Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Unique reference number SC013143 Inspection date 25/10/2011 Inspector Michael Williams Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 17/12/2010 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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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 service is run by a national children's charity. It provides care for up to five young people aged from five to 18 years who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. It is the only full-time care provision for children with disabilities in the county. The home is located not far from the centre of a town and has its own car park and garden area. All accommodation for children is on the ground floor, as are the staff offices.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

Overall the home provides a good service to young people. The quality of care provided is outstanding and outcomes for young people are good. The home's ability to positively affect outcomes for young people is limited by the nature of the young people's disabilities. The safety of young people and the home's leadership and management are good, and the promotion of equality and diversity is outstanding.

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Overall effectiveness

Two young people at the home separately commented that the staff are great and the care is good. They also said that the activities are good and the home is great. One of these young people went on to comment 'I like it at [the home]; I like my friends at [the home]'. On their children's behalf, four parents commented that the following is good about the home: 'To be quite honest, regarding the home itself, there isn't much that can be improved, all seems well'; 'My child is happy and content there, my child's key worker is very good'; my child 'seems very happy and this is all I can ask for. Her needs are always met'; and 'It is a safe environment providing [my child] with a 24hr consistent curriculum whenever possible which he desperately needs due to the level, severity of his autism and learning disability'.

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides young people with very individualised care that consistently takes into account the views that they communicate about their care and support, and the views of their family, social workers and independent reviewing officers. The staff team and the young people staying at the home enjoy good relationships with each other. The home's practice is very child-centred: staff place the well-being of individual children and young people at the centre of their practice.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for children and young people are good .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress to develop a positive self view, emotional resilience and knowledge and understanding of their background. This is achieved by the very personalised care each young person receives, that promotes all aspects of their individual identity. The home has an up-to-date, comprehensive profile for each young person, which includes personal and family information, an individual risk assessment and an individual behaviour management plan. Young people's profiles are devised by their link worker in consultation with them, their parents or carers and social worker.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people live in a healthy environment where all of their health needs are very well promoted and they are able to access the services they need to meet them. Young people's individual profiles include their health needs and daily staff handovers clarify each young person's medication needs. One young person's medication has been regularly reviewed by their consultant and the home's administration of their medication was in line with their consultant's latest recommendation. The review of young people's care includes the review of their health needs and the outcome of health appointments. 'Eating and drinking' is part of young people's profiles and the menu that the home follows is guided by both young people's choices and healthy eating.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are very well supported to achieve their educational potential. Staff at the home support young people's attendance at their schools and maintain regular contact with them, for example, through daily information exchanged in home/school books. When the home found that they were not being well enough informed about one young person's progress at the school they started in September 2011, staff initiated a meeting with the school to facilitate open dialogue. For another young person, good home/school communication resulted in the instigation of a safeguarding enquiry.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are actively and positively involved in leisure activities both in the home, the local community and wider society. 'My Leisure and Activities' forms part of young people's profiles. The home's October 2011 operational contract monitoring report includes an analysis of each young person's individual activities and outings from July to September 2011 and photographs of some of them. Over this period each young person also enjoyed a residential holiday that was planned according to their individual needs. The monitoring report states that 'Throughout the year the children are supported to develop social skills and learning through accessing community activities and out of school events'. The inspector found this to be the case.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people receive positive care which promotes their independence. 'Independence Skills' forms part of young people's profiles and is one of the outcomes which staff use to enable individual progress to be assessed and celebrated.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding . Staff have consistently high aspirations for all young people at the home. The home's October 2011 monitoring report says that 'Each child has the following outcomes which staff use as a basis for day-to-day interactions and interventions to enable individual progress to be assessed, monitored and celebrated: Improved Behaviour; Independence Skills; Improved Communication Skills'. The inspector found this to be the case and part of the home's drive to continually promote young people's welfare.

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Quality of care

Staff are extremely effective in promoting young people's full participation at school, in their community and wider society. Staff are dedicated to promoting young people’s school attendance and educational achievement, and their participation in activities, outings and holidays which are summarised in the home's October 2011 monitoring report. Young people take part in activities with staff both inside the home and outside in the local community.

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Quality of care

Staff celebrate young people's achievements and place their well-being at the centre of their practice, irrespective of the challenges they present. The home maintains a scrapbook for each young person, capturing the various activities they do inside and outside the home and celebrating their achievements. When young people present challenges, for example because of the intensity of their health or behavioural needs, deployment of staff is sufficient to meet them. The home's October 2011 monitoring report includes incident charts for each young person, showing their number of incidents each month of the present and past year. In the light of this data, behaviour management at the home was discussed at the recent operational contract monitoring meeting and action agreed to try and further reduce young people's behavioural challenges.

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Quality of care

Staff are proactive in supporting young people to make progress in every aspect of their lives. They are highly active in promoting young people's potential through extremely individualised care; positive behaviour and relationships, both with other young people and staff in the home; good health and well-being; leisure activities; educational achievement; and practical skills. As a result, parents’ surveys received since the last inspection were overwhelmingly positive about the home.

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Quality of care

Staff consistently and centrally involve young people in the planning and review of their care. Young people's link workers assist them, within their level of understanding, to understand the purpose and content of their project care plan and review meetings. Staff work extremely hard to be able to understand and represent young people's views on all aspects of their care and support, which they communicate both verbally and non-verbally. Staff use a picture exchange communication system to further facilitate their communication with individual young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The service is good at keeping children and young people safe and feeling safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people's individual profiles clearly identify risks and protective factors for them. One young person had an up-to-date individual risk assessment identifying the key significant risks for them and effective measures that staff at the home implement to minimise them. Two young people circled 'yes' in answer to the question 'do you feel safe at the children's home'.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Effective protection for young people is provided. Since the last inspection, as required the home has notified Ofsted about the instigation and outcome of a safeguarding enquiry involving a young person at the home. It was instigated as a result of the home and the young person's school working together to safeguard and promote their welfare. Safeguarding and protecting children is included in the home's Statement of Purpose and in more detail in a separate policy and procedure for staff. The latter says that staff are to familiarise themselves with their Local Safeguarding Children Board procedures.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff at the home are proactive in promoting positive behaviour and relationships. Young people's profiles include up-to-date individual behaviour management plans. For one young person, the general principle of their plan was 'one-to-one staffing and two-to-one at stated times', and it included approved staff responses. Since the last inspection, staff at the home have used and recorded a number of measures of control, and physical interventions with young people. As a result of recent amendments to the children's homes standard, regulation and guidance regarding behaviour management, the service is in the process of amending their guidance on and recording of any measure of control, restraint or discipline used in the home accordingly. Nobody identified bullying as a problem at the home. Two young people circled 'no' in answer to the question 'do you get bullied or picked on'.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Since the last inspection, a young person has not gone missing from the home. Should they do so, they will be protected as far as possible by the home's protocol with the police regarding missing children.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is very careful selection and vetting of all staff working with young people in the home, to help prevent unsuitable people from having the opportunity to harm young people. Contracted and agency staff do not start work at the home until all the checks are completed, either by the national charity running the home or by the agency.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people stay in a very safe home that provides them with a very suitable physical environment. With the home coming up to five years of operation as a children's home, its provider is now due to carry out improvements to the building. Redecorating three of the five young people's bedrooms is a priority and the home is looking into converting its sensory room 'to a calming room which would be used to diffuse the higher aroused levels of challenging behaviour in a safe, quiet and relaxed environment'. Checks on the safety of the home are up to date and subject to regular monitoring.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good . The home has a clear, up-to-date Statement of Purpose to make the aims and objectives of the home and the services and facilities it provides clear to staff, placing social workers and young people's parents.

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Leadership and management

Staff numbers, experience and support are such that they meet the needs of the young people well. The staff team, staff training and supervision, and the staffing policy are all included in the home's Statement of Purpose. The staffing policy states that 'Staffing levels are determined by the assessment of the children/young person's individual needs' and this was seen to be the case. The home's recent contract monitoring meeting noted that 'Performance data indicates a significant reduction in the use of agency staff over the last 3 months', which has resulted in an increase in continuity of care for the young people. Since the last inspection, staff have participated in a range of training to be able to continue to meet young people's needs, for example in terms of their health and safety. Staff have either attained or are due to attain the relevant level three qualification. Regular supervision and staff

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Leadership and management

team meetings also support staff to provide a high quality service to the young people. One member of staff commented positively that through their supervision they know where they stand.

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Leadership and management

The home's Registered Manager, deputy children's services manager, and two senior residential project workers have the skills, experience and qualifications to exer cise effective leadership of the home's staff and operation, and ensure the delivery of good quality care that meets the individual needs of each young person at the home.

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Leadership and management

The home is part of a national children's charity and its management team has produced a service business plan. It addresses finance, growth/development, effectiveness, including the aim to promote 'a greater effectiveness of the use of outcomes', and workforce development. To secure future improvement, the home has taken the action its last inspection required and recommended.

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Leadership and management

Regular and sound procedures for monitoring the operation of the home contribute to maintaining the good quality of the provision and promoting the welfare of the young people. Each month, the Registered Manager checks and reports on the matters required to be monitored by them. Regular external monitoring is carried out by the registered provider visitor. They report in line with the national minimum standards for children's homes and Every Child Matters outcomes, and on any action taken and required. The general overview that the registered provider visitor most recently reported was that 'All staff, despite the challenges of the day, were welcoming in their attitude and supportive of the young people's individual needs'. The inspector also found this to be the case.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is outstanding .

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