Children's Home run by Wessex College Limited in Wiltshire

Unique reference number SC037596 Inspection date 16/07/2012 Inspector Jennifer Reed Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 13/02/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home is one of four children's homes operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Brief description of the service

Young people in placement may attend the organisation's local school. The school is registered with the Department for Education.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Outstanding : a service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements Good : a service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements Adequate : a service that only meets minimum requirements Inadequate : a service that does not meet minimum requirements

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Overall effectiveness

The overall effectiveness is judged to be good .

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides young people with a good standard of care, with some outstanding features. The leadership of the home is strong, underpinned by rigorous monitoring and the vigilant oversight of managers. The home strives for continuous improvement and is committed to achieving the best outcomes possible for each young person. The tailor-made, well planned care each young person receives focuses on their individual needs and abilities. Staff are effective in implementing the home’s personalised care plans that support each young person to make positive changes in their lives and enhance their development and growth.

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Overall effectiveness

Safeguarding practices are robust. The home excels in working in partnership with relevant agencies and young people’s families to reduce missing episodes and to keep young people safe. Young people benefit from the effective health promotion, educational and preparation for independent living support provided by the home.

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Overall effectiveness

The collaborative and consultative approach of the home to working with young people, their families and relevant professionals enhances the quality of care young people receive. Young people’s views influence the home’s development, helping young people to feel valued and listened to, and developing their sense of belonging and security.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people form sound relationships with their core staff team and registered manager. They are satisfied with the quality of care that they receive. Social workers also report that they are satisfied with the standard of care; one said, ‘the staff do a very good job.’ The organisation has commenced recruiting new staff to provide the home with a full, stable staff team that will ensure young people’s attachments are not disrupted by the temporary staffing arrangements in place to cover current vacancies.

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Overall effectiveness

The home provides a safe environment for young people to live in. However, staff are not sufficiently diligent in ensuring that the security of the home is assured, to protect young people from unauthorised visitors entering the home.

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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 all parts of the children's home used by children are secure from unauthorised access. (Regulation 31(2)(b )) 10/08/2012

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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

 continue to make every effort to achieve continuity of staffing so that children's attachments are not overly disrupted. (NMS17.8)

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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 receive the individualised care that they need to meet their particular needs while living in a group situation. Staff recognise and have a good understanding of each young person’s individuality and abilities. This awareness and the personalised care they deliver, supports young people in their personal growth and development. Young people are making good progress in many areas of their lives. Young people’s self-regard is improving as they acknowledge and take a pride in their progress.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff support young people to think about their past and their current behaviour. These conversations and focused direct work help individuals to gain a better understanding of their feelings and actions and young people begin to make positive changes in their lives. Young people are supported to reflect on their actions and they develop confidence and self-esteem from the good decisions they are learning to make.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are taking part in a range of community activities that they enjoy. These opportunities help them to develop their individual interests and talents and to make new friendships and develop their social skills outside of the home’s environment.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people know about health risks and they know how to keep themselves healthy. Some young people are attending smoking clinics to help them give up this habit; however, other young people continue to smoke. Young people have joined the local gym and they are increasing their level of physical exercise. Young people who are self-catering on their independence skills training programme, eat a nutritious and balanced diet.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home’s independent living programme supports young people to learn various practical living skills. Young people know: how to budget, manage money and banking, cook, clean, undertake household maintenance, decorating and gardening tasks. Young people are developing into confident young adults as they move towards independence.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Some young people whose behaviour is unsafe and puts them at risk of harm, are reducing the frequency of such behaviours. Staff vigilance has meant that young people are not going missing as often. However, some young people continue to engage in risk taking behaviours.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff encourage and support young people to attend school regularly and attendance levels are good. This contributes to some young people being able to take external exams. Young people are taking up further education and work experience opportunities, benefiting from the focused help they receive from staff and the organisation's educational team.

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Quality of care

Staff have high aspirations for the young people they look after and the excellent support they provide is making a positive difference in young people’s lives. The strong relationships established between the core staff team and young people in placement helps young people to develop their trust in adults and to risk taking their first steps into new areas that may make a positive difference in their lives. The home is strong on celebrating achievement and young people thrive on the praise and positive regard they receive from staff.

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Quality of care

The home implements detailed care plans that focus on meeting the individual needs of each young person. The manager continuously reviews and revises plans and care practices to ensure the home is supporting young people to develop and make progress. Staff are skilled and innovative in finding the most appropriate way to support each young person to fulfil their potential and staff work collaboratively with other professionals to secure positive outcomes for young people. Staff demonstrate good ability in supporting young people to successfully develop their independent living skills.

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Quality of care

The home provides a healthy environment for young people to live in. Staff teach and support young people to adopt healthy lifestyles and encourage young people to engage with the health services that they may need. The organisation provides direct access to some specialist health professionals and it has established good links with local health agencies, providing young people with excellent access to healthcare services.

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Quality of care

Staff encourage and support young people to maintain regular attendance at school. The educational team within the organisation provide care staff with additional support to help young people in their educational achievements and to identify learning opportunities. Young people who attend the organisation’s school receive a high ratio of individualised teaching support.

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Quality of care

The home excels at including young people in consultation processes. Young people contribute to the development of the home and their views are taken into account in the daily running of the home. Young people are listened to and they feel valued when they see the outcome of their involvement. For example, in the redecoration of the home and in resolving arising difficulties of living together within the home.

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Quality of care

The home provides a very comfortable and well-maintained family-style environment that young people appreciate living in. Young people have their own bedrooms that they personalise and decorate to their individual taste. Although the home has adequate security measures in place to keep young people safe, the front door was found to be unlocked and could be opened from the outside. This meant that unauthorised visitors could enter the home uninvited. This potentially could place young people at risk of harm.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people feel safe and they are kept safe by the home’s excellent safeguarding practice and rigorous management oversight. The home establishes robust and collaborative working partnerships with placing authorities and relevant agencies. This ensures that targeted plans and strategies are in place to minimise the risk of harm to accommodated young people. Excellent plans and risk assessments support young people to take age appropriate risks as a part of their personal and social development. One social worker said, ‘I know the strategies that the home will use and I am satisfied that these provide the young person with clear expectations and known boundaries.’ Staff have a very good understanding of each young person’s needs and vulnerabilities and they know how to respond appropriately to promote young people’s welfare and protect them. Staff discuss each arising incident thoroughly with young people. This helps individual young people to consider how their choice of

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Safeguarding children and young people

behaviour may compromise their own well-being and the welfare of others. When bullying occurs within the home, the matter is taken very seriously and it is promptly and effectively dealt with to minimise any further risk of harm to individuals. Staff are helping young people to develop an awareness of their own safety and this knowledge is contributing to young people making very significant reductions in their risk taking behaviours, taking into account their starting point on admission to the home. One social worker commented, 'running off is a presenting problem for the young person. When they run off, staff follow them and encourage them to return to the home. Their running away has significantly reduced and the risk of going missing is minimised.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

The organisation has been an active participant in the development of the local missing children protocol. The home is extremely committed to working to minimise the risk of young people going missing and the number of missing episodes has significantly reduced for individual young people. The outstanding practice within the home is summarised by comments made by the local police co-ordinator for missing juveniles. He wrote, ‘(name of home) has worked closely with me from the start, embracing and supporting my role.’ He also added, ‘staff manage missing episodes professionally from the outset, they look for the child, while adhering to risk assessment. In most cases, the tenacity of the staff results in the safe return of the child without the need for police intervention.’

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Safeguarding children and young people

Social workers commend the home on the ability of staff to manage young people’s challenging behaviour effectively, while supporting them and keeping them safe. One worker said, ‘staff deal with challenging behaviour well; they are able to engage with and appropriately challenge the young person about their actions and the young person is making progress.’ The Registered Manager is vigilant in her regular monitoring of the disciplinary measures undertaken within the home. This robust oversight ensures young people’s welfare is promoted; they are treated fairly and they are protected.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home’s environment is maintained to a high standard to eradicate any arising health and safety hazards. Recruitment and selection processes are comprehensive. The organisation’s vetting procedures are rigorous and the excellent attention given to detail helps prevent the employment of unsuitable people to look after young people. Visitors to the home are also closely vetted and supervised to ensure young people are kept safe.

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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 Registered Manager is very enthusiastic and committed to improving outcomes and meeting the diverse needs of all young people in placement. The manager demonstrates a ‘hands-on’ approach to management and her leadership evidences a positive impact on raising standards within the daily operation of the home. The manager is well supported by the organisation and there is a strong focus on achieving continuous improvement in outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

There are effective procedures in place for monitoring and controlling how the home is run and evaluating the progress and achievements of young people. A particular strength is the regular collection and graphical analysis of the well recorded data gathered by the home. The completed graphs and charts provide a visual format for young people and their placing authorities. This information is easily understood and helps young people to recognise their achievements.

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Leadership and management

The manager takes the necessary action to address the recommendations made by the monthly quality assurance visitor to the home. This contributes to improvements being made to the quality of care provided to young people. Senior managers within the organisation have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and a detailed development plan shows how the home will continue to raise the standard of care provided to young people. Young people participate in developmental opportunities to improve the standard of care. For example, young people have reviewed and amended the Children and Young People’s Guide.

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Leadership and management

The home has satisfactorily met the recommendation made at the previous inspection. The manager has worked closely with the staff team and young people to reflect on incidents of bullying and unacceptable behaviour occurring within the home and these incidents have reduced.

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Leadership and management

The home works collaboratively and effectively with placing authorities, families and relevant local agencies to achieve the best outcomes for young people. Communication is good and families and relevant professionals are consulted about pertinent decisions and the review of care to ensure young people are well looked after. One social worker said, ‘the manager ensures there is good communication and staff are able to provide me with current information.’

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Leadership and management

For the majority of the time, the home provides a stable team of core staff consisting of the Registered Manager and three shift leaders. This ensures young people benefit from a continuity of care. The organisation is currently recruiting new staff to establish a consistent, full staff team to ensure that young people’s attachments are not disrupted. New staff undertake a comprehensive induction programme and thereafter, a good range of training opportunities are available to support staff in their professional development. Arrangements are in place for staff to achieve the relevant professional qualifications and experience they need to meet the needs of the young people placed effectively.

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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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