A Brighton school for the deaf has been told to improve its standards relating to the use of restraint on pupils after a visit by Ofsted.
The Hamilton Lodge School maintained its good rating from Ofsted but was recommended to keep explicit records of actions that staff have taken when restraining a learner.
The residential school, in Walpole Road, caters for deaf children aged five to 19, using British Sign Language as the main form of communication.
The school’s 20 residential pupils, staff and head teacher Billy McInally were visited by Ofsted in November, just eight months after their last Ofsted visit.
The report by Ofsted said: “School leaders should ensure that records of restraint are explicit in terms of actions that staff have taken when restraining a learner.
“School leaders should ensure that reports from standard 3 visits fully explain how conclusions have been reached in terms of assessments the independent visitor has made, and how this links with the national minimum standards.”
The national minimum standards include that restraint should only be used in “exceptional circumstances” after de-escalation, to prevent injury.
The report states: “Significantly, guidance and records have been designed for both school and the residential setting and show that it is permissible to restrain a learner due to causing a disruption in the residential accommodation.
“Leaders made changes to the guidance and record templates during the inspection and shared this with the staff team.
“However, they had not identified themselves that this is not a permissible reason to physically restrain learners and had been used in practice.
“Records show that the needs of learners are the focus of referrals, ensuring that their safety is paramount.”
Ofsted rated the residential school as good in the overall experiences and progress of children and young people, how well children and young people are helped and protected and the effectiveness of leaders and managers.
Other points mentioned in the report are that staff are quick to resolve quarrels between learners which occasionally occur due to miscommunication.
Ofsted social care inspectors, Mark Newington, and Sarah Olliver also reported that when minor medication errors, internal investigations have resulted in changes in practice that sharpen up the managing of pupils’ medication from home.
The school said it does not comment on Ofsted reports, and uses them alongside other quality assessment reviews and reports.
You can read the full Ofsted report here: https://files.ofsted.gov.uk/v1/file/50238879
