Children's Home, Residential special school run by The Senad Group Limited in Derbyshire

Unique reference number SC372504 Inspection date 09/03/2012 Inspector Pete Hylton Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Residential special school (>295 days/year)

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Date of last inspection 10/08/2011 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 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 part of a privately owned residential school for children and young people with learning difficulties. The service can accommodate up to 55 children and young people.

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Progress

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

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Progress

This home was judged to be good at the last inspection. One requirement and three recommendations were made.

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Progress

Children are actively encouraged to voice and share their feelings and wishes about the care that they receive. Regular consultation takes place between children and their key workers. In addition to this, there are regular house meetings and children are encouraged to attend the school council. Where children are able to share their views, they are actively involved in writing their own care plans. Care plans are very child focused. This means that the views of children are central to how their care is delivered. Parents and social workers, where applicable, are also fully involved in this process. Care plans for children also focus on cultural needs and identities. All aspects of care planning are highly individualised and meet the often complex needs of the children. The recommendation has therefore been met.

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Progress

The process for dealing with complaints has been improved since the last inspection. The deputy manager now oversees all complaints and has established a new system which is used throughout the homes. All staff are aware of the need to respond in a timely manner to a complainant. Furthermore, this information is clearly and accurately recorded. The Registered Manager receives monthly reports from each home and records are regularly spot checked to ensure thoroughness. All responses to complaints are recorded and followed up by senior staff. The Registered Manager has an excellent overview and understanding of complaints from children, parents and other parties. There have been few complaints since the last inspection and all have been handled sensitively, appropriately and in a timely manner. The recommendation has therefore been met.

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Progress

A comprehensive review of activities has taken place. An activity coordinator now oversees all activities for children in the homes. Regular communication between the coordinator and the various care teams ensure that activities are planned to meet the needs of children. There have been notable improvements to accessing areas of the school out of school hours. For example, the school gym is now used for regular evening discos. Furthermore, the therapy staff have trained the care staff in accessing the specialist sensory rooms. This means that children are able to access a broader range of activities at the weekends and in the evenings. The recommendation made at the last inspection has therefore been met.

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Progress

The Registered Manager has implemented strong and effective equality and diversity policies. These policies are well embedded into care practices within the homes. All staff have received training in equality issues and a coordinator has been appointed to share good practice. This person now leads a team of equality specialists across the house settings. Regular meetings take place to ensure equality and diversity is actively promoted. Furthermore, care plans have been significantly changed and now include explicit detail about the individual needs of children with regards to religion, race, culture and linguistic backgrounds. The requirement made at the last inspection has been addressed and met.

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Progress

Children benefit from a much improved awareness of their cultural needs and identities. There is some excellent practice in this area. For example, in one home, all young people have access to a book which describes their hometowns and covers places of interest and regional dialects. This information is presented to children in their preferred communication format with much of this information written in symbol format. This means that all children are encouraged to explore their own and peers’ backgrounds in an appropriate manner. Religious events are promoted in the homes and where they wish to, children are encouraged and supported to maintain their faith. The Registered Manager and senior care staff regularly audit all care plans to ensure that the individual needs of children are promoted at all times. This monitoring is rigorous, effective and ensures continuing high standards of practice by the care staff.

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Progress

Children benefit from a highly skilled staff team who are responsive to individual needs and work as part of a wider multi-disciplinary team. This ensures that all matters relating to behaviour are appropriately shared. This in turn means that children receive continuing care in education, therapy and the home setting. Sanctions are rarely applied by the staff as a range of reward systems are used to encourage positive behaviour. However, there have been sanctions given where the views of the child have not been recorded. This means that the Registered Manager is not always able to monitor the effectiveness of sanctions nor fully understand the views of the child. A recommendation has therefore been made.

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Progress

There has been a significant amount of physical interventions in one of the homes. All restraints are well handled and used as a last resort. The organisation is currently reviewing their physical intervention policy. Staff members are extremely well supported by the management in the home and are supervised more frequently. Restraint recording is mostly effective although it is not always recorded that children have been spoken to following incidents of restraint. Members of staff confirm that children are provided with the opportunity to discuss their feelings after restraint. However, this information is not always recorded. This means that the Registered Manager is not able to effectively review incidents of challenging behaviour. A requirement has therefore been made.

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Progress

There are several homes across the site and all homes are well furnished and equipped to meet the needs of the children staying there. However, some homes have minor damage and are in need of attention. For example, there are marks on the walls and some areas need repainting. The Registered Manager confirms that there are plans to redecorate parts of the homes. A recommendation has been made.

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Progress

Children are encouraged to maintain contact with parents, carers and other family members. Support services for children are well publicised and children are freely able to use the telephone. However, the contact details for Ofsted and the Children’s Rights Director are missing from the various notice boards and the children’s guide does not contain these details. A recommendation has therefore been made.

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Progress

Children continue to make good progress in education. Excellent relationships between care staff and teachers ensure that progress is documented and concerns, where applicable, are shared. Children are encouraged to develop their skills in independence. Children eat together in their respective houses and there are plans for each house to start planning, preparing and serving their own food.

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Progress

Children are happy and settled in the home setting. A child commented that they ‘liked the activities’. Another child commented that the home is ‘good.’ Children were observed to be happy and relaxed with staff and clearly enjoyed spending time with each other. The staff team work hard to provide activities for the children. Children enjoy a wide range of activities outside of school.

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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) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any restraint in a children's home, a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include - confirmation that the person authorised by the registered provider to make the record has spoken to the child concerned and the person using the measure about the use of the measure. (Regulation 17B (3) (h)) 06/04/2012

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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 that where any sanctions, disciplinary measures or restraint are used, children are encouraged to have their views recorded in the records kept by the home. This specifically relates to sanctions given to children (NMS 3.18)  ensure that the home provides a comfortable and homely environment and is well maintained and decorated. Avoidable hazards are removed as is consistent with a domestic setting. Risk reduction does not lead to an institutional feel (NMS 10.3)  ensure that the guide includes a summary of what the home sets out to do for children, how they can find out their rights, how a child can contact their Independent Reviewing Officer, the Children's Rights Director, Ofsted if they wish to raise a concern with inspectors, and how to secure access to an independent advocate. (NMS 13.5)

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