Children's Home, Residential special school run by Aspris Children’s Services Limited in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC391860 Inspection date 09/12/2010 Inspector Jackie Callaghan Type of inspection Key

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Date of last inspection 15/02/2010 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated.

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You can obtain copies of The Children Act 2004, Every Child Matters and The National Minimum Standards for Children’s Services from: The Stationery Office (TSO) PO Box 29, St Crispins, Duke Street, Norwich, NR3 1GN. Tel: 0870 600 5522. Online ordering: www.tso.co.uk/bookshop

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to assure children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000.

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About this inspection

This report details the main strengths and any areas for improvement identified during the inspection. The judgements included in the report are made in relation to the outcomes for children set out in the Children Act 2004 and the relevant National Minimum Standards for the service.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding: this aspect of the provision is of exceptionally high quality Good: this aspect of the provision is strong Satisfactory: this aspect of the provision is sound Inadequate: this aspect of the provision is not good enough

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Brief description of the service

The service is a residential school and registered as a children’s home to provide care and education for 14 young people of either sex with learning disabilities, mainly autistic spectrum disorder diagnosis, between the ages of 5 and 19 years. The service is owned by a private company and is one of two residential facilities associated with the school.

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Brief description of the service

There are two houses and these are separate from but nearby to the main school site which is located in a rural setting just outside a small town. The service has a fleet of minibuses and young people are able to access resources in the local and wider community.

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Brief description of the service

The houses are purpose built and present as domestic dwellings. Each house has seven bedrooms and the same facilities. For example, each house has two lounges, a dining room, a kitchen and laundry facilities. All the bedrooms are single and have en-suite shower and toilet facilities. There is also a bathroom in each house. The houses have gardens, including a vegetable plot.

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Brief description of the service

12 young people were observed during this inspection, however, due to their limited verbal communication they did not vocally contribute to the report on this occasion. Some of these young people did complete pictorial questionnaires that showed that they are very happy and settled at the home.

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Summary

The overall quality rating is outstanding.

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Summary

This is an overview of what the inspector found during the inspection.

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Summary

At this unannounced key inspection, all key standards in all outcome areas were assessed. The two recommendations from the previous inspection were also considered. At the time of this inspection there is an acting manager covering the Registered Manager's absence. The home had notified the regulator as required prior to this change. However, during this visit the Registered Manager returned specifically for this inspection.

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Summary

The home provides an excellent standard of care. Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff which helps them to feel settled and to make good progress. Staff are consistent in their approach to young people and behaviour is managed at the lowest level.

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Summary

Young people are cared for safely by a competent team of staff, who work well together and who are supported by clear policies and procedures, supervision and relevant training. Staff encourage young people to develop a healthy lifestyle and work hard to ensure that they are able to pursue their education and achieve to their individual potential. Staff also support young people to maintain positive relationships with their families and significant others.

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Summary

One recommendation was made at this inspection, which relates to the home's development plan.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection the manager was asked to update the children's guide and improve the supervision process.

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Improvements since the last inspection

The children's guide now details how young people can raise their concerns. The guide is currently in the process of being updated again to reflect how young people can secure access to an independent advocate. This is only just being completed as the home has only just acquired an appropriate person. This person is independent but has all of the necessary skills in order to effectively communicate with young people with autism. This shows that the home remains committed to ensuring that support processes for young people are meaningful and effective.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Staff supervision now fully addresses any personal issues which may impinge on the member of staff's ability to carry out their duties effectively. As a result, young people are cared for by proficient staff.

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Helping children to be healthy

Young people enjoy healthy, nutritious meals that meet their dietary and health needs. They are encouraged to prepare snacks and participate in the preparation and serving of meals.

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Helping children to be healthy

Young people are receiving an outstanding service that is clearly focused on their emotional well-being and health needs. Health issues that relate to ethnicity, race, sexuality, faith and belief are fully assessed in respect of each young person and are respected by the staff team. The home's manager and staff act as strong advocates for the needs of young people in relation to accessing external advice and services. Young people are able to access therapeutic support to help them learn about and deal with specific emotional issues that are affecting their lives.

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Helping children to be healthy

Young people's health and safety is also effectively promoted through the home's policies and procedures for the safe storage and administration of medication. Staff are able to respond to accidents and unforeseen medical needs because they have access to first aid boxes and have been trained in basic first aid skills. Young people's health and safety is further promoted by managers who monitor all accidents and injuries that occur in the home.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people's privacy and confidentiality is consistently promoted by sound guidance and efficient staff practice. Young people's administrative records are maintained securely and contents are not discussed inappropriately.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has very effective policies, procedures and care practices, which ensure that young people are cared for safely. For example, robust individual risk assessments and support plans ensure that staff have appropriate strategies in place to protect young people. Young people are protected from abuse because staff are also properly trained and have a thorough understanding of the home's procedures for reporting and managing safeguarding concerns.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There is a robust protocol for managing unauthorised absences to keep young people safe. However, no young people have ever left the home without permission. Equally, bullying does not appear to be an issue in the home. Staff use individual communication systems to get young people to explore and understand the impact of bullying on others. Complaints are managed very well. There is a very clear complaints procedure. This is made known to young people by using communication systems, such as, makaton and pictorial prompts.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There is a strong emphasis in the home on recognising and rewarding positive behaviour and effort. Staff develop positive relationships with young people and help them to learn to manage their own behaviour in a way that is socially acceptable. Staff are trained to manage challenging behaviour, including the use of restraints. However, any incident where physical restraint has been necessary required a very low-level intervention from staff. An external professional confirmed this and commented that there are 'comprehensive behaviour management plans and risk assessments in place. They are effective at maintaining young people's safety while enabling them to maintain their independence'. This indicates that staff are successful in the positive way that they work with young people.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home successfully uses natural consequences to try and support young people to understand that they are displaying inappropriate behaviour. For example, if a young person throws their drink at staff or on the floor because they are unhappy. Then the young person is encouraged to help clean up the mess they have created. As a result, young people are encouraged to reflect on the consequences of their behaviour after such incidents in order to learn how to behave more responsibly.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff working at the young people's home take positive steps to keep young people and visitors safe from all environmental hazards including fire. For example, risk assessments on the environment are completed and updated on a regular basis and staff within the home are all involved in these routines to ensure that health and safety is promoted by everyone. Portable Appliance Testing (PAT), for electrical safety has been done on all equipment in the home and all safety equipment has been serviced with approved regularity. Frequent checks are undertaken on fire equipment and emergency lighting. Fire drills are also completed. The Registered Manager ensures that utilities, domestic equipment and vehicles are checked to ensure they are safe to use. This means that young people live in a home that provides physical safety and security.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are robust procedures in place for the monitoring of visitors to the home. The organisation that owns this home has a clearly defined recruitment process which protects young people by ensuring that all of the requirements are met, in all instances, prior to any staff member being deployed into the home.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff have access to a comprehensive range of information that identifies specific needs and support for each young person. A key worker system is in operation where a member of staff takes some responsibility for the delivery and monitoring of a young person’s care and support. Records also take account of potential needs in relation to a young person's diversity such as identity, race, culture and religion. Although some individual support is delivered through key worker arrangements, this process is not promoted to the exclusion of other staff offering support. It is clear that staff in the home work as a team and young people are able to approach all staff for help and support.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

Staff actively promote the social inclusion of young people in the home's daily routines and events. Young people are supported to access and attend various community-based activities and venues according to their own choices and preferences. Staff are keenly supporting young people to develop their own interests and hobbies because significant attention is being paid to this area of personal development and growth.

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Helping children achieve well and enjoy what they do

All young people are educated on site in the organisation’s school. Staff are systematically informed about the progress young people are making because regular contact takes place between school and the home. Young people's attendance at school is excellent and as a consequence, both their social and educational achievements are significant. Young people are making a success of school because staff promote education in a way that is effective and relevant to them.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Detailed and holistic placement plans are developed by staff, with the full involvement of young people. This ensures that young people’s needs are met by the home. Plans clearly identify outcomes and targets to be achieved. The implementation of placement plans is the responsibility of individual key workers with contributions from the team as a whole. The care and progress of young people is monitored very regularly by the manager and staff and formally reviewed through the statutory reviewing process. This ensures that plans are kept up to date and relevant to the ongoing and changing needs of young people.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Young people's contact with family and significant others is encouraged and staff provide support to make sure that positive contact takes place. For example, helping young people communicate with their parents when they use the telephones. No young people have any restrictions on contact and all young people, at some point throughout the year, go home to spend time with their families.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Admissions to the home are managed very carefully to ensure the welfare of young people and to promote the smooth running of the home. The manager makes decisions about admissions based on detailed information presented to the home and with very close reference to the needs of the young people already living in the home. Young people move on from the home in a very planned way and are fully involved in the decisions that are taken about their next placement.

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Helping children make a positive contribution

Consultation and communication with young people is an area of real strength in the home. As well as being consulted about their care plans, young people are regularly consulted about the daily life of the home, by a staff group proficiently skilled to use alternative communication systems.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

Young people are appropriately supported to prepare for leaving the service whether this is to return home, to alternative carers or to move into independent living. The home provides ample opportunities for young people to learn the practical skills they will need to support themselves in later life. For example, they are encouraged to take part in routine tasks, such as cooking, cleaning and doing their own laundry and have the use of a well-equipped kitchen to promote a degree of independence.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

This is a very homely and comfortable care setting which is decorated and furnished to a very high standard. The home provides the right environment to ensure the social and personal needs of each young person are truly being met. A comment from an external professional confirms this as they say 'the home provides yp with a safe, caring, structured and consistent environment in which they grow, develop and reach their full potential'.

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Achieving economic wellbeing

The home provides young people with ample private and communal space to meet their needs. It is suitably located in and has appropriate access to transport links. There is a very robust system in place that recognises maintenance issues and those with health and safety implications. This risk assessment approach means that any faults that may infringe on young people's welfare are rectified as a priority.

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Organisation

This is an outstanding home that is extremely well managed. The quality of the home's management impacts directly on the quality of the care and support young people receive. Excellent communication is a feature of the home, which enables each staff team to be well informed about daily events, routines and the progress of each young person. Staff know and understand the stated aims and objectives of the service which is consistent with the home's Statement of Purpose.

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Organisation

The manager provides excellent day-to-day support to staff whose commitment to providing a consistent quality of service is a real strength. Young people enjoy being looked after by an enthusiastic group of staff, who cover most absences themselves. This provides young people with consistent care. Young people are well informed about what the home does because staff take their time to explain and describe its services and how they can be influenced to suit individual needs.

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Organisation

The organisation has comprehensive induction, core training and support system in place that helps to provide staff with the necessary skills and knowledge to support and care for young people. There is good leadership and management support because the manager is qualified, skilled and experienced and provides strong and effective leadership to the staff team and young people.

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Organisation

Young people are receiving excellent support because most of the staff team are qualified and suitably experienced. The majority of staff are qualified to National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) at Level 3 in Caring for Children and Young People.

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Organisation

Outstanding emphasis is given to staff training and development which is focused on areas relating to young people's needs. Young people are provided with appropriate levels of supervision and support because staff manage their time effectively and are deployed in a way that meets their needs. The staff rotas are flexible to meet the changing needs and circumstances of young people. Young people are being nurtured and comprehensively supported because their needs are being met and risks are managed in a preventative way.

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Organisation

Robust systems are in place to monitor the service and daily lives of young people currently living in the home. The organisation has established a pattern of management monitoring and reporting procedures, which is effectively implemented by the home's manager. The organisation conducts monthly review meetings to look at welfare issues within their homes. Findings are reported back to the company. Records seen demonstrate that the content of these reports reflect an accurate picture of life for young people resident here.

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Organisation

There is a development plan in place; however, the plan is not reflective of the current management arrangements as it does not detail that an acting manager is currently in place. However, this is relatively minor as the evidence in this report demonstrates that this covering arrangement has been effectively managed in practice. Consequently, there has been no impact on actual outcomes for young people.

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Organisation

The promotion of equality and diversity is outstanding. All of the home's recording systems take account of potential needs in relation to a young person's diversity such as identity, race, culture and religion. The home provides an environment where the value of equality and diversity is understood, promoted and celebrated.

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Organisation

Young people’s care files are very well organised to include all of the information detailed in Schedule 3 of the Children's Homes Regulations 2001.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the registered person should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 update the development plan to identify and show the planned changes in the operation of the home. This specifically applies to the current management arrangements. (NMS 33.5).

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