Children's Home, Residential special school run by The Hesley Group Limited in Doncaster

Unique reference number SC008015 Inspection date 26/09/2012 Inspector David Martin / Michelle Moss Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Residential special school (>295 days/year)

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Date of last inspection 16/03/2012 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This service, run by a company, is a residential school that accommodates young people who have complex needs and severe learning difficulties, including autism. The whole school is registered as a children's home.

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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

This social care inspection was aligned with a full inspection of the education provision within the school. A separate education inspection report is produced in addition to this one.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people have very good education attendance and are achieving well in line with their abilities. Their health care needs are clearly identified and they are able to access routine and emergency medical support as the need arises. Young people have the potential to present difficult and challenging behaviour but through high quality care planning and risk management strategies they are effectively encouraged to acquire positive social skills. The school places a high value on the quality of relationships between young people and staff and this plays a central role in promoting positive change. The staff have an excellent understanding of their responsibilities to protect young people from harm and there are strong measures in place to keep them safe. Leadership of the school is strong and actively encourages staff to reflect on their practice and take their opportunities for personal development. The school has a good track record in seeking continuous

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Overall effectiveness

One area was identified in which the school is not fully compliant with the regulations. This concerns the checking of employment history of staff prior to employment. Four recommendations are made concerning the system for the administration of medicines, the repair and refurbishment of one part of the school, the freedom of movement arrangements in one house and consultation with young people and others as part of Regulation 34 reporting about the quality of care.

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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 full and satisfactory information is obtained for all employees in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 2. (Regulation 26(3)(d)) 01/12/2012

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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 medicines are stored and administered safely (NMS 6.13)  ensure that all parts of the home provide a comfortable and homely environment that is well maintained and decorated (NMS 10.3)  ensure that there are no restrictions on the liberty of any young person as a matter of routine (NMS 3.19)  ensure that monitoring processes, including Regulation 34 reports, include consultation with young people and their parents. (NMS 21)

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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 have severe learning disabilities and communication difficulties and may also have a diagnosis of autism. Nonetheless, they are making very good progress in their personal development and educational achievements. They benefit from high quality input from the school’s therapeutic services team. This provides staff with strong foundations on which to understand young people’s behaviour and explore appropriate solutions. The school’s approach ensures that as far as possible young people have a positive sense of well-being. One independent reviewing officer observed that young people are ‘very happy and content’.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people’s health care needs are clearly identified through highly individualised health care plans. This ensures that young people can be supported to access routine and emergency medical support as the need arises. The young people are successfully encouraged to lead active lifestyles and to eat well. Physical activities, such as gymnastics and rebound therapy, are programmed into their personal weekly plans. This contributes to their overall sense of well-being and achievement.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Generally, the systems in place for the administration of medicines are sound. However, some minor medication errors were noted in the record keeping. While the school has taken appropriate remedial action and there was no impact on young people, the occurrence of errors does not make the systems as safe and accountable as possible.

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Outcomes for children and young people

As noted in the summary the education provision within the school was subject to a concurrent, separate inspection. Young people have very good school attendance and are achieving well in line with their individual abilities and starting points. They benefit from a flexible time table and 24 hour curriculum. This ensures that young people are making the most of their opportunities to learn both within the school environment, at home and in the community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The school has appointed an independent advocate to support it in promoting young people’s participation in decision making. The school had identified this as an area for improvement and good progress is being made. This ensures that young people are making an increasingly significant contribution to the way in which the school is run.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are regularly visited by their parents and siblings. Parents play a key role in sharing their experiences with the school and make positive suggestions regarding young people’s routines and the personal preferences. The school values parents input and ensures that they maintain good relationships with their children. On this point, a social worker said, ‘the best thing is that you can see the progress young people are making, especially in the way they interact with their parents.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are making excellent progress in acquiring daily living and independence skills and understanding their own personal care needs. This is a strength of the school and makes a significant contribution to young people’s transition to adulthood.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from highly structured routines, a nurturing and supportive environment and a committed and well-motivated staff team. The provision of a core team around the young person ensures consistent care and support. This approach enables young people form strong, lasting bonds with the adults around them. The staff value their relationships with the young people and recognise the important role they play in effecting positive change. Young people’s interaction with adults and others assists them in acquiring good social skills and learning to behave appropriately. Young people have their own individual means of communication and all are able to make choices and indicate their preferences. They contribute to their review meetings in line with their level of understanding. As noted above young people are increasingly involved in decision making in the school and are well supported by the

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Quality of care

independent advocate. Young people have a voice and their views are taken seriously.

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Quality of care

Young people are provided with information about making a complaint. It is available in different formats to ensure it is as widely accessible as possible. Young people are supported well by staff to raise their concerns and the school takes prompt action to investigate and resolve any issues. Young people have access to an effective complaints process.

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Quality of care

Placement planning is of a very high standard. Young people’s needs are clearly identified and the school actively reviews the effectiveness of agreed strategies for supporting young people. This ensures young people benefit from consistent levels of care and guidance. Staff have good opportunities to reflect on their practice and modify their approach as the need arises. Young people’s lives are enhanced by the implementation of thoughtful and flexible care planning.

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Quality of care

The majority of the boarding accommodation is maintained to a very high standard, providing young people with a comfortable, homely environment. However, one of the living areas has recently been subject to an extraordinary degree of continuous damage. There is a proactive repair programme in place and all efforts are being made to re-design and refurbishment the accommodation so that young people's needs continue to be met.

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Quality of care

Young people have very good access to a wide range of activities and equipment both within the school and in the wider community. Their weekly activity programmes are closely tailored to their individual needs and preferences. This ensures that young people are making effective use of their leisure time.

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Safeguarding children and young people

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

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Safeguarding children and young people

Many of the young people have limited ability to communicate verbally but their interaction with others in and around the school was generally settled and relaxed. One young person said he felt safe and enjoyed living at the school. Young people are not involved in bullying behaviour. Young people are safe and secure within the school.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff have completed safeguarding training and have an excellent understanding of their role and responsibilities to keep young people safe. They have confidence in themselves to ensure that senior managers are made aware of any concerns they may have. The school has taken appropriate action in relation to any child protection matters that have arisen. This makes a significant contribution to the overall protection of young people. The home rarely experiences young people going missing and, as and when they do, they are returned promptly. The home does not apply sanctions preferring instead to understand why a young person has expressed themselves in a negative way. The level of restraint has fallen significantly in the last 18 months. This is directly attributable to the effective training of staff in redirection and other similar non- physical interventions. Staff have a good understanding of the risks involved in

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Safeguarding children and young people

physically restraining young people. Young people have responded well to measures promoting positive behaviour.

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Safeguarding children and young people

On the whole, staff are vetted thoroughly prior to commencing employment at the school and are subject to on-going checks of their suitability. However, robust checking of the employment history of staff has not been carried out in all cases. This slightly reduces the robust process that ensures all staff are suitable to work with young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The premises are maintained in good order and are as safe and secure as possible. Regular maintenance checks are carried out and there are effective risk assessments in place to ensure that individual young people live in a safe environment.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The vast majority of young people are free to access all appropriate parts of the school site. They enjoy a high level of supervision to ensure that they are keeping themselves out of harm’s way and are safe. However, in one isolated case a living area, has a locked gate and staff need to keep a bathroom locked for safety. It is acknowledged that the school has introduced these measures with good intentions in attempting to manage extremely challenging behaviour in this one isolated case. Nonetheless, these measures can constitute a restriction of movement. The school is however, taking all necessary steps to respect a child's rights, including working closely with a placing authority, courts and parents.

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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 home has a permanent, full-time registered manager. She is appropriately qualified and experienced and makes a direct contribution to the leadership of the school at a senior level. The management of the school is highly effective and communication between school and residential provision is very good. The staff value the input from the management team and consider them to open and approachable. Young people benefit from a school that is run in a well organised, child-centred way.

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Leadership and management

The staff are appropriately qualified and are suitable to work with young people. The home is sufficiently well staffed to enable a high level of supervision of young people and effective one to one work. The staff have good access to training and feel that the school recognises the importance of personal development and reflective practice. There is a strong core of longstanding, well-established staff who are able to absorb changes as existing staff move on. This promotes continuity and consistency in the support of young people.

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Leadership and management

The complaints procedure is widely distributed in different formats to ensure it is accessible to all young people and their representatives. Complaints are taken seriously and lessons learned as they arise. The home has a strong track record of taking prompt action to implement any requirements or recommendations that have been made at inspection. This contributes to the school’s overall improvement and achievement of good outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

There are effective processes in place for monitoring activity within the school. This includes effective evaluation through Regulation 33 and 34 assessments. The subsequent reports clearly identify areas for improvement and consolidation. Currently, Regulation 34 reports, in particular, do not include the views of young people, parents and professional colleagues. This means that not all stakeholders are able to contribute their views to the way in which the school is run.

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Leadership and management

Young people’s reviews are up to date. All case records are well organised and contribute to the effective planning for young people. Records are held securely, ensuring that information about young people is kept confidential. The Statement of Purpose accurately reflects the service that is provided and clearly set outs what young people and their parents can expect.

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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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