Marydale Lodge Secure Children’s Home is Outstanding!
Ofsted has rated Marydale Lodge Secure Children’s Centre in St Helens as ‘Outstanding’ after an unannounced two-day inspection recently.
The inspectors awarded ‘Outstanding’ ratings to all but one key area, with education being awarded a ‘strong good.’
The inspectors found that the secure children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the service contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection, and care.
Ofsted said:
A prominent feature of this home is the ability of staff to break down barriers and build positive and secure relationships with the children. Staff skillfully use these relationships to make children feel valued and worthy.
Inspectors observed staff managing the diverse complexities of each child in an attentive, nurturing and patient way.
The children and staff spoke with a genuine fondness for each other.
Homes Are All Good
CEO, Normandie Wragg, was delighted with the news.
“This was a whole organisation achievement from the staff and teams within the home to all of the business support staff and teams who diligently support the service so that they, in turn, can ensure the best for the children in our care. Our Governance Framework: a Culture of Excellence, is a very helpful tool in achieving these results.
Marydale Lodge leaders and staff must be praised for their diligent work ethic, dedication to continuous improvement and commitment to therapeutic care principles.
On behalf of the Trustees and the executive team, I would like to thank all who were involved in achieving this wonderful outcome for Marydale and for Nugent. We can now proudly say that all of our homes, children, young people and adults, are rated good or outstanding!”
Marydale Lodge: at a Glance
Marydale Lodge is the only secure children’s home in the country that is charity owned and operated. It consists of two six-bed dormitories named Austen and Bronte; one is mixed-gender and the other is female only. Both dormitories are for young people aged 10-18 and combine with a shared educational facility. Marydale Lodge is experienced in working with young people who have a history of self-harm, alcohol and substance misuse, child sexual exploitation, missing from care, challenging behaviours.
As a service, Marydale Lodge strives to be proactive rather than reactive, aiming to create and grow stability from an early stage. In January 2020, Joanne Henney (Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Governance Officer), in conjunction with the team around her, realised an intensive three-month ‘turnaround’ project to transform Marydale Lodge from an ‘Inadequate’ service into a ‘Good’ service.
“The whole team at Marydale have shown their professionalism, commitment and resilience to ensure a child-focused home. It has been their ability to adapt and grow that has allowed this provision to go from strength to strength, achieving Outstanding just 22 months after the initial Inadequate rating.”
Since then, Dr Kate Herod (Head of Secure Children’s Services) has continued to drive improvement in culture and practice.
I am immensely proud to have led the team that achieved this incredible result. The staff have worked tirelessly to support our community’s most vulnerable young people, and ensure that they have the same opportunities, positive experiences and attuned and attentive care as their peers. The judgement is a validation of the focus of the team on prioritising relationships; staff to child, child to child, staff to staff and with the wider system around us. Recognising the transformational importance of relationships in providing trauma-informed care has been pivotal in our journey at Marydale. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has directly or indirectly been part of Marydale’s success in achieving (from inspection report) “…significant and potentially life-changing progress that children make.
Click here if you would like to learn more about Marydale Lodge.
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