Children's Home run by Crossway Services Limited in St Helens

Unique reference number SC063498 Inspection date 01/12/2011 Inspector Michelle Moss Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 16/06/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection (March 2011).

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Brief description of the service

This service is managed by an independent company who provide a number of small children's homes. The home provides accommodation for one child and is staffed in accordance with their assessed needs.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress.

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Progress

This interim inspection has focused on the progress made by the home since their last full inspection in which they were judged to be good.

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Progress

Children continue to have opportunities to make safe and caring relationships with a stable staff team, who are interested about their health and welfare. Children are getting support to enable them to develop understanding about appropriate personal and social boundaries and over respecting others. Enhanced consultation is giving children greater opportunity in which to express their views and importantly for staff to feedback to them on their achievements. There remains an ongoing commitment to undertake direct work with children. This work is part of daily practice and means children are getting the support and guidance they need to feel safe and to build up a sense of identity. This commitment to work so closely with children is enabling a greater level of self-confidence and self-esteem to be developed.

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Progress

Children report being happy and are particularly proud of all their achievements since starting their placement. Children confirm they are very involved in extended day clubs relating to school and are enjoying these opportunities immensely.

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Progress

The staff listen to and value the children’s views and opinions and ensure they have a sense of belonging and attachment so that they can thrive. Seeking views of children now extends to any consequences imposed by staff. This enables children to express their views on the action taken by staff. These views are inclusive of records held by the home and show children’s views are taken seriously. Nevertheless, the home has yet to implement a complaints procedure, which is reflective of the age and understanding of the children accommodated, so their rights to complain are secured.

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Progress

Progress has been made in areas of behaviour management. In practice, strategies of support are meaning there is a decrease in the number of incidents where children can display aggression. However, the behavioural plan and policy is still missing key information. This extends to not having all known triggers that increase the risk of aggression recorded. Also, trends or issues in behaviour are not being formally examined. Lastly, the deployment of staff is not recorded in the policy to reflect periods when children's behaviour can escalate. More positively, risk assessments for the premises are in place and show the home is assessing all potential risks and taking steps to minimise harm.

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Progress

Children continue to be afforded wonderful opportunities in which they are able to achieve their potential and to have pride over their achievements. This extends to children being given every chance to develop new interests and skills. High standards of attainment also continue to be secured through the encouragement of staff working collaboratively with schools. This strong partnership means children’s school attendance remains excellent and learning outcomes enhanced.

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Progress

Detailed and well informed placement plans remain in place for each child and are regularly updated. These have been further strengthened with greater detail added about the promotion of equality and diversity, which is now captured throughout the care plan.

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Progress

Self–evaluation focuses on a wide range of evidence to rigorously improve the provision of care. This includes identifying the strengths and picking up on areas for improvement. An inclusive part of any visit is seeking the views of children and staff. The staff remain highly motivated and confident in their roles. The staff will actively seek advice and guidance from involved professionals to ensure children’s quality of care continues to matches their needs.

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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 children know how they can take up issues in the most appropriate way, inclusive of complaints (NMS 1.6)  ensure the review of incidents of challenging behaviour includes examining trends or issues emerging. Also, to use this information to enable staff to reflect and inform future practice (NMS 3.21)  ensure the behaviour management policy informs on how staff are deployed. (Volume 5, Statutory guidance 2.90)

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