The parents and guardians of our young
people have overwhelmingly endorsed the
work we are doing at Prior's Court.
In the 2019 Parents Survey, conducted over the autumn,
100% of respondents said they would recommend Prior's
Court to others.
Elsewhere, 100% of those who responded said they felt staff
were knowledgeable about autism, the same proportion who
said staff were caring for their child; while 97% felt staff
were knowledgeable about their child, and 97% said staff
are supportive to their family.
There was also positive feedback from parents and guardians
about their child's wellbeing at Prior's Court, with 100% of
respondents feeling their child was safe and secure here, and
94.1% saying their child was healthy, happy and accessing a
good range of experiences.
Sarah Butcher, our Director of Residential Care Services, said:
"It is hugely important to gather feedback from the parents
of the young people here at Prior's Court to know both what
we are doing well and where it is felt we can improve.
"We will strive to increase this amount of positive feedback
in the 2020 edition of the survey as this is an indicator of
achieving our goals to enhance the opportunities our young
people have, both while with us and in later life."
Around 40% of people who the survey was sent to
responded.
Sue Piper, our Director of Education, added: "The results of
the survey are testament to the dedication and commitment
of Prior's Court staff members, and their abilities in
delivering our Prior Approach. There are, however, always
areas for improvement and below are some topics raised in
the survey.
"Whilst it is great to hear such positive comments overall,
we can assure you that we will never stop working to
improve things further."
Parental praise for Prior's Court and our staff
Communication
We recognise it is vital to communicate
with parents about their children and
to keep them up-to-date with what
is happening across Prior's Court. This
sharing of information is also just as
important among the staff working
with our young people.
To continually improve the
effectiveness of our communication,
we have established a project team
to review our current communication
methods and to recommend
enhancements which will ultimately
lead to even better support for our
young people.
The first project rising out of this group
will be the publication in spring of an
annual calendar of communication,
showing what will be communicated
to who and at what time. This will
be in addition to the individual
communication arrangements parents
have in place with staff working with
their children.
Soon we will also be launching the first
phase of the Prior Insight parent portal,
making data about individual young
people's eating, drinking, toileting
and sleeping habits available to their
parents.
A reminder, also, that on our website
there is a Parent Portal and Forum for
parents wishing to share information.
Staffing
In line with all social care organisations
in the country, we face staffing
challenges. It is the number one
operational issue we are addressing,
and we are investing significant
resources into activities to both retain
current and recruit new staff.
For example, to improve retention
we regularly benchmark our salaries
to ensure they are above average for
the sector and we have introduced a
recognition scheme to celebrate the
great work individuals do.
We are constantly exploring ways
to search for great new talent.
For example, we have established
relationships with employment
agencies in Spain and we have
introduced a graduate recruitment
programme (see page 2), targeting
universities offering social care and
autism specialisms.
We acknowledge we use agency staff
to help us meet our staffing demands,
but these staff are trained to the same
level as our own and in many cases are
just as experienced.
Activities
The breadth of activities young people
participate in across the Waking Day
curriculum, and particularly during
school holiday periods, is something
which Prior's Court is recognised for.
We do however, recognise there are
occasions when a young person does
not benefit fully from the extensive
programme we offer. We are currently
reviewing the activity programme
and how individual young people are
accessing it.
Steps we propose to take to improve
activity involvement will be included in
young people's individual development
plans.
Feedback from parents
"Our son getting a place at Prior's Court has been lifechanging for all of us. It is wonderful to see and hear about
his progress and to enjoy great quality time together as a
family - something we have not been able to do for a long
time. We are very grateful for all the care and education he is
receiving. Every child with severe autism deserves the input
and opportunities our son is getting at Prior's Court. "
"Prior's Court is by far the best place for our child. We have
not seen a better residential school that could cater for our
child and his needs."
"Prior's Court are extremely supportive to us as a family and
also are just amazing with our son. We can't thank them
enough."
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