Children's Home, Residential special school run by Acorn Norfolk Limited in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC435322 Inspection date 24/01/2012 Inspector Stephen Halliley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Residential special school (>295 days/year)

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Date of last inspection 15/09/2011 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

The children's home is registered to provide accommodation for 40 children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The home and school are owned by a private company who also own other social care services. The school is registered with the Department for Education as a school to cater for boys and girls aged from four to 19 years. Children either board for 38 weeks or 52 weeks a year, or may attend as day pupils. A total of 28 pupils currently board.

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

The young people are given good opportunities to develop and progress while using this service. The strength of the service is the drive of the new management team and the enthusiasm and commitment of the staff team who are well trained and understand the complex needs of the young people very well. The effectiveness with which the home provides personalised care is very good and takes full account of the individual needs of each young person while promoting positive outcomes. Young people are kept safe and feel safe.

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Overall effectiveness

Improvements need to be made in some areas of recording with regards to ensuring they are fully completed, are directly relevant to the situation and are forwarded to the appropriate people within given timescales. The Statement of Purpose and some policies require greater clarification in some areas and some minor health and safety issues need to be addressed. These shortfalls have minimal or no direct impact on the outcomes for young people.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes Regulations 2001 and the National Minimum Standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) prepare and implement as required a procedure to be followed when any child accommodated in a children's home is absent without permission which has regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children (Regulation 16 (4) (b)) 29/02/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

30 notify to Ofsted without delay any significant event in 31/01/2012 (2001) accordance with Schedule 5 (Regulation 30 (1))

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) include in the Statement of Purpose all areas as listed in Schedule 1, with particular reference to use of 'calm rooms' within behaviour management strategies and more detailed fire evacuation procedures (Regulation 4 (1) - Schedule 1(16), (20)) 31/03/2012

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Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline in the children's home, a written record is made in a volume kept for that purpose which includes a description of the measure used and confirmation that the person and child involved have been spoken to about the use of the measure. (Regulation 17B (3c and 3h)) 29/02/2012

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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 manager sends copies of Regulation 34 reports to HMCI at six monthly intervals (Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations, Volume 5: Children's Homes 3.14)  ensure the home is managed in a manner which ensures all staff's work is consistent with the homes policies and procedures (NMS 21.3)  ensure the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated and that avoidable hazards are removed as is consistent with a domestic setting, with particular regard to uncovered electrical sockets. (NMS 10.3)

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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 significant progress in many areas of their lives including education and social interaction. They grow in confidence and develop emotional resilience through having their needs clearly assessed, having their individuality facilitated, their achievements celebrated and being treated with respect. Young people are provided with a stimulating, caring and stable environment where staff show consistent use a variety of communication methods individual to each young person. This helps young people to enjoy meaningful, positive relationships with staff.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy good health and healthy lifestyles are encouraged through involvement in activities and the provision of a varied, well-balanced diet. Close, effective working relationships between staff, parents, health professionals and social workers ensure strategies to manage health needs are current and agreed by all parties. Young people also have access to assistant psychologists, occupational therapists and speech and language therapists who all contribute fully to well- rounded health care and health promotion.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are actively supported to attend school and achieve their educational potential. This has been reinforced by having educational staff work with young people in the home before school each day, which both encourages attendance and strengthens relationships between home and school staff. This ensures young people's educational achievement is promoted as a valuable part of their development and that care and behaviour management strategies are consistently applied.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's individual needs and differences are well met. This includes the purchasing and provision of ethnically or dietary appropriate food and offering and supporting religious observance. Young people enjoy a wide range of stimulating activities, both on site and in the community, and they are supported to engage in the wider community to develop new life skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people benefit from effective communication between staff and parents where appropriate. This helps ensure a safe and consistent approach to young people and maintains updated information about them. The home also facilitates contact between young people and families at weekends and school holidays. Additionally, there is the innovative provision of a 'parents’ house' where families can come and stay to visit their children during the school term if home contact is not possible. This helps to maintain relationships with those people who are important to young people.

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Quality of care

Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff who are warm, caring, motivated and supportive towards them. It is clear that staff place young people's well-being at the heart of their service. Young people's personal care, administration of medication and the handling of restraint situations are sensitively managed to preserve dignity and afford privacy. Staff communicate with young people using a range of communication skills appropriate to the needs of each young person. Staff are vigilant to any signs of changes to ensure young people's health, safety and welfare are promoted at all times and staff respond quickly and efficiently when additional support is needed.

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Quality of care

Staff are aware of young people's histories, needs and behaviours and this enables responses to young people to be effective and individualised. Care plans and 'all about me' leaflets enable staff to implement consistent and successful strategies in their work. Consequently, the needs of all young people are being fully met. Young people are consulted about choices of colour scheme, activities, food and the names of their individual homes. This enables young people to feel they have a say in the way the home is run and that their input is valued by the staff. The complaints procedure is available and displayed in widget format to ensure young people are aware of this system though it has not been used recently.

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Quality of care

Young people are provided with a wide range of stimulating activities both on and off site. This provision has recently been strengthened by the appointment of two shift coordinators who oversee the activity timetable and involve staff and young people in expanding the choice available. Activities include swimming, cinema, bowling and meals out and there are plans for a trip to a theatre in London. All of these stimulate the interests of the young people and broaden their horizons and depth of life experience. Staff ensure the outings are safe and structured to the needs of the young people and the coordination of activities now means more is offered to a wider group as the individual homes no longer work in isolation from each other.

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Quality of care

Social workers comment positively about the care young people receive and are very positive about the structure and routines that are in place. They also praised the way staff work hard to communicate effectively with, and improve the communication skills of, the young people. Young people clearly benefit from the high level of support, guidance and supervision they receive from staff.

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Quality of care

The home provides young people with appropriate communal and individual accommodation. The home, as a whole, is split into six individual homes, four of which are interlinked and two of which are stand alone. Young people are encouraged to put up pictures in their rooms and other personal items to make this their space and they are supported in making the communal spaces individual to each home through choices of décor and furnishings. Living spaces are generally well decorated and maintained to a high standard. Repairs and replacement is carried out quickly and effectively showing a valuing of the young people and a commitment to providing a high-quality living environment.

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Quality of care

There is great diversity within the staff team in terms of age, gender, ethnicity and nationality providing young people with a wide range of role models and support techniques. The staff’s clear, in-depth knowledge of individual young people's behaviours, personality traits and needs allow young people to benefit from fair and equal opportunities irrespective of their different needs in both living and daily care planning.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Safeguarding young people is a high priority and is central to the practice in this service but there are some shortfalls in this area. Social workers and parents say young people are safe and that they are supported by staff to keep safe. Flexibility within the rota to ensure high levels of supervision both inside and outside the home recognises the significant vulnerabilities of young people. There are clear systems in place to facilitate, and recording to support, communication between the home, school, parents, social workers and health care professionals. These systems ensure that information is shared effectively and collaboratively to provide consistent care for the young people and to protect them from harm. Staff have a clear understanding of the safeguarding and whistle-blowing policies and procedures to follow to ensure that young people are kept safe and their welfare is promoted at all

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people's behaviour management plans are individualised and risk assessments are very thorough. These are colour coded to highlight to staff which approaches are preventative, which are pro-active and which are reactive. This system is also used in student support plans and provides consistency of approach and heightened awareness of potential triggers. As a direct result, practice is informed by assessing and minimising risks while being careful not to compromise a young person's independence. Physical intervention is appropriately used to keep young people safe. However, records are not consistently clear. This relates specifically to the use of time in a ‘calm room’ where doors have not been secured but records indicate they have or young people have gone to their room but records indicate they have used the 'calm room'. This does not ensure that an accurate and clear record is kept of the incident. The manager plans to increase his monitoring of these systems and records

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Safeguarding children and young people

in a more direct manner and to further ensure that physical intervention and 'calm rooms' are not being used inappropriately. Bullying is not highlighted as a concern, partly due to the high staffing ratio, but there is a thorough bullying policy in place should this become necessary. Records indicate that young people do not go missing from this service and there is a new policy and recording system in place should this ever happen. However, this does not take note of relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Accidents are clearly recorded and these are monitored in order to try to identify any trends which may be occurring. However, these records are not being completed in their entirety by staff as required by the home’s own policy and procedures.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected by an effective and robust recruitment process that includes a comprehensive check on all staff applying to work with children. This ensures young people are looked after only by suitably vetted staff. The environment is appropriately secure and physically safe, taking account of the individual needs of young people; however, a number of electrical socket covers were missing. The home's fire risk assessment is thorough and up to date and there are plans in place to provide each young person with a 'personal emergency evacuation plan'. Additionally, young people are further protected from harm by a wide range of regular health and safety checks.

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are good .

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Leadership and management

The service provides young people with a stimulating, child-centred environment with high levels of care and support. There are clear policies and procedures, effective organisation of staff and consistent implementation of care practice. This has been aided by the recent introduction of a new rota system, updating and reviewing of policies and clear hands-on leadership. Young people benefit from a consistent, enthusiastic committed staff team who focus on their needs and welfare. As a result, young people’s progress is clearly evident and noticed by parents and social workers. Good care practices help young people develop and contribute to their personal growth and development.

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Leadership and management

Staff are well supported and led by a new management team who is enthusiastic and committed to the provision of a high-quality service. Supervision is regular and of a good quality but the duration of supervision is not recorded. A supervision date and back-up date is on the rota each month for each member of staff to ensure supervision takes place and is given the priority it deserves. Good levels of training are available both as part of the induction process and ongoing throughout employment. This covers core initial training and regular refreshers to ensure staff maintain their skill levels. Regular team meetings ensure practice is informed, improves further and remains focused on young people's care and development. The vast majority of the staff team hold a formal qualification but some of these are dated and plans are in place to refresh training through Children's Workforce Development Council workbooks and, where appropriate, level 5 diplomas.

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Leadership and management

Young people benefit from effective management of the home. There are robust systems in place to monitor the quality of care provided and this includes monthly checks by the Registered Manager and additional monthly visits by a designated person. These reports focus primarily on the home’s strengths but also highlight areas for improvement and provide quality assurance monitoring of the provision. Both of these reports show clear consultation with young people but only the designated person's reports are currently being sent through to Ofsted. The home has shown a clear capacity to improve, since its registration, through improved monitoring, improved rotas, streamlining of paperwork and recording, a comprehensive redecoration and building programme and a change of ethos as evidenced by replacing the word ‘unit’ with home. There is a clear development plan in place to address issues which have been picked up since new managers came into

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Leadership and management

post. The plan is aimed at improving services and outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

The Statement of Purpose reflects the service provided and the provider meets all the aims and objectives within this. However, there is no reference to 'quiet rooms' under behaviour management and reflection on the fire evacuation plans is not fully robust.

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Leadership and management

Young people's records are well structured and held confidentially. The manager works well with all other providers and parents to ensure the effective sharing and recording of relevant information to ensure records contribute to the understanding of the child's life. The home has not had any complaints against it in recent months but has dealt very well with allegations being made which need to be reported under Schedule 5. However, these notifications have not been made within the required timescales.

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Leadership and management

Equality and diversity practice is good .

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