New Podcast Episode: Understanding Autism in Girls
Autism often looks different in girls. Learn why, and how to support them through school and beyond.
Committing to quality and delivering real impact is part and parcel of building a great education. By maintaining the very highest quality in everything we do, we’re able to make an amazing difference in the lives of those we educate and support.
Throughout Options Autism and our wider Outcomes First Group, we put measures in place to make sure we’re always delivering on our promises and living up to the commitments we make.
Everyone we work with is an individual, and they all have their own vision of what a great education might mean to them. But by building teams who have their very best interests at heart, we inspire trust, build confidence, and open up a future that perhaps once seemed unimaginable.
The difference we make
We judge our success on the positive change we inspire and the lives we improve, and by focusing on this aim above everything, we make a real difference each day.
We judge our success on the positive change we inspire and the lives we improve, and by focusing on this aim above everything, we make a real difference each day.
Quality and Compliance
Our Quality and Compliance team is at the heart of our quality commitment, driving standards, monitoring performance and putting change into practice. Our schools and residential homes are inspected by Ofsted and the Care Quality Commission, Care Inspectorate Wales, Care Inspectorate Scotland and Estyn, and we’re proud to say that our high number of ‘Outstanding’ ratings is a reflection of our entire team’s hard work.
But while high ratings are an indication of good work throughout our organisation, it’s outcomes that really count. Again, this is a source of pride for us, as we achieve some of the best in our sector with 98% in good or outstanding (or equivalent) services.
Safeguarding
Nothing is more important than keeping the children and young people in our care safe from harm. Our Safeguarding and Quality Committee oversees, monitors, reviews and reports on the quality of the services we provide, and as part of the Outcomes First Group family, we also adhere to the Group’s Safeguarding Pledge.
Our Safeguarding Pledge
We pledge to:
- Keep pupils safe, and care well for them
- Help pupils to get a good education (to help them achieve and enjoy their education)
- Help pupils to be healthy and enjoy their lives
- Support pupils with their future and next adventure
Our pledge emphasises our minimum expectations for pupils who attend one of our schools.
The pledge is our promise to each and every person in our care. We’re focused on making a difference and supporting the delivery of the pledge.
We have a clear approach to improvement based on four questions:
- How can we measure if pupils are better off?
- How can we measure if services are doing well?
- How are we doing on these measures?
- What do we need to do next?
By teaching colleagues across Options Autism how to observe and stop exploitation of children, as well as what to do in such circumstances, we make sure that everyone associated with us is informed to act effectively in safeguarding the vulnerable young people in our care. This commitment demonstrates how seriously we take this issue, and that we’re steadfastly committed to working together and tackling child sexual exploitation.
Home and school visits
We are responsible providers of education, and our Quality and Compliance team oversees monthly visits to all our residential care homes for pupils. This is in line with the law, which states that providers must arrange independent visits.
The team also leads on large-scale outcomes improvement projects such as Ask, Accept and Develop or the Trauma Informed Practice programmes as part of our clinical offer.
Working in partnership with our services, the inspectorates and local authorities, our Group Practice and Standards teams make sure our education and care consistently exceed the requirements set out in legislation, national minimum standards and statutory guidance in relation to safeguarding children.
Clinical governance
The Chief Clinical Officer chairs the clinical governance board and works closely with the external advisory board and the team of Head of Clinical Practice and Standards:
- Head of Trauma Informed Practice
- Head of Speech and Language Therapy
- Head of Occupational Therapy
- Head of Psychological Practice
Research and development
We’re proud to work with several universities in providing placements for doctoral and professional students including teaching, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and psychology.
Ongoing research and development work is being carried out across Outcomes First Group with universities. These research projects are overseen by the Group’s advisory board which is Chaired by Professor Barry Carpenter.
Inspections
All Outcomes First Group services are inspected by regulators working on behalf of the UK government. These regulatory arrangements vary across the different nations that make up the UK.
England
- Ofsted inspects our care homes and schools
Scotland
- Education Scotland undertakes inspections of schools in Scotland
Wales
- Estyn inspects our school in Wales