Social and leisure opportunities are important for everyone as it increases self-esteem and self-worth. We also understand that if a person lacks interesting activity opportunities boredom sets in and this can be a trigger for our residents challenging behaviours. Within the West Midlands Learning Campus we have a range of activities including a leisure barn, sensory room, plenty of space for bikes and go-carts, walks within the grounds woodland area and adult size park equipment. We offer art sessions with a qualified instructor and provide opportunity for residents to work within the school canteen. We also offer a range of homely activities to include puzzles and games of their choice, themed evenings, cinema nights, as well as offering support in life skills such as cooking simple meals. Being part of the local community is also essential to a person’s self-esteem. We encourage and support our residents in forming relationships outside the home by attending a range of valuable activities to include discos and clubs. Learning opportunities are gained by attending Acton Mill Farm and the Houghton Project where working with animals nurture caring and responsibility. All offsite activities are tailored to a persons interests, we currently offer trips to the cinema, swimming, horse-riding,personal and home shopping trips, football matches, concerts, theatre trips and many more. We will source new activities which fulfils a person’s needs. We also ensure adults have access to an annual holiday all dependent on individual choice and budget. We are committed to ensuring that no adult is stopped from experiencing and enjoying their life because of barriers their disability may put in their way. Our risk assessment policy aims to enable not restrict.

Our adults are diagnosed with varying disabilities, they have significant differences in cognitive   ability and communicate in different ways. All residents referred to Cedar Lodge display some challenging behaviour. This is our specialism and is at the centre of everything we do. All forms of behaviour are seen as some form of communication. As a team of specialists we aim to give the adult a more appropriate way of communicating. All the apartments use a pro-active approach to promoting positive behaviour. Our physical     intervention technique is called NAPPI (non-abusive physical and psychological intervention). Our aim is to reduce and eliminate the need to use physical intervention wherever possible. All staff are fully trained in NAPPI. Proactive and preventative approaches are always used in   dealing with problematic behaviours, but at the same time we challenge the adults to ensure they are fulfilling their potential. NAPPI helps us to develop approaches to manage challenging behaviour in a reactive way to keep the individual and others safe from immediate harm. It also helps us to manage the positive aspects of a   person’s life and reduce challenging behaviours by providing enrichment across three main categories; Caring Community, Productivity and High Quality Relaxation. All residents have a Red, Amber and Green Lalemand scale, which is a holistic behaviour support plan. The Red scale gives a consistent way of dealing with a resident’s behaviour and clear guidelines on what should and should not be done. We do use specific trained NAPPI physical interventions to ensure people are kept safe. However every intervention, and in fact every incident, is closely monitored by the Registered Manager, as well as the onsite NAPPI trainers. We believe in a transparent approach so all incident records are shared with parents/carers and any other significant person in the person’s life. The Amber scale focuses on the person’s stress factors, those factors of an individual’s life that can cause them to move towards challenging behaviour. By recognising and understanding these, we are able to support the individual to manage stress in a more positive way. Challenging behaviours have a function, to seek or avoid something either sensory, tangible     activity or attention. By assessing the functions of behaviour our approaches and responses become more person specific and proactive. The Green scale focuses on those areas that make a person’s life worth living. By providing meaningful activities, we can enrich a person’s life and build their self-esteem. The best way to stay safe is to build a strong relationship with those around us. The time to build relationships is when people are doing well; the best way to extend that time is to enrich their life.

Each resident has a bespoke care plan built around their individual needs. This is implemented by completing an assessment prior to placement which includes understanding their preferred communication, full details of the persons likes and dislikes and a functional assessment enabling us to recognise the early signs of behaviours. We involve our onsite professionals in implementing care plans. New behaviours and habits may be formed within the first six weeks of living in a new environment so following this initial six week period all plans are reviewed to ensure they are accurate and meet the needs of the individual.

The main ethos driving the learning provision at Cedar Lodge is meeting the adult’s individual needs to enable them to reach their full potential and move on to live as independently as possible. Learning is tailored to each individuals needs and then any progress is tracked and evidenced through ongoing  assessment. We employ approaches that are carefully matched to the individuals learning style.

We have excellent links with the local GP practice, dentist and opticians in the local town. All residents are registered. Residents are supported to attend appointments, make decisions on their own well-being and healthy living style, with appropriate levels of support from staff.