Name of provider Ysgol Y Rhos Proprietor status Unique Care Homes Ltd., a private limited company Language of the provider English Type of school Independent special Residential provision? Yes Number of pupils on roll 15 Pupils of statutory school age 15 Date of previous Estyn visit 04/12/2023 Start date of visit 13/11/2024 School context: Ysgol y Rhos is located in the grounds of two former holiday lodges in a rural area between Wrexham and Mold. The proprietor, Unique Care Homes Ltd., is a private limited company, which runs five children’s homes in Wrexham and Denbighshire. The school is registered for 16 pupils aged 8 to 16 years with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. Many of the children have a history of placement breakdowns and exclusion from mainstream schools. There are currently 15 pupils on the school roll and all pupils who attend the school are resident in the children’s homes owned by the wider organisation. The majority of the children are placed by local authorities in Wales, including Ynys Môn, Conwy, Caerfyrddin and Gwynedd. A minority of children are placed by local authorities in England. Nearly all pupils have an individual development plan (IDP) or equivalent. The headteacher has been in post since September 2023. They are supported by four full-time, permanent and qualified teachers. Staff from the company’s children’s home support the pupils in the school. In addition, the school works alongside two art psychotherapists who are based on the same site. The school's last core inspection was in December 2023. At this inspection, the school did not meet the requirements of the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations. To comply fully with these requirements, the school was required to address the issues identified below for each standard: Standard 1: The quality of education provided by the school A report on Ysgol Y Rhos November 2024 The school did not fully meet the regulatory requirements for this standard. In order to comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2024, the proprietor was required to: • Ensure that personal, social, and health education i) reflects the independent school’s aims and ethos, and ii) encourages respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the 2010 Act [2(2)(d)] • Ensure that teaching staff demonstrate a good understanding of the aptitudes, needs and prior attainments of the pupils and ensure these are taken into account in the planning of lessons, [2(3)(d)] • Demonstrate that a framework is in place to assess pupils’ work regularly and thoroughly and teaching staff use information from those assessments to plan teaching so that pupils can progress [2(3)(g)] • Ensure that the independent school has a framework for pupil performance to be evaluated, by reference either to the independent school’s own aims as provided to parents or national norms, or to both [3] Standard 2: Spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils The school did not fully meet the regulatory requirements for this standard. In order to comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2024, the proprietor was required to ensure that principles are actively promoted which: • enable pupils to distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law, • encourage respect for other people, paying particular regard to the protected characteristics set out in the 2010 Act, • provide pupils with a broad general knowledge of public institutions and services in Wales and the United Kingdom more widely, • assist pupils to acquire an appreciation of and respect for their own and other cultures in a way that promotes further tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions [4(c)] Standard 3: Welfare, health and safety of pupils The school did not fully meet the regulatory requirements for this standard. In order to comply fully with the Independent School Standards (Wales) Regulations 2024, the proprietor was required to: • Ensure that (a) the welfare of pupils at the independent school is safeguarded and promoted by the drawing up and effective implementation of a written risk assessment policy that includes assessment of activities undertaken outside of the independent school’s premises, and (b) appropriate action is taken to reduce risks that are identified. [8] • Promote good behaviour amongst pupils by ensuring that (a) a written behaviour policy is drawn up and effectively implemented that (i)encourages and rewards good behaviour, (ii)sets out the sanctions to be adopted in the event of pupil misbehaviour, (iii)has regard to any relevant guidance issued 2 A report on Ysgol Y Rhos November 2024 by the Welsh Ministers, and (b) a record is kept of the sanctions imposed upon pupils for serious misbehaviour. [11] • Ensure that admission and attendance registers are maintained in accordance with regulations made under section 434 of the 1996 Act(1). [17] Following this visit, the school were asked to produce a post-inspection action plan. A team of HMI visited the school in March and June 2024 to discuss the school’s progress against their action plan. Subsequently, HMI visited the school in November 2024 to evaluate the school’s compliance with the previously noncompliant standards