Lochaber Lodge
- Registered: 2006
- Registered Places: 5
- DfE Education: Yes
- Assessment/Therapy: Yes
- Step Down Placements: Yes
- Staff Ratio: 3:5
Lochaber Lodge - A 'Good' Children's Home
What Ofsted say...
"Children enjoy living at the home. They describe positive relationships with the staff that support them. One child said, ‘The staff are so lovely here. I love spending time with them.’
Staff get to know the children well and understand each child’s unique needs. This enables staff to adapt their support quickly and effectively based on what suits each child best.
Staff have developed helpful and respectful relationships with parents and social workers. Parents and professionals are kept up to date about the children and quickly informed about any important events. This ensures that parents continue to feel actively involved in the children’s lives.
Staff maintain regular communication with children’s schools and attend all education meetings. All of the children are in full-time education and making good progress in their learning. This is particularly significant given that some children struggled to consistently attend school before moving into the home.
Children’s physical and emotional needs are well met by the staff. The staff ensure that the children are up to date with all their routine health appointments. They support the children to access and engage with relevant therapeutic support services as appropriate.
Staff regularly seek the children’s views through both naturally occurring and planned discussions. The children are encouraged to have a say in aspects of their care, such as meal planning and activities, at the fortnightly children’s meetings. The children feel that staff understand what is important for them and that their views are valued.
Children are developing age-appropriate independence skills with the support of the staff. The children are given responsibilities and encouraged to do things for themselves, such as daily chores.
Children make good progress when living at the home due to the support of the staff. For some children, the progress that they have made has resulted in successful moves on to foster care. When children move on from the home, staff help them to manage this change through carefully thought-out plans and supportive introductions. One child, who is due to move on, said that they will miss the home when they leave.....[ ]"
Ofsted Inspection - March 2025 - Full report available by request
Residential Care
Lochaber Lodge is a nurturing and homely environment for children that may have emotional, behavioural and mild learning difficulties.
Children and young people come to reside in the home for a number of reasons, some of which are due to early child hood experiences which may have had an effect on their ability to form attachments and to recognise and understand their own emotions.
Lochaber Lodge ensures a safe, structured environment where the staff team are able to support the young people to explore their feelings and behaviours as well as their past experiences.
The staff team aim to develop professional, parental relationships with the children, affording the children nurture, support and the tools to develop and utilise positive life skills, both within the home and for their future independence.
The home aims to provide the level of consistency and structure necessary to create a warm, caring and safe environment for the children at Lochaber Lodge. The staff team provide a positive parenting approach to the children, with boundaries and expectations designed to represent a traditional “family home”.
To support and develop relationships within the home, it is paramount that the children’s primary needs are met. There is a great emphasis in the home for the staff team to think in a psychological and reflective way in order to have a thorough understanding of the behaviours that are, or may be presented. By using this approach, together with the development of trusting relationships, we can support and guide children to express their emotions in appropriate, constructive and socially acceptable ways.
Education
The home is directly affiliated to both our DfE registered, specialist SEMH schools: The Davenport Primary School and The Old Priory Secondary School.
The respective school and the home work in close partnership to ensure continuity in respect of learning support, achieving developmental goals and behaviour management.
The Davenport School (Key Stage 2: 7-11yrs) offers a differentiated curriculum in order to meet the individual learning needs of each young person. The school operates with small group settings where children are closely supported and supervised by a qualified teacher and learning support assistants.
The Old Priory School (Key Stages 3 & 4: 11 – 16yrs) offers the national curriculum allowing for GCSE study in essential subject areas, alongside alternative, differentiated curriculums, including ASDAN and City & Guilds NPTC vocational awards, both of which lead to nationally recognised qualifications.
Assessment & Therapy
Children and young people residing in our care have access to a range of assessment and therapy services including:
- Psychological Assessment
- Psychotherapy
- Systemic Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy
- Speech & Language Therapy
- Equine Therapy
- Music Therapy
- Drama Therapy
- Art Therapy
- Play Therapy
All therapy referrals are overseen by the organisation’s dedicated Therapy Services Manager in consultation with the allocated social worker and other key stakeholders as appropriate.
Our assessment and therapy services are an inclusive element of our residential care provision and attract no additional funding requirement.
Health Support
In addition to our therapy services and panel of consultants, each of our homes have direct access to a health promotions worker and, in the event of any significant health concerns arising, oversight from a registered, dual diagnosis nurse. This ensures effective, professional guidance in respect of health profiling, together with the immediate and ongoing health needs of each individual child and young person placed in our care.
Statement of Purpose
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