We’re delighted to share that Bute and Buchanan, two of our Intensive Services houses, have been awarded the prestigious Advanced Autism Accreditation from the National Autistic Society (NAS).
This is a fantastic achievement and a real cause for celebration, reflecting our commitment to providing inclusive, high-quality and nurturing care for children and young people.
This accreditation follows in the successful footsteps of our early-years houses, Ness and Tay, who received the exemplary award in June this year. With Bute and Buchanan achieving the highest level of the NAS Autism Specialist Award, assessors spoke extremely positively of the houses and staff teams at Bute and Buchanan, recognising the incredible continuity of care provided to young children through to adulthood.
This individualised approach is especially important for young people who are neurodiverse, as it ensures their strengths, communication styles, sensory needs and personal preferences are understood and supported in a way that helps them feel safe, respected and empowered. Staff go to lengths to ensure young people achieve in all aspects of their lives, and this has included working alongside education colleagues to develop bespoke timetables that combine educational attainment with vocational skills.
Assessors also praised the breadth of services provided by Kibble and highlighted our child-centred approach, where care, education and support are shaped around each individual young person rather than the needs of the service.
Promoting Equality and Inclusion
Across Kibble, many of the children and young people in our care have neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism. We therefore take a child-centred, trauma-informed approach across our practice, education, environments, resources and culture to ensure young people feel understood, included and able to take part in all aspects of life.
Over several months, teams took part in a thorough process of self-evaluation and reflective learning before Kibble was assessed against five key areas, including:
- emotional wellbeing
- social communication
- interaction and relationships
- sensory experiences
Assessors spent time in each of the houses, observing practice, the environment, relationships with young people, support and family inclusion. They also looked closely at how staff adapt care around each young person’s individual strengths, needs and preferences, including emotional wellbeing, communication, sensory experiences and opportunities to build independence and life skills.
Damien McGrogan, Executive Director of Secure and Intensive Services shared: “This is a significant achievement and is credit to the dedication, professionalism and commitment of the entire staff team and management group. It also reflects the positive contribution of our young people, whose engagement and feedback have helped shape and strengthen the service.
Thank you to everyone involved in achieving this excellent outcome. This recognition demonstrates our ongoing commitment to delivering high-quality, autism-informed care and support for the young people we serve.
Importantly, this achievement is not the end of the journey. Achieving Advanced status provides a strong platform from which we can now look towards securing Beacon Status within these services. This will require us to continue building on the excellent practice already in place, sharing learning, driving innovation and maintaining our focus on achieving the very best outcomes for our young people. We are confident that, with the commitment and expertise of our staff and the continued involvement of our young people, this is an ambition we can work towards together.”
About the Autism Accreditation Programme
The Autism Accreditation Programme is the UK’s only autism-specific quality assurance scheme, providing organisations that support autistic people with specialist guidance, development and assessment. Gaining accreditation highlights a service’s dedication to developing a deeper understanding of autism and embedding high-quality, evidence-informed practice. It also offers a recognised benchmark for services to demonstrate that their support is thoughtful, effective and centred around the needs of autistic children and adults.
Established for more than 30 years, Autism Accreditation is now recognised internationally and continues to be the longest-running programme of its kind in the world.
A huge well done and congratulations to everyone involved in this successful accreditation, which is testament to the love, care and support shown to young people every day. Supporting young people who require close care and support is not always easy; however, staff go above and beyond to maintain the important stability and sense of belonging that helps young people feel safe. Moving forward, assessors will now focus their efforts on Jura and Islay within the Safe Centre before progressing to further services. This latest achievement is a proud moment for Kibble and a wonderful reminder of the difference compassionate, consistent support can make in the lives of young people.