Children's Home run by Blackford Education (schools) Ltd in Somerset

Unique reference number SC045096 Inspection date 22/09/2010 Inspector Debbi Flint Type of inspection Random

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Date of last inspection 29/06/2010 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 four bedroom children's home. The home is actually two adjacent bungalows affording young people a high degree of privacy. The home is located in a residential area with a range of shops and amenities nearby. There is provision for staff to sleep in both bungalows. The organisation provides its own education at a school in a nearby town. The home currently accommodates two young people who were not present during most of this short interim inspection. The inspector did meet with them briefly at the end of the inspection.

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Summary

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

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Summary

This statutory inspection was undertaken as an unannounced interim inspection. This was not a key inspection and not all key standards were assessed. The purpose of this inspection was to follow up the recommendations from the last inspection. In addition to this all key standards under the Every Child Matters outcome area of staying safe were assessed.

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Summary

The home is judged to be continuing to provide a good service overall. Young people live in an environment where they are kept safe and assisted to enjoy, achieve and further develop their life skills. Staff are pro-active in their management of young people's behaviour and positive reinforcement is used.

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Summary

One recommendation was made at this inspection.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection an action was raised and this was to ensure that any medication which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed. At this inspection all medication records and all medication audits were checked and found to be accurate. In addition to this it was also evidenced that all staff have recently had a refresher in medication training. This action is therefore now met.

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Improvements since the last inspection

At the last inspection three recommendations were raised and these were: to ensure that a more up-to-date copy of the Local Safeguarding Children Board's (LSCB) procedures is kept in the home; to ensure that the regular review of risk assessments can be evidenced and to keep a written record of key worker sessions. The home has now established that it has the most recent printed version of the LSCB procedures in the office and the home also ensures that more recent versions can be accessed on line. All risk assessments have been reviewed and staff are currently in the process of reviewing the home's key skills sheet to enable key worker sessions to be more accurately recorded. These recommendations are therefore now met.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff state that they are very much aware of the need to protect privacy and they do not enter young people's bedrooms without their permission. Young people are able to lock their bathrooms from the inside, although there is a facility which enables these to be opened in an emergency. Digital cordless telephones are available for young people to use in any of the home's rooms. The home has developed plans for young people to increase their independence and the time that they spend out in the community alone. Staff are sensitive to any particular personal needs that a young person may have and they try to ensure that these are dealt with privately whenever possible.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

The home has good policies and procedures in place to safeguard the young people and staff work well together to ensure that young people are safe. The home has a complaints policy which is detailed in the young person's guide. There have been two complaints since the last inspection and these have been thoroughly investigated and resolved. All complaints are recorded in a bound log. Young people currently state that they have no complaints. Staff demonstrate a good awareness of safeguarding procedures and are aware that they can access the LSCB procedures on line. A printed copy of the LSCB procedures is also kept in the home. All staff are currently completing a six month on line course in safeguarding. There have been no safeguarding referrals since the last inspection. There have also been no reported incidents of any bullying. The home has an anti-bullying policy which is detailed in the young person's guide and staff are very pro-active in preventing bullying. For

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

example young people who may have expressed racist comments in the past are encouraged to participate in multicultural projects. This means that staff work hard to create a home that provides a safe and nurturing atmosphere. Young people consequently feel comfortable in the home and there have been no incidents of absence without authority since the last inspection. However there are clear guidelines for staff to follow in the event of any child going missing from the home in the future.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Staff demonstrate a sensitivity to each young person's needs when managing behaviour and this is reflected in each young person's individual behaviour management plan. Staff devise interesting and original ways to work with young people in order to limit their anxiety and increase their security. This has resulted in an improvement in young people's behaviour recently. Staff also use positive reinforcement to promote socially acceptable behaviour and young people are able to work towards rewards such as a laptop. All staff have received training in de- escalation and restraint and they are also booked on a refresher course in October. Any incidents of restraint are recorded in a bound and numbered log and staff are aware that restraint should only be used as a last resort. There have been two incidents of restraint since the last inspection and these have been recorded. Staff state that they try to avoid using sanctions where possible and consequently there

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

has been only one sanction given since the last inspection. All incidents of sanctions and restraints are reviewed on a three monthly basis by the manager.

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Protecting children from harm or neglect and helping them stay safe

Each young person has an individual risk assessment in place which takes into account individual needs and any potential behavioural triggers. Staff demonstrate a good awareness of the risks of any self harm and they ensure that they work with young people individually to minimise these risks. All activities are risk assessed and activity risk assessments have been reviewed recently. The home has a fire risk assessment and there have been regular fire drills. However the date of one fire drill was not correctly recorded as only the month and year were stated on the paperwork. The home's staff files are kept at head office and were not reviewed at this inspection. At the last inspection recruitment procedures were found to comply with Schedule 2 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

 ensure that the dates of fire drills are fully recorded in order to demonstrate compliance with the standard which stipulates that there should be four fire drills in any 12 month period (NMS 26.8).

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