Children's Home run by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Bolton

Unique reference number SC040723 Inspection date 18/07/2011 Inspector Maria McGranaghan Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 30/03/2011 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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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 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards.

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About this inspection

The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made against the Inspections of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011) and the evaluation schedule for children's homes.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service that exceeds minimum requirements Satisfactory : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Brief description of the service

This children's home is registered to accommodate up to four young people of either sex between the ages of 10 and 17 years.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people live in a caring and supportive environment that enables them to make good progress. Achievements in education, behaviour and social mobility are being consistently met and in turn provide good outcomes for the young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people are safe and feel protected from significant harm. They are positive about the care they receive and the relationships they have formed with staff. Young people thrive in a home that provides a nurturing and safe foundation.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from very well-planned and personalised care. Clear placement plans includes information that ensures young people are cared for consistently and in line with their needs. Staff work together with external services and this ensures young people get the right help, guidance and support they need to develop to their full potential.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from very good relationships with staff. Suitable staff ratios ensure that young people are afforded the care and attention they need in order to feel safe and secure in the home. One young person said ‘the staff are great, it feels good to live here’.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff receive regular training, supervision and support and this is complemented by the home having a strong staff team. Similarly, staff have a very good understanding of young people’s needs and consistently offer a nurturing environment for young people to thrive and grow.

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Overall effectiveness

The home is suitably managed and the manager places a strong emphasis on providing a good standard of child care practice. Monitoring systems are in place and help to ensure that care is reviewed regularly and updated in accordance with the needs of the young people. Where safety is a concern appropriate measures are taken to maintain the young people’s safety.

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Overall effectiveness

The home has made good progress in addressing the previous recommendation from the last inspection. Specifically, young people have played a central role in developing the complaints procedure for the home. Despite these strengths there are weaknesses that relate to the quality of some records within the home and the arrangements for managing behaviour. As a result three recommendations have been made at this inspection.

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 ensure the views of the child, the child’s family, social worker and IRO are sought regularly on the child’s care. Specifically, young people are actively encouraged to participate in the development and review of their placement plan. (NMS 1.4)  ensure children receive personalised care that promotes all aspects of their individual identity. Specifically, make sure each young person’s heritage and culture is fully recorded and respected (NMS 2.1)  ensure a clear written policy on managing behaviour specifically with regard to measures of discipline and control. (NMS 3.3)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are outstanding . Young people make excellent progress in their education, emotional resilience and especially their trust in staff and professionals who offer additional support. Young people benefit from a committed staff team who undertake regular key worker sessions that enables them to understand their personal circumstances. Excellent records of young people’s emotional journeys serve to capture the progress they are making and help them to begin to make sense of their lives.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff support young people to live and lead healthy lives. Detailed health care plans capture individual health need and are supported by regular practitioner assessments. Medication is robustly monitored and effectively administered ensuring that young people receive the correct amount in accordance with their health needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people assist to cook a range of home cooked wholesome meals including regional and international cuisines. They are supported to develop a weekly menu and this assists them to begin to understand the benefit of nutrition essential to growth and development. Young people have access to good health information including suitable books and posters. This supports young people’s day-to-day learning within the home and addresses age-appropriate curiosity in a suitable way.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are supported to develop the necessary confidence and skill in order to take part in a range of community activities. As a result, and with continuing support, some young people attend horse riding, table tennis and the gym on a regular basis. Some young people have taken further steps and enrolled on activity courses such as fire training and first aid and have received a range of certificates. Young people benefit from up to date risk assessments which help to ensure individual complexities are taken into account and their continued safety maintained.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making significant progress in education since living at the home. With the support of a committed staff team all young people now receive full time education and boast a very good attendance record. On the whole school reports highlight good progress and specifically recognise the support offered by staff in helping young people to engage positively. Observations of staff encouraging young people to complete homework highlighted the staff understanding of young people and the excellent relationships between them. One young person said, ‘I like doing my work. I really love math and staff set me lots of practice work’. The staff promote education offering time and commitment that enables young people to make consistent progress and gain the ability to recognise their own achievements.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from planned and supported contact with family and friends. Staff maintain close links with families and involve them where appropriate in the overall planning of the young people’s care. Detailed contact plans ensure that contact only takes place with whom it has been agreed and this is reviewed on a regular basis.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people develop independence skills in accordance with their age and abilities. Tasks such as helping to prepare the evening meal, setting the table, clearing away the pots or helping to tidy their bedroom demonstrates how settled young people are and that they have developed a sense of pride and ownership of their home.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is good . Young people are thriving in a stable and supportive environment. One young person said, ‘it feels like home but sometimes even better’. Staff display clear warmth for young people and this is evident in the ambitions they hold for them. Young people are seen to be genuinely happy and confident in the company of staff.

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Quality of care

Young people’s positive behaviour and their smallest achievement is celebrated within the home. Key worker sessions help young people to develop an understanding of what is acceptable behaviour and provide a useful tool for addressing some negative behaviour.

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Quality of care

Young people’s placement plans are regularly reviewed by the manager to ensure the care offered is consistently meeting their individual needs. A multi agency approach assists to highlight the changing needs of young people and ensures the appropriate steps are taken to address these needs.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from regular key worker sessions that focus on their journey within the home. Individual files capture activities, personal achievements and special memories such as birthday cards and letters. Files are kept safe in order that information can be preserved and young people can take it with them when they leave. Young people are so proud of their journey file they have developed their own. One young person said ‘it’s like putting all your memories in one place, I have lots of pictures to put into mine I really like doing it’.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from regular meetings where they are encouraged to participate and offer their views and opinions. Young people decide the homes menus, activities and also the décor of their bedrooms and diversity room. Records highlight that young people’s views about aspects of the home are important resulting in them feeling valued and respected. However young people have limited involvement in the development and review of their placement plan. The lack of consultation in this area results in young people not having the opportunity to participate in planning for their care or to review the care they receive.

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Quality of care

Young people confirm they know how to complain and have been directly involved in developing a new complaints procedure for the home. Information is available in the young people’s guide and notice board within the home and includes contact numbers for external agencies. The positive relationship between staff and young people ensures that the young people’s views are valued and that they feel confident to raise matters. One young person said ‘I know how to complain and I can talk to staff or my social worker if I am unhappy with anything’.

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Quality of care

Staff promote consistent aspirations for the young people. They are fully committed to ensuring that each young person has the best opportunities and can achieve their full potential. Examples of such progress can be seen in the achievements young people have made in education and social mobility. As a result of well planned care young people are developing essential skills in order to maximise their full potential.

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Quality of care

Young people have worked hard to develop a diversity room within the home. Information on a range of topics assists young people to develop a good understanding of our diverse nation.

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Quality of care

International cuisine is regularly on the menu with young people assisting to prepare and cook each meal. During the recent world cup, young people were supported to prepared food from each competing country. They were able to learn a little about the culture and language of each country while enjoying the excitement of the games. However information supporting the heritage and culture of young people living in the home is limited. As a result young people are not afforded the opportunity to discover and learn about their own their own historical make up in order to appreciate that of others.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe. Young people confirm they feel safe in the home and have good relationships with staff in order to report any matters of concern. Young people receive an appropriate level of support in order to maintain their overall safety and wellbeing, as a result young people missing from home has reduced.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Similarly, positive behaviour is promoted and rewarded within the home enabling young people to recognise their own personal achievement. Behaviour management plans and risk assessments are in place and assist to capture individual triggers for young people taking into account their individual needs. However procedures for managing negative behaviour are not clear and as a result serve to hamper positive and effective change.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff focus on de-escalation and re-direction techniques in order to defuse situations between young people. This has proven successful and as a result there has been no physical intervention since the last inspection.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people have worked together to develop an anti-bullying charter within the home. They confirm bullying is not tolerated and feel that staff will take the appropriate action should an incident occur. Staff demonstrate they are vigilant in monitoring any bullying in the home. A zero tolerance approach ensures the continued protection of young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home maintains policies and procedures for the protection of young people living in the home. Similarly, staff are appropriately trained in order to respond quickly and efficiently to allegations or suspicion of abuse. Effective communication with external agencies involved in the care of young people ensures a holistic approach to maintaining the safety and wellbeing of young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home employs a robust recruitment procedure that ensures young people are looked after by staff that are appropriately checked in order to work in the home. Visitors are appropriately vetted and this helps to make sure that young people are protected while in their home.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people live in a spacious and well equipped home that suitably meets their individual needs. Young people have individualised bedrooms that are beautifully decorated and reflect individual personality and interests. Similarly, young people have access to a bright and colourful diversity room offering a range of interesting topical information. Health and safety risk assessments are regularly reviewed and internal checks are consistently undertaken in order to maintain the overall safety of the young people living in the home.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good . Young people live in a home that is suitably managed in their best interests. The home meets the aims and objectives of the Statement of Purpose and young people, social workers and families are clear about the service and support the home provides.

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Leadership and management

Internal and external monitoring systems provide the home with a consistent approach to the overall monitoring of care. Detailed information highlights areas for development and the manager’s action plan details the methods used to enhance the service. Staff receive suitable support from the manager. Appropriate supervision and training ensures that young people are looked after by the most suitable staff.

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Leadership and management

The manager and staff demonstrate a strong commitment to delivering good child care practice. The effectiveness of this approach is measurable in the good progress young people have made such as education and social integration.

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Leadership and management

The manager makes good use of reflective practice, the views of external services and families are taken into account to ensure young people’s needs are appropriately met. The home shows the capacity to improve based on the progress the young people have made to date.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s records are appropriately stored and regularly updated in order to capture the essence of young people’s experience at a given time.

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Leadership and management

The manager is aware of the procedure for notifying Ofsted of incidents under Regulation 30, Schedule five and has been consistent in the reporting of all incidents occurring in the home. This practice ensures that information is shared with the regulatory agency in order that the actions and outcomes for young people can be suitable assessed.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is satisfactory .

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