Archive News  

The Old School

April 2007 The Old School joins the Acorn Group

The Old School consists of two ESBD schools situated in the Kent villages of Capel le Ferne and St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe. Both schools are boys only with the St Margaret's Centre catering for Key Stage 4 (15-17 yrs of age) whilst the Capel Centre is a Key Stage 3 (8-14 yrs of age) site. They are small schools with a Dfes registration for some 30 pupils across both schools. The school will be working closely with Heath Farm School in Kent given their close proximity and complimentary provision

Please click here to view The Old School website

Heath Farm

March 2007 Pan London Inspection at Heath Farm

Tony Quinn from the London Borough of Merton visited Heath Farm on 26.03.07 to undertake a Pan London Inspection of the services and support offered by the Organisation. The overall aim of the inspection is to confirm the status of Heath Farm on the Pan London list of providers for foster care. The inspection ensures that Heath Farm is implementing Care Standards and promotes the wellbeing of children and young people. Tony met with Jan Smart to discuss what Heath Farm is about and went through a random selection of carers and childrens files. He was complimentary about the work that has taken place at Heath Farm over the last six months and highlighted that the provision of education and therapy alongside foster care places Heath Farm in a unique position. Heath Farm has a very good group of dedicated foster carers and staff and I would like to congratulate everyone for making this an excellent inspection.

Bramfield House School

January 2007 Bramfield House OfSTED report

The report commented that Bramfield House School is a good school. It is effective as a result of the quality and commitment of its staff and their consistency in their management and good care of its pupils. There is a clear identification of the boundaries of acceptable behaviour within a system where the school’s core values are put into practice. The school provides an effective and wide-ranging curriculum which helps pupils engage or re-engage in learning. The quality of teaching and assessment is satisfactory overall. The report also noted that the school is clearly benefiting in its planning and strategic direction from the strong support of Acorn Care & Education. A copy of the report is now available on the OfSTED website.

Co-education at Underley School

December 2006 Co-education at Underley Hall School

Following on from its good OfSTED Report in February of this year Underley Hall School continues its development. From January 2007 The Hall School will be admitting girls as The Garden School has done for many years. There will be two girls’ houses each accommodating up to 8 girls with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. The accommodation has been newly refurbished for their use with a sensitive use of softer colours and fabrics and specific modifications such as additional baths and a hairdresser’s sink in the bathroom. The co-education provision will allow for a common co-education school day in line with the majority of mainstream schools and a programme of both single-sex and co-education activities during social times and the wider 24 hour curriculum.

The Grange Therapeutic School 

October 2006 CSCI Report

CSCI’s annual inspection of the school, October 2006, yet again recognised the many excellent qualities of the school. In their report inspectors specifically commented on tne many positive views of students and parents/carers. Students commented that they feel safe at the school and that they really like the activities, especially fishing, swimming and trips to theme parks. They also said the food is “brilliant.” Parents/carers and students commented that staff look after the students well. Parents said that the staff are great and that they are caring. Students said that staff help them build up relationships with their parents and ensure they get an education.

Heath Farm School

August 2006 - Heath Farm Excellent CSCI Inspection

CSCI have just published the most recent inspection report for Heath Farm Family Services on their website. The result is a credit to the staff and foster carers working in the service. The report states ‘The work undertaken by the fostering service to promote children’s health and education has been commended in this report. Other areas where excellent practice has been noted include promoting contact, preparation for adulthood, ensuring foster carers homes are suitable and the on-going work to monitor and improve the quality of services provided.’