Children's Home run by Esland South Limited in Greenwich

Unique reference number SC386134 Inspection date 13/01/2011 Inspector Diane Thackrah Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 23/06/2010 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

This is a five bedded unit for young people, male and female, between 13 years and 17 years of age who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home offers flexible packages of care including long-term care. One bed is for emergency admissions or respite care. The home is a semi-detached house. The property is served by rail and bus links, has local parks and the town centre is close by.

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Brief description of the service

Three young people currently live in the home. None of them were met with during this inspection.

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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 interim, unannounced inspection all key national minimum standards under the outcome area staying safe were assessed. This is an outstanding service.

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Summary

This is a home with robust policies and procedures that help to ensure young people's safety. The strong relationships that exist between staff and young people help to ensure that young people's welfare is promoted and protected. Staff are proactive in engaging young people in positive activities which helps to promote their positive behaviour and enjoyment of the home. There are excellent arrangements for dealing with concerns and complaints. Young people's views are respected and actively sought so that staff can help to put any concerns right. Health and safety is treated seriously and excellent arrangements exist for ensuring that all required checks are carried out and there is regular monitoring of this. Staff recruitment practices are robust and serve to promoted young people's safety.

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Improvements since the last inspection

Not applicable. No actions or recommendations were made at the last inspection of the home.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Young people are treated with respect and have their privacy respected. This helps them to build positive relationships with staff. Staff are sensitive to gender issues and the gender mix of staff matches that of the young people. There are excellent arrangements for dealing with complaints and young people can be confident that their opinions will be respected. Staff actively support young people to raise any concerns they have and respond positively to these. Child friendly complaint forms are easily available and staff make themselves available to help young people to complete these.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are strong policies and procedures in place regarding child protection that help to ensure young people's safety. Child protection concerns are responded to appropriately as all staff have received training in this area. It is the policy of the company to ensure that refresher training in child protection occurs annually. Young people are protected from bullying and this promotes their well-being. Staff take bullying extremely seriously. This is done through close monitoring and through the development of close relationships with young people. Staff take appropriate action should bullying occur and ensure that young people feel able to talk about this subject. Robust arrangements are in place which help to ensure that young people who go missing from the home are protected. The manager has instigated close working relationships with the local police and this helps to ensure that action is taken to help return young people to the home safely. It also helps to ensure that

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

young people know that they are cared for by staff. Excellent work is also carried out by staff to prevent young people from wanting to go missing. This includes listening to them and accessing interesting and engaging activities for them.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The outstanding arrangements that exist in this home regarding behaviour management help young people to develop positive behaviour. Positive behaviour is encouraged and rewarded. The manager states that the new restorative justice behaviour management plan developed in the home has helped young people to improve their behaviour. This involves young people selecting a sanction that they feel is appropriate to their behaviour. Excellent communication networks with young people's social workers helps young people to develop positive behaviour and benefit from consistency in their care. Staff feel that they are well supported by management in dealing with young people's difficult behaviour.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

There are strong measures in place which ensure that young people live in a home that is safe and secure. Fire safety is treated seriously in the home and this includes making regular checks on the fire equipment. Staff and young people are made aware of the fire safety policies and procedures. Staff receive fire safety training and they are involved in fire drills with the young people. The local fire service has recently been invited to the home to talk to the young people about fire safety. Excellent arrangements are in place for monitoring health and safety practices including weekly in-house audits. These measures go some way to promoting young people's safety. There are robust staff recruitment practices that promote young people's well-being. No new staff members have been employed to work in the home since the last inspection, however, previous inspections have found that all required pre-recruitment checks are carried out on staff members.

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