Merchiston Castle School School Care Accommodation Service Colinton Road Colinton Edinburgh 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: Merchiston 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] Merchiston Castle School, page 2 of 36 Inspection report continued 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 Merchiston Castle School, page 4 of 36 Inspection report continued 1 About the service we inspected Merchiston Castle School is an independent School 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 Scotland, (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. Merchiston Castle School, page 6 of 36 Inspection report continued 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. Merchiston Castle School, page 7 of 36 Inspection report continued 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.