High staff to student ratios

The home is highly staffed to meet the needs of all students and to ensure their wellbeing and health and safety. There is a minimum of one-to-one support for each student at all times plus several extra members of staff to support the students as needed.

At night, there is a minimum of three waking night staff on duty and there are three waking night staff for every six students. Waking night staff are supported by additional 'sleep-in' staff who have attractive and individual rooms on the upper floor of the building and who can be called upon during the night if necessary.

Management and Governance

The Shires has a strong culture of monitoring, evaluation and review that ensures that policy is fully reflected in practice, and that systems and procedures are effective and manageable. Staff roles and responsibilities are clearly defined, and strong emphasis is placed on ensuring that staff undergo regular training to keep them up to date with current practice.

The senior management team comprises the Director of Care and Education, Marina Gough, the Registered Manager, Norman Walsh, and the Deputy Head of Care, John Blomeley. Marina Gough is also the Head of School. This team meets on a regular basis to plan the next steps of The Shires' development, and to oversee the education and care provision.

The directors of Hopscotch Solutions Limited play an active role in the day-to-day life of The Shires, and provide logistical support to the senior management team. Their constant support and encouragement help to turn ideas into practice, so that The Shires can continue to flourish and grow.

An excellent and cohesive team of specialists

To complement the skills of its own core staff team, The Shires draws on a wide range of additional expertise to ensure that students reach their academic potential and enjoy a happy and healthy lifestyle.

The clinical psychologist works on developing individual programmes with students and helping staff to develop meaningful behaviour and care programmes that advance the students' skills, self knowledge and independence. The psychologist co-ordinates meetings between contributing specialists on a half termly basis so that therapeutic provision is seamless and integrated.

Throughout the week, students are supported by a well-qualified team of speech and language therapists who work with the core staff developing individual programmes to extend the students’ skills. Speech therapists train core staff so that communication programmes are consistently followed in the care and education settings.

On a weekly basis, students benefit from the input of an occupational therapist, who devises sensory integration programmes for the core staff to implement. Students spend time in the sensory rooms, where they relax in soothing surroundings, watching bubble and light machines and listening to music.

To support students who are deaf, the school employs a part-time communicator. She works with students who use signing as a means of communication and trains care and education staff so all staff can sign with a good degree of confidence, accuracy and effectiveness.