RNIB Schools and RNIB College staff have a wealth of expertise within the visual impairment field (including complex needs), receiving awards and accolades for the projects and standards they and the schools and college have achieved.
Outstanding Ofsted success!
A clean sweep of the 'Outstanding' grade across all of the Royal National Institute of Blind People's (RNIB) residential services for children and young people has been awarded by Ofsted.
Outstanding grades were achieved for RNIB Sunshine House Children's Home, RNIB Pears Centre Children's Home and The Stan Bell Centre at RNIB College Loughborough demonstrating RNIB's continued commitment to delivering exemplary services for children and young people with complex needs.
RNIB works to ensure that blind and partially sighted children and adults including those with additional disabilities maximise their full potential. RNIB provides expert support, advice and information for parents, carers and professionals as well as delivering specialist education and residential care within two schools and a college.
To find out more about RNIB's work with children, young people and families visit www.rnib.org.uk/professionals/education.
RNIB College Loughborough achieves Career Mark award
RNIB College Loughborough has been awarded Career Mark, the quality standard and framework for good practice in careers education, information, advice and guidance for young people. The achievement of Career Mark by RNIB College has demonstrated a commitment to providing ongoing professional support and guidance to its learners regarding their career development.
RNIB College has always placed huge emphasis on providing exceptional careers guidance to all its learners. With 150 active employer links nationally, learners have the opportunity to participate in external work placements as well as working in the College enterprises. They also benefit from discrete advice and guidance support tailored to the individual need.
Transitions curriculum leader Alicia Wisehall states, "We are delighted to receive this accreditation, which reflects the hard work of staff and learners at the College. It has also given us a framework that will allow us to continue to provide an excellent standard of careers guidance from which our learners will benefit.
Research Charter Mark award
In December 2011, RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning was awarded a prestigious Research Charter Mark by The Schools Network. The Research Charter Mark is a quality award for schools and academies who demonstrate the importance of enquiry-based teaching. RNIB Pears Centre's specialist school evaluated their involvement in a wide range of research against criteria set by The Schools Network. This included a contribution to the Department for Education funded research project on Children with Complex Learning Difficulties and Disabilities (CLDD) managed by The Schools Network. This involved teachers at RNIB Pears Centre assessing students' engagement in lessons to help them achieve their targets.
For more information visit RNIB Pears Centre pages
Sunshine House Children's Home: Care Rated 'Outstanding'
Sunshine House children's home received an 'outstanding' grading by Ofsted in December 2011, achieving 'outstanding' grades in three out of four areas of the Every Child Matters framework and also an outstanding grade with regards to our work around equality and diversity.
RNIB College Loughborough achieves gold!
In October 2011, RNIB College Loughborough achieved the Investors in People (IIP) Gold Award. IIP is the UK's leading people management standard. It is a business improvement tool "designed to help all kinds of organisations develop performance through their people". Accreditation requires an organisation to evidence the achievement of IIP's 189 national standards. The college was praised particularly highly for its ethos and values. Only a minority (26%) of the UK workforce are employed by organisations with Investors in People accreditation. Of these less than 1% have achieved the Gold Award, putting RNIB College Loughborough in the top 2.5%.
To find out more visit: RNIB College Loughborough pages
Specialist School Status for RNIB Rushton School and Children's Home
In September 2010, RNIB Rushton School and Children's Home (now known as RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning) has become the only non-maintained special school in England to be awarded specialist status in Special Educational Needs (SEN) cognition and learning.
For more information visit: RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning pages
Learning and Skills Improvement Service: Award winner: 6 July 2010
RNIB College Loughborough was highly commended at the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) 'Leading the Learning Voice Awards 2010' in London. The award recognised that the College had listened to the learner voice and made whole organisational change which had impacted the strategy of the College. Members of staff have been interviewed and filmed for a best practice case study on LSIS Excellence Gateway.
To find out more about how the college engages its learners contact Norma Curtis, Quality Improvement Manager at enquiries@rnibcollege.ac.uk or call 01509 611077.
Matrix Award for Advice and Guidance
Recreditation was achieved in 2010 with a good report. The Matrix Standard is a unique, national quality framework that is applicable to any organisation delivering IAG (information, advice and guidance) in the context of learning and work, whether internally or externally. The Matrix Standard consists of 8 criteria known as elements that relate to key business processes and help organisations to maintain high standards and continuously improve services.
To find out more visit The Matrix Standard website.
Sunshine House School receives 'Good with outstanding features' in Ofsted inspection
Following an Ofsted inspection that took place on 28 and 29 June 2011, RNIB Sunshine House School has been awarded 'good' grades across all criteria with some 'outstanding' aspects.
Ofsted said "This is a good school. It has some outstanding aspects, particularly in the way that it cares for its pupils and keeps them safe. As a result of purposeful leadership, the school has improved since the last inspection. Parents and carers are right when they say their children are safe and secure at school. This is because of outstanding safeguarding procedures and the excellent care, guidance and support that the school provides."
Read the full Ofsted report to find out more.
The Care Quaity Commission (CQC) 2009
Rated RNIB Loughborough's residential service as "Good" with an "Excellent" for Lifestyles. "People are actively encouraged to develop their independent living skills whether this is developing independent mobility, learning to do laundry or to cook… There is a very wide range of activities that people can take part in"
RNIB Rushton School and Children's Home: care and education rated 'Good' by Ofsted
RNIB Rushton School and Children's Home, 2009 Ofsted report praised the close links between care staff and educational staff, stating: "Pupils make good progress against their targets for learning and in developing their communication and personal and social skills…When they leave the sixth form they are well prepared to live as independent a life as is possible… The close link between the staff of the Children's Home and the school ensures that any specific advice or programme developed for pupils is consistently applied in both settings." Inspectors praised our child focused protocols and highly individualised support. Our "communication passports" for each young person were described as excellent. Rushton achieves Good rating in Ofsted report. (Rushton is now known as RNIB Pears Centre for Specialist Learning)
Loughborough College: Care Rated 'Good with Outstanding Features'
In the Ofsted Care Inspection February 2009, it was reported that "the overall quality rating for this setting is good, with outstanding features in the Enjoy and Achieve, Positive Contribution, Economic Wellbeing and Organisation outcome areas. Staff show strong commitment and work hard to achieve the best outcomes for learners."
RNIB College Loughborough is on the road to Outstanding.
In the Ofsted Full Education Inspection in February 2008 the report stated: "The overall effectiveness of the college is good …. Achievement and standards are good. Many learners achieve relevant qualifications and succeed in progressing onto further and higher education courses and employment. Learners develop effective communication skills and make good gains in confidence." Since the full inspection in 2008 the College has continued to make significant improvements which have been recognised by Ofsted in their Focused Monitoring Visit reports.