and other senior staff. • There are regular tutor-pupil meetings. • The Care Inspectorate self-assessment involves input from all Housemasters and is a valuable part of our quality assurance.

We saw evidence that, eg House Tutors were involved in discussions about the HGIOS self assessment. Minutes of meetings confirmed that the Board of Governors Educational and Pastoral Committee involved Housemasters, Heads of Department and other senior staff. They also confirmed that the Child Protection Coordinators met regularly with the Governor who had responsibility for child protection (see Quality Statement 2.2).

This term the School held a whole staff meeting at the beginning of term. This had proved, the Headmaster said, invaluable, and the School intended to replicate this at the beginning of each term. It provided staff with an additional forum to give their views and to suggest changes.

Working in this way meant that pupils, parents and staff had ideal opportunities to make suggestions for improvement. The School had, as stated in 1.1, regular feedback from pupils and their parents from the surveys it carried out. The Headmaster confirmed that all this information informed the views of the Senior Leadership Team when they set priorities for School improvement.

This was confirmed by the sample of documents we reviewed; for example, we found that self assessments were in place for all Houses. Housemasters reviewed all aspects of their boarding provision, and included areas for development for the coming year. This was a part of the staff Development and Review meetings. (See Quality Statement 3.3.) We noted that the School had a clearly defined action plan in place to progress the areas for improvement identified in the last Care Inspectorate report. This was an example of best practice as it had -

• named persons responsible for different actions, • appropriate timescales, • an update on progress made in red, • review dates for any action points not yet completed.

We noted that one of the self assessments we reviewed was followed up with a meeting, where targets were identified and an outline of future auditing of these targets was established. This showed that the Senior Leadership Team took this area very seriously and were continuing to develop the leadership roles of Housemasters, which is crucial to high quality pastoral care.

Merchiston Castle School, page 31 of 36 Inspection report continued When we spoke with the Senior Deputy Head, he confirmed that the esr ults of a recent survey of pupils' views, carried out in each House, was due to be discussed at the Housemaster's In-set. He told us that this took account of the discursive comments from the survey, and would result in an action plan. The action plan would, he stated, be linked to the School's Improvement Plan, as appropriate. This was another high quality example of the way in which the School listened to pupils and used their views to inform School improvement.

When we reviewed the School Improvement Plan we found a clear system in place to monitor progress and to define priorities orf the year. The Headmaster confirmed that the staff were part of this process. We attended part of a meeting which confirmed this way of working. Reviewing targets regularly in this way meant that the School was prioritising tasks from its School Improvement Plan. Working in this way resulted in realistic and attainable targets.

In conclusion, the School continued to be led extremely well by the Headmaster and the Senior Leadership Team. A robust quality assurance system was in place. Pupils, parents and staff had ideal opportunities to give their views. Their views informed the School Improvement Plan. An effective system was in place to monitor the School's progress against the targets set in the School Improvement Plan. Areas for improvement The School identified the ollof wing areas for improvement in the Self assessment form -

"Even more time is needed for the weekly meeting between tutors and pupils and tracking system of Governors and staff.

Activities Programme is unappraised/unaudited formally, however, this is changing via the Director of Co-curricular Programme."

When we spoke to him the Director of Co-curricular programme discussed his plans to formally audit activities.

The School should continue to provide additional support to ensure that the work of the International Coordinator is completed timeously, ie reviewing guardianship arrangements and carrying out visits to guardians' homes.

Grade awarded for this statement: 6 - Excellent Number of requirements: 0 Number of recommendations: 0

Merchiston Castle School, page 32 of 36 Inspection report continued

4 Other information

Complaints No complaints have been upheld, or partially upheld, since the last inspection.

Enforcements We have taken no enforcement action against this care service since the last inspection.

Additional Information None noted.

Action Plan Failure to submit an appropriate action plan within the required timescale, including any agreed extension, where requirements and recommendations have been made, will result in the Care Inspectorate re-grading a Quality Statement within the Quality of Management and Leadership Theme (or for childminders, Quality of Staffing Theme) as unsatisfactory (1). This will result in the Quality Theme being re-graded as unsatisfactory (1).

Merchiston Castle School, page 33 of 36 Inspection report continued

5 Summary of grades

Quality of Care and Support - 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 6 - Excellent

Statement 3 6 - Excellent

Quality of Environment - 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 6 - Excellent

Statement 2 6 - Excellent

Quality of Staffing - 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 6 - Excellent

Statement 3 6 - Excellent

Quality of Management and Leadership - 6 - Excellent

Statement 1 6 - Excellent

Statement 4 6 - Excellent

6 Inspection and grading history

Date Type Gradings

29 Oct 2012 Unannounced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment 6 - Excellent Staffing 6 - Excellent Management and Leadership 6 - Excellent

13 Dec 2011 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very Good Environment Not Assessed Staffing 5 - Very Good Management and Leadership Not Assessed

17 May 2011 Unannounced Care and support 5 - Very Good Environment Not Assessed Staffing 5 - Very Good Management and Leadership Not Assessed

Merchiston Castle School, page 34 of 36 Inspection report continued

17 Jun 2010 Announced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment 6 - Excellent Staffing Not Assessed Management and Leadership Not Assessed

12 Mar 2009 Unannounced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment 5 - Very Good Staffing Not Assessed Management and Leadership Not Assessed

31 Oct 2008 Announced Care and support 6 - Excellent Environment 5 - Very Good Staffing 6 - Excellent Management and Leadership 6 - Excellent

All inspections and grades before 1 April 2011 are those reported by the former regulator of care services, the Care Commission.

Merchiston Castle School, page 35 of 36 Inspection report continued

To find out more about our inspections and inspection reports Read our leaflet 'How we inspect'. You can download it from our website or ask us to send you a copy by telephoning us on 0845 600 9527.

This inspection report is published by the Care Inspectorate. You can get more copies of this report and others by downloading it from our website: www.careinspectorate.com or by telephoning 0845 600 9527.

Translations and alternative formats This inspection report is available in other languages and formats on request.

Telephone: 0845 600 9527 Email: [email protected] Web: www.careinspectorate.com

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