Realise the Unimagined You

Statement of Purpose In relation to the requirements of the Care Quality Commission

17th Edition

Portland College

Statement of Purpose

In relation to the requirements of Care Quality Commission

17th Edition (February 2018)

Ikechukwu C. Onwukwe

Registered Manager

Anne Etchells Registered Manager

Portland College Nottingham Road

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire NG18 4TJ

Introduction

Introduction

There is something for everyone at Portland, if you are aged 16-25 and are

looking for an education placement for when you leave school, then our individualised study programmes may be

what you need. Portland Freedom is a separate entity to the College, which

provides respite care for any period of time, from a Day Centre to long-term Assisted Living programmes. Based on

the Portland College campus, Freedom are specialist providers of breaks for

people with physical and learning disabilities. The category of service falls into two main areas:

1. Young people aged 16-25 with severe physical and/or learning disabilities

that, by nature of their disability, require a degree of care, nursing and

support. The Education Funding Agency (EFA) currently fund the education of these young people.

The College offers non-residential

placements to learners from within the local community who may require some elements of personal care but do not

require residential accommodation as part of their programme.

2. Citizens with physical disabilities/

learning difficulties who may wish to access the Day Centre, Short Breaks

and Independent Living – these can be funded by the citizen themselves or by local commissioners of health &

social care services

For the purpose of our registration as a provider of ‘residential accommodation’

required under the Health and Social Care Act 2012, we are registering accommodation occupied by those

learners with a severe disability as defined in Points 1 and 2.

Our Statement of Purpose has been prepared to satisfy the requirements of

the Health and Social Care Act 2012. It should be noted that Portland College is

unlike a residential home in that it is an educational establishment and that it does not provide a permanent home for

anyone. Learners choose to come here to further their education. The year is

divided into three academic terms each broken by a half term holiday. Learners are free to return home for weekends and

the longest half term is unlikely to exceed seven weeks.

The College is also subject to inspection by Ofsted and Quality & Compliance

inspections conducted by local authorities that include visits to

accommodation areas, feedback from citizens, and evening and weekend activities.

| Introduction

Contents

Page Number

Registered Provider and Manager details 7

Aims, philosophy and expected outcomes for learners 8

Arrangement to promote education and private study facilities 9

Arrangement to protect and promote health 10

Staff 11

Organisation structure 12-13

Learner mix – age and gender 14

Range of needs that the College is intended to meet 15

Nursing provision 16

Admission criteria and policy on emergency admissions 17

Arrangements for social activities, hobbies, sporting and leisure interests 18

Learner consultation on the operation of the College 19

Fire precautions and emergency procedures 20

Arrangements for learners attending religious ceremonies of their choice 21

Arrangements for contact between learners and relatives, friends and representatives 22

Arrangements for dealing with complaints 23

Arrangements for dealing with Learner Plan reviews 24

Number and size of rooms in College 25

Specific therapeutic techniques and supervision arrangements 26-27

Arrangements for respecting the privacy and dignity of learners 28

Policy on behaviour management, use of restraint including disciplinary measures 29

The College aim for 16-17 year olds 30-31

Registered provider and manager details

Relevant Names and Address:

i. Registered Provider

Dr Mark Dale

The Cedars

Portland College

Nottingham Road

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire

NG18 4TJ

Relevant Qualifications

BA (Hons)

PhD

Fellow of Chartered Management Institute

ii. Registered Manager

Ike .C. Onwukwe

The Elms

Portland College

Nottingham Road

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire

NG18 4TJ

Relevant Qualifications

MA Management

Bsc (Hons)

Level 5 Diploma – Adult & Young Children

NVQ Level 3 – Adult health & Social Care

iii. Registered Manager

Anne Etchells

The Elms

Portland College

Nottingham Road

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire

NG18 4TJ

Relevant Qualifications

Diploma in Orthopaedic Nursing

Registered General Nurse (RGN)

NVQ Level 5 – Leadership and Management

Coaching and Mentoring Level 5

Page | 7

Aims, philosophy and expected outcomes

for learners

Page | 8

College Mission Statement

To maximise ability and minimise

disability, by providing opportunities in

an inclusive residential setting, for

individual empowerment through

employment learning, independence and

integration.

Aim of the Care & Independence

Department

To work with and enable disabled people

to develop to their full potential gaining

independence skills in all areas of their

lives.

Philosophy of the Care

For staff to work with disabled people

rather than doing tasks for them,

according to their Education, Health and

Care Plan (EHC) and associated Person

Centred Plans (PCP).

Outcomes for Further Education

Learners

All learners have an Education, Health

and Care Plan (EHC), which is initiated

with them prior to starting at the College.

This is based on an assessment visit

which explores their educational abilities,

along with their personal aspirations and

care needs. The ILP covers a range of

areas; formal learning goals, developing

independence skills in all aspects of life

(daily living, social, sporting and leisure).

To work with the learners to achieve the

goals and targets in the ILP there is a

nominated Personal Tutor (education)

and Care support worker (Care Key

Worker). Goals and targets are reviewed

every half term (approximately 6 weeks).

By the end of their course at Portland

College it is envisaged that all learners

will have reached their original goals

together with supplementary targets that

are devised during the programme.

Whilst the College encourages and wants

learners to access and enjoy the extended

curricular opportunities, the College

encourages learners to take personal

responsibility for their attendance and

participation in any events or activities

that may be available.

Outcomes for Portland Freedom

Citizens

Citizens accessing Independent Living

Support have the option of full time or

regular residential breaks throughout the

year. These Citizens have dedicated

assessments and Person Centred Plans to

ensure their needs are met with a focus

on personalisation, enrichment and value

added services. The service offers support

with transition planning to ensure that

plans for the future are achieved.

Citizens have access to the enrichment

programme at Portland as well as flexible

support.

Arrangement to promote education and

private study facilities .

Portland College is a dedicated further

education college offering a wide range

of courses designed to enable people with

disabilities to develop to their full

potential, both academically and in a

range of daily living and independence

skills.

The Further Education learners access a

coordinated independence program

where multi-disciplinary teams of staff

work together to promote learner

independence through a range of

activities including family eating, therapy

and mobility activities. Learners are

supported to attend formal classes within

the Learning and Teaching Department

according to their agreed ILP. Portland

College operates an “extended

curriculum” that takes place throughout

the waking day.

A Sports Coordinator provides

opportunities for learners to engage in a

wide range of sporting events both inside

and outside the College. The extended

curriculum brings together

independence, care, leisure and

recreation, enabling the variety of formal

and informal learning experiences which

provide learners with a cohesive and

inclusive range of activities.

The College strives to enable people with

learning disabilities to have as much

choice and control as possible over their

lives. The support learners receive across

the curriculum and throughout its

support services promotes this ethos at all

times. The College is also committed to

longer term support for our learners and

is committed to carrying out longer term

research based on the outcomes for

learners and identifying the longer term

impact that a residential educational

placement can have on disabled people.

Page | 9

A skilled and trained staff team

The staff team at Portland College (care,

independence, education, ancillary,

nursing and therapeutic staff) are all

trained, appropriately within their role,

in ways of protecting and promoting

health e.g. basic food hygiene, nutrition,

control of infectious diseases,

safeguarding, equality, diversity and

inclusion, moving and handling, fire

evacuation and health and safety at

work. The staff team attend training and

achieve qualifications and experience

appropriate to their roles.

Educational opportunities

Learners undertake independence

activities as part of their programme at

Portland College. They are placed in

defined case loads which are all aligned

to the Further Education framework.

Specialist facilities

Portland College has many specialist

facilities within its campus that help

learners maintain, promote and protect

their health. These include:

Arrangement to protect and promote health

A specialist physiotherapy team and

fully equipped gymnasium allowing

learners to either receive

physiotherapy as part of their ILP or

follow an interest in fitness.

A hydrotherapy facility that meets a

specific physical need of some

learners.

A dedicated nursing centre staffed by

our nursing team whom are able to

provide advice, support and training

to learners and staff. The nursing

centre also has community links with

external agencies, supporting access

to a local GP practice, though

learners are able to choose to attend

any of the local GP practices.

Excellent accommodation,

specifically designed to meet the

needs of the College community.

The College also promotes the use of

adaptive technology where

appropriate to promote learner life

styles and has a dedicated

occupational therapy team to

promote independence and health.

Sensory suite to support learners with

specific sensory impairments.

Adapted transport fleet to support

community access.

Page | 10

Staff

For the purpose of this section, we are

referring to the staffing compliment

within Support for Learning.

Care

The Team at Portland is the largest of the

staff teams, because of this it is inevitable

that there will be some staff turnover and

any list will be out of date very quickly.

The care staff team and qualifications

profile may change from time to time.

Details of staffing and qualifications are

readily available on request.

The college Senior Management Team

also provide an on-call role at all times to

support the duty staff team across

college.

In general there are three shifts working a

rota system to provide support to learners

throughout the waking day, with cover

throughout the night. Currently each of

these shifts consists of a Team Leader –

Senior Carers that supervise day-to-day

delivery of care within specific

accommodation areas and Care Support

workers delivering and evaluating

personal care, guidance and support. At

peak demand times and meal times the

teams are supported by additional staff

from across the College. The Team

Leader is the senior member of staff after

4pm and assumes responsibility for the

College at these times and during the

weekend periods, these managers

provide cover into the evenings, weekend

and overnight.

The College has a dedicated waking

nights team that support the learners

throughout the night and a waking Duty

Night Shift Supervisor to manage the

staff team and the environment through

the night, promoting the learners health,

safety and well being.

In addition to Care Support workers, we

have a qualified and dedicated team of

nurses who meet the needs of FE

residential learners. Although we do not

provide direct nursing care, the nursing

team assist the care team in a variety of

ways including medication and technical

support (e.g. tissue viability, continence

care) and promote personal health care

through dedicated health care promotion

activities for the FE learners. The

Nursing Team is led by a Nurse who is a

Registered Manager.

The Care department is led by the Head

of Care who is also a registered manager.

There are two Deputy Care Managers

who specifically supports the Head of

Care in the day to day management of

the home. There is also a dedicated

Quality Improvement Manager in post to

ensure the home meets, and wherever

possible, exceeds National Minimum

and Fundamental Standards of Care.

Page | 11

Organisation structure

The Support for Learning team is as follows:

Quality

Improvement Paula Lafferty

Board of Governors

Vice Principal Corporate Services

Company Secretary Ian Cowin

Head of Care Designated

Safeguarding Lead

Registered Manager Ikechukwu Onwukwe

Customer Services Portland Print Coffee Shop Conferences Rachael Hensleigh

Finance Operations Sharon Wilmott

Management Structure

January 2018

Catering David Powney

Employment Programmes

Nikki Amirsaeedi

Safeguarding & Staff

Development Deputy

Designated Safeguarding

Lead

Brian Harrison

Board Secretary PA to SMT

Susan Clarke

Human Resources

Nicola Thompson-

Windley

Principal, CEO Responsible Individual

Mark Dale

Facilities Neil Foulkes

(maternity cover, Stacey Raines-

Malarek)

Nursing Registered Manager

Anne Etchells

Assistant Principal Development

Edward Johnstone

Fundraising Damon Musgrove

Learner

Recruitment Sue Fox

National Citizen Service

Rebecca Derbyshire

Bid Co-ordinator Rosemary Blake

Care

Deputy Maggie Waring

Assistant Principal Quality

& Curriculum Angela Anstey

Marketing & Comms

Claire Watkin (maternity cover,

Anna Ashton)

Member of Senior Management

Team

Therapies Teams Alistair Beverley

Alice Gooding (Sally Edwards)

IT Network Tony Beastall

Data Gary Petley

Learning & Teaching

Behaviour Support Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead

Mark Morton

Study Programmes Chris Wynne

Transitions Vacancy

Organisation structure (continued)

The structure within the Care Department is as follows:

Head of Care &

Registered

Manager

Care Project

Manager

Portland

Freedom

Coordinator

Care Admin Deputy Head of

Care

3 x Team

Leaders

2 x Night Care

Supervisors 2 x Senior Carers

15 x Senior

Carers

Care Team

Care Team Care Team

Behaviour

Co-ordinator

Day Services

Manager

Learner mix – age and gender

As described in the Introduction,

Portland College provides Further

Education for young people aged 16-25

with physical and/or learning

disabilities, which by nature of their

disability require a degree of care and

support. The Education Funding

Agency (EFA) mainly commission the

services delivered to these young people,

however this is on occasion supported by

Social Services and learners that self-

fund.

Learners come to Portland College on an

individual programme; dependent on

funding this may range from a short

course to longer term study and some

may attend for a number of years.

The age range of learners/citizens will be

over 16 and because the College

population will vary from year to year,

precise details will be made available

during any regulation/inspection visits.

The College also monitors this data very

closely through its Equality Diversity and

Inclusion Committee to ensure the

College is promoting the rights, needs

and choices of all of its community.

Page | 14

Range of needs that the College is intended to meet

The primary support need of learners and

citizens at Portland College will be their

physical and/or learning disability.

The College will carry out a detailed

multidisciplinary assessment of all

learners and citizens to identify an

appropriate programme of study,

support, care and guidance. The College

will only offer programmes to learners

and citizens that we have assessed and

identified that their needs can be met

through the support we provide.

The College will however endeavour to

work with external agencies, parents and

potential learners to find alternative

placements if the college is unable to

meet their assessed needs.

Portland Freedom Day Services

Based on the Portland College Campus,

the day service offers specialist provision

for people with physical, sensory and

learning disabilities and autism. The day

service operates Monday to Friday, 9am

– 4pm. The day service is located in

Mansfield which is easily accessible from

other parts of Nottinghamshire and

Nottingham City.

The day service already supports a wide

range of individuals from across

Nottinghamshire, Nottingham City and

Derbyshire.

A weekly programme of activities runs

throughout the week, which is built

around the requirements and interests of

the citzen group.

A full range of activities is provided

through the week, which focus on

developing activity specific skills,

confidence and independence.

Activities include, cooking, music, arts &

crafts, ICT, gardening and sports.

Specific activities offered focus on

meeting individual sensory needs.

The day service is built around four key

themes:

Independence- decision making,

managed risk taking, discussion,

leisure

Health & Wellbeing- exercise,

sports, nutrition, relaxation

Self-Realisation- creativity,

challenges, self-expression

Social Inclusion- relationships &

friendships, trust, enjoyment

Page | 15

Nursing Provision

Portland College provides nursing care

Monday to Friday between the hours of

8.30am and 4.30pm. The Nursing team

comprises of two Registered General

Nurses and a Health Care Assistant.

They provide a range of nursing support

to learners and FE residential learners

that reflects activities undertaken either

in the community or in similar specialist

residential further education colleges.

The Nursing team will use their clinical

judgement to provide Nursing care and

interventions specific to the individual

learner or citizen to maintain and

improve health and promote wellbeing.

The nursing staff link with external

agencies such as GP’s, local

PCTs, Dentists, Dieticians, Specialist

Sexual Health Services and Pharmacies.

The promotion of learners’ health and

wellbeing is a primary focus of the

nursing team who work with all learners

to develop their own individual Health

Care Plans and identify their specific

support needs.

Focusing on healthy lifestyles, the

Nursing team can provide advice and

guidance on nutrition, general health and

wellbeing, signpost learners to specialist

health care support externally.

The Nursing team are highly skilled and

trained to ensure their compliance with

the Nursing Midwifery Council

registration and routinely attend training

sessions and conferences to comply with

registration requirements. Should a

learner require any medical assistance, in

the absence of a registered nurse, the

local GP surgery would be contacted or a

referral to emergency services would be

made in order to safeguard their welfare.

All other Portland Freedom citizens are

supported to access community health

services.

Page | 16

Admission criteria and policy on emergency admissions

Portland College does not accept

emergency admissions. In all cases

assessments will always be conducted to

ensure we can meet the individual’s

needs. If the college cannot meet

individual needs, we will work in

partnership to find an alternative

provision.

The Further Education admissions

process usually starts as part of the young

person’s transition planning whilst at

school. This will involve all who are

concerned in the young person’s future

and the formal assessment of need is

usually led by their local authority. If

appropriate, further education will be

considered.

Learners and their carers may consider a

number of colleges to be suitable based

on their directories and prospectuses.

Once a learner has shown an interest in

Portland College, a member of our staff

team responsible for admissions will

explain about the courses on offer and

how support is provided. The

assessments team will also try to ensure

that we are able to meet the care support

and guidance needs if the applicant is

successful and a range of visits and

College open days will be available. If

the applicant is interested in a place at

Portland College, they are invited to

experience the College by attending a

residential assessment visit over a period

of transition.

Only after this assessment visit, if all

involved are confident that the College

can meet their needs, is a place offered.

In most cases the offer of a place, if

accepted in principle, is subject to a

funding assessment by the Local

Authority in the prospective learners’

home area.

If the Local Authority agrees to the

placement, an individual contract is

drawn up by the Education Funding

Agency (EFA). The contract directs the

exact amount of care delivery and

therapeutic support that the prospective

learner should receive.

If you apply for a place on Portland

Freedom Programme you will be offered

an assessment. That will help the

organisation to determine if the

placement is right for you, as well as

ensuring that your needs can be met. The

assessment will be carried out by one of

our assessment team and will be carried

out at the preferred location i.e. at home

or other placements. We will request a

copy of your Community Care

Assessment and Continuing Healthcare

Plan from the Local Authority which

will inform us how to best meet your

needs.

If you would like to discuss the

assessment process please contact the

assessment team on 01623 499185 or

email susanfox@portland.ac.uk or

jocordon@portland.ac.uk

Page | 17

Arrangements for social activities, hobbies, sporting

and leisure interests

bowls, archery

Games, expressive arts, drama.

Discos, videos, music and meditation.

Duke of Edinburgh Awards Scheme.

Young Peoples’ Forum.

There is a cross college range of

timetabled and enrichment activities to

meet people’s needs.

The range of activities and facilities on

offer to people includes:

New Start Club

People can access a range of leisure

facilities in the Club, which includes a

recreation hall, lounge and a well-

equipped licenced bar area serving a

range of food and beverages. Bingo,

quizzes, games, theatre performances

and discos are regular features of the

entertainment programme.

Portland Leisure Centre

Sports e.g. boccia, unihoc, wheelchair

basketball, table tennis, netball,

bowls, archery

Games, expressive arts, drama.

Discos, videos, music and

meditation.

Young Peoples’ Forum.

Sport

Portland has developed a sport and

physical recreation scheme accredited by

East Midlands Further Education

Council. The programme includes

timetabled sports sessions, visits to watch

other teams and sports events, local

sports clubs and regional competitions.

The College has a dedicated Sports

Coordinator to engage learners in

activities both inside and outside the

College at local, national and

international levels.

Trips

The college offers range of trips and visits

as part of the curriculum and to extend

social activities outside of the College.

Citizens also access trips and visits

appropriate to their needs with a focus on

independence.

Local Facilities

Learners are supported to make use of

local leisure facilities, theatre, cinema,

tenpin bowling, and shopping. The

College has access to a fleet of specially

adapted mini-buses.

Page | 18

Learner consultation on operation of the College

Opportunities to engage with our

community is essential in our ability to

plan and provide an effective provision

that continually promotes the needs and

interests of our learners and citizens. We

have a number of mechanisms in place

that afford all learners opportunities to

raise issues to members of the college

team and committees.

We engage with our learners and citizens

in several ways, chief among them is our

Learner Council, which is comprised of

learner appointed representatives, who

bring issues raised by their fellow

learners to the council to be addressed.

This meeting is held twice a term and is

chaired by Learner Services, regularly

accompanied by managers from across

the college who are invited to respond to

issues raised. Minutes are produced in

various formats (audio/symbolised/large

print) and distributed to the learner body.

Learner council representatives are also

actively involved in a series of additional

committees; Learner Voices, EDI

(Equality, Diversity and Inclusion),

Health and Safety and our Quality

Improvement Committee. All of these

meetings have learner representation and

these representatives relay learner views

to each meeting and as such ensures a

high degree of learner involvement in the

overall planning of the college.

In order to inform representatives

learners are supported to arrange both

day and residential learner forums once a

month, which are led by learners and

issues raised are relayed onto either the

learner council representative for

escalation to the Learner Council or

appropriate managers, who are invited

on occasion to give feedback directly to

the forum.

Resident Meetings are held frequently to

enable citizens and learners to have a say

and be represented in the day to day

management of the college.

Regular learner surveys and tutorial

systems also afford opportunities for

individual learners to raise issues and

inform future planning of our provision,

ensuring that what the college offers is

what the learners require, this holistic,

high profile is important to the college,

who look to continually develop

opportunities for learners to express their

views in a supported and equitable way.

Page | 19

Fire precautions and emergency procedures

Portland College is committed to

ensuring the health and safety of its

learners, visitors and staff. The College

has a comprehensive Health and Safety

policy which all staff are familiar with as

part of their initial workplace induction

and receive regular ‘refresher’ training.

The College has rigorous procedures for

dealing with any fire or emergency

evacuations which are regularly

reviewed. We seek the support and

guidance of external agencies, police, fire

and other emergency services to ensure

our practices meet and wherever possible

exceed legislation and policy to

safeguard our learners and citizens. The

College Health and Safety Manager

manages day-to-day health and safety

issues, overseen by the senior

management team and the Board of

Governors.

Page | 20

Arrangements for learners attending religious services

of their choice

Portland College is able to support

learners and citizens to follow their

chosen beliefs by enabling their

attendance at a place of worship and to

observe routines and diets. The College

has its own multi-faith centre, called The

‘O’ Zone, which is available to all

learners of all faiths and none, together

with a dedicated Equality, Diversity and

Inclusion Committee to promote the

rights and choices of learners and to

establish links with external sources to

further support individual choice, faith

and beliefs.

Page | 21

Arrangements for contact between learners and

relatives, friends and representatives

Learners and citizens are encouraged to

maintain contact with their family carers

whilst at Portland College. Many people

now bring their own mobile telephones

for this purpose. Internal phones are now

equipped with hands free kits (where

appropriate) to promote access and

privacy. The College also encourages

safe use of internet technology to enable

learners to keep in touch with significant

others. All accommodation is wireless

internet enabled and learners can access

the facility free of charge.

Friends and carers are able to visit the

College, though we ask visitors to be

mindful that learners need to be

attending classes, together with

respecting our controlled access and

visitors and pets policy at all times to

promote community safety.

Some learners and citizens require help

with communication and Key Workers

are able to support learners through this

process along with the College’s

specialist Alternative Augmentative

Communication team.

Page | 22

Arrangements for dealing with concerns, complaints,

comments, compliments, child and adult protection

The College has a comprehensive

concerns, complaints, comments and

compliments procedure, which

encourages anyone to voice complaints

or concerns, and make comments and

compliments on any part of our service –

the procedure explains how we can

support them through the process.

A quick access guide is widely circulated

and a full copy of our procedure is

available on request. Copies are held on

accommodation and various communal

areas.

The College has a strong focus of

safeguarding its community and actively

works with external agencies to promote

community safety and well-being.

We also employ effective staff

recruitment and selection processes to

ensure suitability of all staff and

volunteers who support the College.

The College has dedicated child and

adult safeguarding procedures. All staff

are trained on the procedure and there

are Designated Persons for Safeguarding

in place.

Page | 23

Arrangements for dealing with Learner Plan reviews

All learners have an Individual Learning

Plan and Person Centred Care Plan,

which is initiated with them prior to

starting at the College. This is based on

an appropriate assessment of their

educational abilities and needs along

with their personal aspirations and care/

support/ guidance needs. The ILP

covers a range of areas, formal learning

goals, developing independence skills in

all aspects of life (daily living, social,

sporting and leisure) and specific care

needs.

To work with the learner to achieve the

goals and targets in the ILP, there is a

nominated Pastoral Tutor (education)

and Care Support worker (Care Key

Worker). Goals and targets are reviewed

every half term (approximately 6 weeks).

By the end of their course at Portland

College it is envisaged that all learners

will have reached their original goals

together with supplementary targets that

are devised during the programme.

Page | 24

The College’s Physical Environment

The College is specifically designed for

people with physical and learning

disabilities and our accommodation is of

an excellent standard and equipped to

meet the needs of the community it

serves.

Our teaching and learning environments

are equipped with state of the art

technology and boast spacious and

accessible resources to promote the

learning experience.

Our residential accommodation is of an

excellent standard with private bedrooms

and access to communal areas equipped

with appropriate leisure equipment.

The College is on a 40 acre campus and

has a small animal farm, leisure centre,

hydrotherapy pool and various leisure

environments to provide positive

experiences for the learners and citizens.

Room sizes and layouts are available on

request from the College and we

encourage any potential learners and

citizens to attend our open days to see

what can be offered to them.

Page | 25

Specific therapeutic techniques and supervision

arrangements

Portland College is able to provide

Physiotherapy, Hydrotherapy,

Occupational Therapy and Speech &

Language Therapy to enable learners and

citizens to be able to participate in

College and everyday life.

Speech and Language Therapy

The current SLT team consists of a

principal Speech and Language Therapist

(SLT), a specialist SLT, three further

speech and language therapists and two

assistant SLTs.

The department provides for:

Learners with a wide range of

communication impairments.

Learners with dysphagia (eating,

drinking and swallowing difficulties).

Learners with social communication

difficulties.

The SLT department promotes a cross-

college 24 hour communication model.

They work closely with colleagues across

college including:

Alternative and Augmentative

Communication (AAC)

Education

Care

Independence

Physiotherapy

Occupational Therapy

Nursing

Catering

The work carried out involves

assessment, direct and indirect therapy

either individually and or groups,

counselling, reviews, working with the

AAC Skills Department, report

writing/dissemination of information,

liaison with parents and support for

Learners and citizens. Speech and

Language Therapists provide regular in-

service training for staff supporting

learners with both communication and

eating and drinking.

In addition, staff have presented papers

and workshops at National Conferences

in Alternative and Augmentative

Communication, introduced innovative

ways of working with communication

aids, undertaken research, developed

links with schools and colleges, attended

regular training events/study

days/conferences for all aspects of their

work. As the team are employees of the

NHS service, they also access continuing

professional development opportunities

and support from the NHS and wider

SLT team. All qualified speech and

language therapists in the team are

members of the Royal College of Speech

& Language Therapists and registered

with the Health Professions Council.

Physiotherapy

The Portland Physiotherapy Department

provides support for all types of

disabilities. The learners are assessed

initially according to their needs and

timetabled to attend for treatment

sessions.

Page | 26

Specific therapeutic techniques and supervision

arrangements (continued)

The College has a superb multi gym unit

which is accessed throughout the day

and planned evening enrichment

activities. The unit is specially adapted

for use by people with disabilities.

The Hydrotherapy Pool enhances the

facilities available for the learners and

citizens and also provides a relaxing

leisure facility for them during evenings

and weekends.

The Physiotherapy team focuses on

promoting independence, working in the

residential accommodation and

educational areas with the teams,

ensuring that best practice is achieved

through multi-disciplinary team working.

Occupational Therapy

The Occupational Therapy (OT) team

provides person-centred practical

evidence based support to enable learners

and citizens to develop their everyday

skills. This ranges from becoming more

independent in personal care to being

more able to pay attention in lessons.

Specialist assessments

Specialist assessments also take place in:

Equipment

Sensory

Independent Travel Risk Assessment

Friendships, Relationships,

Education and Sexual Health

(FRESH)

Driving

About the team

The Occupational Therapy team consists

of two HCPC registered occupational

therapists and a part time occupational

therapy assistant. They are highly

qualified and present their work at

national conferences together with

hosting national training events.

Page | 27

Arrangements for respecting the privacy and

dignity of learners

Privacy and dignity are principles that

underpin the care practices at Portland

College. All staff undergo thorough

induction and foundation training, which

includes the principles of good practice

that underpin our care services.

All learners and citizens have private

rooms, which are designed to promote

privacy and dignity, including lockable

doors, a personal call alarm system,

(where appropriate) and a care auditory

monitoring system can be employed on

request and subject to individual needs.

The respect for personal privacy and

dignity is seen as a crucial part of both

induction and on-going training for all

staff.

Only staff with legitimate operational

reasons have access to the residences and

aspects of privacy and dignity are

covered in our visitors’ policy, to

reinforce the College’s approach.

Page | 28

Policy on behaviour management, use of restraint

including disciplinary measures

The College recognises that where there

are instances of a learner or citizens

displaying challenging behaviour. There

is a procedure of identifying any learner

who may be ‘at risk’ either as a result of

physical or emotional ill health, and

bring together significant staff to discuss

appropriate action. The Behaviour

Support Manager is responsible for

overseeing the college’s Dealing with

Challenging Behaviour & The Use of

Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI)

Procedure and is also a named

safeguarding professional.

Portland College embraces the principles

and philosophies of Non Abusive

Psychological and Physical Intervention

(NAPPI) and as such views any

Restrictive Physical Intervention (RPI) as

an option to be used only when it is in

the best interests of the learners / citizens

and all other least restrictive methods

have been tried. The focus of staff

interventions will be on restraint

avoidance with particular regard to the

diffusion of the situation.

The College strives to ensure all

employees receive BILD Accredited

training in supporting learners who

display physical and challenging

behaviour and as a result we have an

experienced team of professionals who

support learners effectively by promoting

Non-Abusive Psychological & Physical

Intervention techniques.

Portland College recognises the need to

train and develop staff in techniques

associated with the safe handling of

occurrences of challenging behaviour or

physical aggression. This training will be

provided to key staff within the College

who will then be able to support staff,

Governors learners, volunteers or visitors

if an incident or event should occur.

Portland College aims to ensure that staff

are effectively supported after an

incident.

The aim of a post incident review will be

to seek to learn lessons, support staff and

learners and encourage the therapeutic

relationship between staff and learners.

Page | 29

The College aim for 16 and 17 year olds

Our Further Education learners are

typically aged between 16 to 25 years of

age, with the majority being between the

ages of 18 to 21 years of age. The College

recognises that a small number of its

learners are 16 or 17 years old, with a

range of complex needs. In so doing it

acknowledges the responsibility for

ensuring that their needs are met.

The ‘Care Home’ provides a positive

experience of college life and an

otherwise unattainable level of access to

education. The mission statement of the

college is:

To maximise the ability and minimise

the effects of disability of learners

through the provision of opportunities

for learning in an inclusive specialist

residential environment giving

individuals empowerment through

employment, independence and

integration.

Page | 30

All our learners are offered places after a

full assessment of their educational, care,

support and guidance needs, the college

is a specialist in communication systems

appropriate to its learner group. All

have an individual plan to meet their

individual requirements with goals.

Much of the educational curriculum

(both in and outside formal classroom

settings) involves meeting goals in

relation to learners’ social, emotional

and communication needs, with learners

working towards the overall goal of

increased independence.

Leisure activities take place both in and

outside the college with staff supporting

learners in their interests. Health care

needs are assessed and treated by

qualified staff.

Meals are provided by staff who are

employed specifically to cater for the

dietary requirements of the learners,

meals are of high quality; reflect learner

feedback and medical advice. These are

served in high quality facilities.

College procedures reflect the need to

ensure the proper protection of learners.

Services are provided within purpose

built accommodation and staffing is in

line with learner needs. All staff receive

supervision, appraisal, training and

induction – the College approach is

externally recognised by ‘Investor in

People’ status. Level 2 and 3 Diploma

programmes are well established on the

new Qualifications and Credit

Framework with many staff accessing

their programme through the modern

apprenticeship route. All staff are

encouraged to pursue continual

professional development.

The College aim for 16 and 17 year olds (continued)

Page | 31

A Learner Council exists to allow

learners to have a voice in the way the

College is run.

Learners are encouraged and enabled to

follow their own faiths or beliefs, and

there is a designated space for people of

all faiths (and none) on site for those

wishing to attend. Concerns,

Complaints, Comments and

Compliments are managed in line with

the College policy.

Accommodation is single roomed and

learners do not share. Involvement by

parents, relatives and friends is

encouraged and private use of telephone

is provided and supported.

Portland College

Nottingham Road

Mansfield

Nottinghamshire

NG18 4TJ

www.portland.ac.uk

Company Limited by Guarantee 408340

Registered Charity No. 214339

Patron. HM The Queen