Children's Home run by The Ryes College Limited in Suffolk

Unique reference number SC429748 Inspection date 13/06/2012 Inspector Stephen Halliley Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Residential special school (>295 days/year)

p.1

Date of last inspection 02/11/2011 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

p.1

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.

p.2

Brief description of the service

This children's home is privately-owned and provides placements for children and young people on behalf of local authorities. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people of either gender. The home offers care and accommodation for four children and young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties and or learning disabilities.

p.3

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.

p.3

Progress

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

p.3

Progress

This home was last inspected by Ofsted in November 2011 and the service provision was judged to be good. There were three recommendations made at the time of the last inspection.

p.3

Progress

The home has demonstrated its capacity to improve by fully addressing two of these recommendations and making significant progress towards meeting the third. There have also been a number of changes put in place by the Registered Manager which have further enhanced the development of the service.

p.3

Progress

The home was asked to improve further the opportunities for children and young people to develop skills which will prepare them for independent living to include, specifically, them being given keys to their bedrooms. All children and young people now have room keys and these are replaced when they are lost or misplaced. The Registered Manager is clear that if this were to become a regular occurrence, while the key would still be replaced, some discussion would take place around cost of replacements and looking at alternative methods for keeping the key safe. This discussion would also involve aspects which children and young people would need to be aware of in terms of future independence.

p.3

Progress

The Registered Manager was asked to ensure that the deployment of staff on individual shifts is able to meet the individual needs of all children and young people resident in the home. The home has adequate staff on all shifts and has recently employed a new member of staff to increase the overall staff complement to ensure this recommendation is fully met.

p.4

Progress

The Registered Manager was also asked to ensure the home is well maintained, especially the pantry area and the first floor bathroom. The pantry has been repainted and had a new floor covering making its décor fall in line with the high standard of the rest of the home. The bathroom has not yet been updated but funding for this has been secured from the organisation and plans are in place to have this work completed by the end of July.

p.4

Progress

The quality of care for children and young people remains high and it is clear that staff are dedicated to providing a good quality of service to children and young people. Monitoring of the quality of care provided is regular and robust but the reports of this do not show consultation with children and young people, their parents or placing authorities. The service offered has recently been enhanced by the provision of outreach support to a young person who has returned home to live with his family. This is time limited but can be extended on review if required. Plans are already in place to extend this service to a young person who is moving to a semi- independent placement in the hear future.

p.4

Progress

Restorative meetings have been introduced as a means of supporting children and young people to reflect on their behaviours and consider ways to make amends other than by way of sanctions. This has been quite successful to date. However, when sanctions are given the recording does not include the effectiveness of the sanction and confirmation that the child or young person has been spoken to about this. A Deputy Manager has recently been appointed and this will take some of the burden from the Registered Manager as she has begun to delegate tasks to him. This includes the supervision of several of the staff team and it is hoped this will address the issue of staff not receiving regular supervision.

p.4

Progress

Outcomes for children and young people are very good in most areas especially transition to future placements, education and social development. Children and young people feel safe in the home and are clear that staff listen to them and respond to their requests. Children and young people know how to make a complaint and this information is given to them in the children and young person's handbook at the start of their placement. However it does not currently include contact information for independent reviewing officers and the Children's Right's Director.

p.4

Progress

Children and young people have strong relationships with staff and are relaxed around them and benefit from being placed in a well-run home with a highly committed staff team and a management team who are continually looking to improve the service offered.

p.4

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.

p.5

Reg. Requirement Due date

17B (2001) ensure that within 24 hours of the use of any measure of control, restraint or discipline a written record is made in a volume kept for the purpose which shall include the effectiveness of the use of the measure and confirmation that the person authorised by the registered provider to make the record has spoken to the child concerned about the use of the measure (Regulation 17B (3)(f)(h)) 31/07/2012

p.5

Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) ensure that the system for monitoring the quality of care provides for consultation with children accommodated in the home, their parents and placing authorities. (Regulation 34 (3)) 31/07/2012

p.5

Recommendations

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

p.5

Recommendations

 ensure 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)  ensure staff have access to support and advice and are provided with regular supervision by appropriately qualified and experienced staff (NMS 19.4)

p.5

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.

p.6

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).

p.6