One Nine Five, the SENAD Groups transitional home for young adults with learning difficulties and complex needs, has received praise from the Care Quality Commission in their latest inspection report. The home, which is based in Burton on Trent in Staffordshire focuses on the transition of young adults to a more independent life.

Following conversations with staff, parents and other professionals the inspector praised the high levels of committed and well trained staff at the home, the person centred support given to residents to pursue their interests and take part in social activities, the support residents are given to make decisions about their care and support and the willingness of the Registered Manager and her team to listen to and include relatives in the care of their loved ones.

Read the report in full.

Following our application to the UK Home Office to become a Tier 4 (child) licensed sponsor, we are pleased to confirm that our application has been granted and we are now able to consider referrals for our specialist schools from international students.

For more information please contact us Tel: 01332 378840 Email: info@senadgroup.com

Cedar Lodge specialises in the care of young adults aged 19 and 30 years and aims to help them develop the skills required to live with support in the community or to prepare them for life in a suitable residential home.

The focus at Cedar Lodge is to ensure each young adult gets to reach their full potential   regardless of the barriers in their way.

This focus has been highlighted by one of the young adults currently living at Cedar Lodge achieving the required level of competency to self-medicate.

It all started back in June when Julia Hawkes, Health and Well-Being Coordinator, discussed with E the possibility of becoming completely independent to administer her own medication. E had previously shown an amazing knowledge and understanding of how her medication worked and what it was used for.

Martin Bradder, SENAD Group Health, Safety and Well Being Manager was asked to support in the initial assessment and to help complete the risk assessments as this was a first for the SENAD Group.

E passed the first stages with flying colours, passing levels E and D to zoom straight in at level C, finally ending up in September with level A. Level A means that E is not only wholly responsible for all her medication, but she is also responsible for reordering, auditing, stock checking, keeping all areas clean, ensuring the safe management of medication and keys and all communications with her prescribers, so you can really start to see what an accomplishment this has been.

With the help and support of the medication officers, E showed enthusiasm, thoroughness in keeping straight and accurate records and the determination to succeed. Although not all plain sailing, the goal was set and E had her eyes set on completing this amazing achievement.

A presentation and celebration of E’s achievement was held on Thursday 22^nd October where E was presented with a certificate of Achievement by Brian Jones, Chief Executive of the SENAD Group.

During our last academic year Rowden House School held a very successful work experience programme. Three of our post sixteen pupils attended work experience once a week for an hour in two local Bromyard businesses and another in Hope under Dinmore.

Dan went to Holden Vintage and Classic, a mail order motoring company at Linton Trading Estate, where he helped in the warehouse. Dan worked closely with the Holden team, who were brilliant with him, showing him how to pick and pack goods to send all over the world. He particularly enjoyed using the paper shredding machine, quickly picking up which buttons and switches to press to create packing material.

Whitegates elderly care home at the top of the Bromyard by-pass, provided Joanna with an opportunity of being part of their care team; she helped clear tables after lunch and made tea and coffee for the residents, who commented that she was always bright and cheerful. Joanna built up some really nice friendships with both staff and residents who looked forward to her Tuesday afternoon visits.

Prometheus Medical at Hope-under-Dinmore saw John absolutely blossom with confidence as he learned lots of new skills. John was made to feel like one of the team and was given his own company uniform and protective clothing. The staff in the stores really went that extra mile in preparing tasks each week to challenge him. John thoroughly enjoyed every moment he spent there, especially when his weekly task involved one of the many company vehicles.

This year will see the addition of two new work experience placements. One at Warren Farm, working in the polytunnels, under the supervision of James and Tor Hawkins and one at Instone Court, collecting and sorting eggs from Simon and Lenny Parker’s beautiful hens.

I would personally like to thank each and every one of you involved in allowing our young people the opportunity of being part of a real working environment. Placements such as these are of enormous value in helping them to develop interpersonal skills and gain more confidence.

If there are any other businesses out there who feel they may be able offer a work experience placement to one of our students then please contact me at Rowden House School.

Susie Bateman

Work Experience Co-ordinator

Email: susanna.bateman@senadgroup.com

Tel: 01885 488096

Website: senadgroup.com/rowdenhouse

Please note – Young people’s names have been changed to protect identity.

Bladon House student, J has successfully completed a 3k Thomas and Friends themed sponsored walk, raising £66.20 for the National Autistic Society. The event, which took part in September, was marshalled by non other than the Fat Controller and was held at Thomas Land, Drayton Manor Theme Park.

Pupils at Aran Hall School in Gwynedd, North Wales have autism, learning disabilities and associated challenging behaviour that can be severe. The pupils sometimes react badly when they are denied access to their preferred activities. Simply saying ‘no’ in the past has led to an escalation in disruptive behaviour, including aggression, shouting and throwing things. So the Principal of the School, Duncan Pritchard, decided to investigate what training would best prepare staff to deal with these situations.

The research was conducted with Bangor University and Nova Southeastern University (USA)

Twenty members of staff took part in the research. They were split into two groups, an experimental group and a control group.

The control group had traditional workshop training alongside the reading and reviewing of behaviour management plans. The experimental group were coached in two verbal responses through ninety minutes of traditional training, a card games and role play session. The role play used thirty scenarios based on real episodes of behaviour that had happened at the school.

The data collected showed that rates of problematic behaviour were lower for the staff who had received the role play training than for staff in the control group; therefore the findings suggested that role play training was more effective than more traditional approaches. Questionnaires completed by staff after the training showed that they felt more confident in managing problem behaviour. Role play training has now become integral as part of the school’s induction programme for all new staff.

Due to copyright we are unable to publish the full research papers. To find out more information about the report please email Duncan Pritchard on duncan.pritchard@senadgroup.com