Children's Home run by Wessex College Limited in Wiltshire

Unique reference number SC037596 Inspection date 15/04/2013 Inspector Thomas Webber Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 11/12/2012 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

The organisation also runs a school that is registered with Ofsted. This provides placements exclusively for young people accommodated in the group’s homes. Alternative educational placements are used to meet the specific needs of young people where appropriate.

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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

Overall the home provides young people with a good standard of care. Safeguarding and quality of care are rated as outstanding. Safeguarding practices are robust and ensure that all necessary steps are taken to keep young people safe. The home excels in working in close partnership with all relevant agencies and young people’s families. This approach enhances the quality of care young people receive.

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Overall effectiveness

The manager provides strong and effective leadership. Young people continue to make significant progress in various aspects of their lives due to the support and guidance they receive from the manager and the stable staff team. The staff are highly motivated and committed to achieving the best possible outcomes for young people, socially, emotionally and educationally. Young people also benefit from the support they receive to prepare them for independent living. Young people feel safe living at the home and are very appreciative of the care and support they receive. Strong and successful relationships are maintained between the staff and young people. Young people continue to thrive within a warm, caring, nurturing and supportive environment.

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Overall effectiveness

The personalised care provided to young people ensures that they receive all the necessary support needed to meet their physical, emotional and psychological needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The high level of personalised care and support young people receive strongly contributes to their overall personal growth and development. Staff have a very good understanding of the specific needs, abilities and vulnerabilities of young people accommodated. As a result, young people make significant progress socially, emotionally and educationally. Young people are very appreciative of this and acknowledge the progress and achievements they have made.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are fully supported to gain a greater insight and understanding of their behaviour. This is achieved by looking at what has happened to them previously and the achievements they have now made. They are also supported to reflect on their actions, which assists them to develop in confidence and improve their self-esteem by understanding the effect of the positive decisions they make.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are fully consulted and given every opportunity to engage in a range of community activities they enjoy. These also enable them to try and develop their personal interests and talents as well as to make new friendships outside of the home’s environment.

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Outcomes for children and young people

All young people are supported to attend an educational placement that is tailor made to meet their individual needs. Most young people now achieve good attendance. This enables young people to make successful progress and helps them to strive towards achieving their educational potential.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff actively support young people to maintain the agreed level of contact with their respective families for their benefit. This includes assistance, where applicable, in the transport arrangements as well as providing practical strategies to help the contact arrangements run smoothly. Families and the respective placing authorities are kept fully up to date with regard to the care and progress of young people. Social workers spoke extremely positive about the level of care and communication maintained.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home’s independent living programme supports young people to learn and develop a range of practical life skills. Young people learn how to menu plan, budget, prepare and cook meals, undertake various household chores and decorating tasks, and manage money. These acquired skills support young people to grow in confidence and suitably prepare them for the move towards more independent living.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

Young people live and thrive in a warm, caring and nurturing environment. Staff maintain high aspirations for the young people in their care. This provides young people with excellent support which also helps them to make significant progress in various aspects of their lives. The strong relationships established between the staff and young people assist young people to develop trusting relationships with adults and significantly impacts on the reduction of their risk-taking behaviours. Young people spoke extremely positively about the care and support they receive and their overall experience at living at the home. Staff actively celebrate the various achievements of young people, who thrive on the praise and positive reinforcement they receive from staff.

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Quality of care

Staff are committed to implementing the detailed placement plans established for young people which focus on meeting their individual needs on a daily basis. These are regularly reviewed and revised to ensure that they reflect the changing needs of young people and support them to make significant progress. Staff also work effectively with all relevant professionals to secure positive outcomes for young people. Young people are fully supported to attend and contribute to their statutory reviews.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a healthy environment where staff assist and support them to adopt a healthy lifestyle. Young people are registered with the various local healthcare services. Those, who are capable, are fully supported to make their own healthcare appointments. Young people also receive specialist support to meet their specific emotional and psychological needs. In addition, they are given every opportunity, through advice and support, to give up addictive activities such as smoking. Young people are supported to maintain control over some aspects of their medication where this is deemed safe to do so and based on a risk assessment. The safe storage and administration of medication are consistently maintained to promote the safety and well-being of young people.

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Quality of care

Various educational placements are used to ensure that the individual needs of young people are appropriately met. The support of staff, together with the well- established routines and expectations within the home, enable young people to achieve improved attendance. Staff work very closely with the educational placements to ensure that effective communication is maintained between them so that any issues or concerns relating to young people are promptly dealt with.

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Quality of care

Young people are fully involved in the various consultation processes. These ensure that the views of young people are taken into account. Their views contribute to the development and delivery of care and services provided by the home. As a result, young people feel valued and listened to. Young people are fully conversant with the complaints procedure and are fully supported to raise any concerns or worries they may have. Three complaints have been received from young people since the last inspection. The home takes prompt action to address and resolve the concerns raised and ensure that thorough records are maintained.

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Quality of care

The home provides young people with a safe, comfortable and suitably maintained family-style environment. Damage caused by the unacceptable behaviour sometimes displayed by young people is promptly and appropriately remedied. Young people are provided with their own bedrooms which are decorated and personalised to their individual tastes. The home also provides young people with sufficient communal space together with bathing and toilet facilities to meet their individual and collective needs. Suitable locks are provided to the bathing and toilet facilities to promote the privacy and dignity of young people.

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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 are kept safe by the home’s excellent safeguarding practices which are rigorously monitored. As a result, young people feel safe living at the home. Robust and close working partnerships are well established with the placing authorities of young people and all other relevant agencies. These ensure that agreed strategies are in place to minimise the risk of harm to young people within the home. Within this framework, excellent plans and risk assessments support young people to take age-appropriate risks as a part of their personal and social development.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff take appropriate action when young people go missing, and comprehensive records are maintained in respect of such incidents. This practice contributes to the safe return of young people at the earliest opportunity. Young people, on their return, are given every opportunity to thoroughly discuss and reflect on their decisions and actions and consider the impact of their behaviour on their own safety and well-being. As a result, young people are assisted to develop an awareness of their own safety which contributes to the significant reduction in their risk-taking behaviours. The manager has updated the recording format to ensure that it records what action should be taken to minimise future incidents.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Staff demonstrate a clear understanding and respond appropriately to the needs and vulnerabilities of young people to promote and protect their welfare. Staff are also extremely committed to working with young people to minimise the risk of them going missing. As a result, the number of incidents where young people go missing is kept to a minimum. Staff have achieved tremendous success in this area of practice by reducing the risk to specific individuals, given their past histories. This outstanding practice was endorsed by comments made by the local police co-ordinator for missing juveniles.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people and staff do not see bullying as a major cause for concern. However, all incidents are taken very seriously and promptly and effectively dealt with to prevent further risks of harm to young people.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people make significant progress in developing and maintaining appropriate levels of behaviour, taking into account their starting point on admission to the home. This is achieved through the strong, nurturing relationships established between staff and young people. The firm and consistent boundaries and the use of praise and positive behaviour incentives also contribute to these achievements. Staff are appropriately trained in restraint and de-escalation techniques. The detailed behaviour management plans provide staff with clear guidance in assisting them to effectively manage the challenging behaviour of young people. This practice leads to the minimal use of restraint. A number of sanctions have been applied since the last inspection which are appropriately recorded. The manager's regular monitoring of the disciplinary measures ensures that the welfare of young people is promoted.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people and staff regularly take part in fire evacuation drills to ensure that they are fully aware of the correct procedures and take appropriate action. The various health and fire safety tests and servicing arrangements are accurately maintained to safeguard young people and staff. These activities ensure that they live in a safe environment.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff recruitment processes and practices for the careful vetting of new staff are rigorous and robust. These fully protect young people and prevent the employment of unsuitable adults. New staff do not commence employment at the home until all the required checks are carried out and deemed satisfactory. 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 demonstrates clear and effective leadership. The manager provides a ‘hands-on’ approach and this together with her style of leadership has a positive impact on raising standards within the daily operation of the home. The manager, with the support of her staff team, is enthusiastic and highly committed to meeting the diverse needs of young people accommodated. There is also a strong focus on achieving continuous improvement in outcomes for young people.

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Leadership and management

The aims and objectives of the home are well embedded in practice. The care and services young people can expect to receive are clearly documented in the home's Statement of Purpose. Young people, as part of the admission process, also receive clear and useful information about aspects of the care they can expect to receive.

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Leadership and management

The manager ensures that sufficient staffing levels are maintained throughout the day and night to meet the individual and collective needs of young people. Young people also receive care from a stable staff team. These staffing arrangements ensure that young people receive stability, continuity and consistency of care. The organisation is very committed to supporting staff to obtain the required professional qualification once they have completed a comprehensive induction programme. Most of the staff team have achieved this and are fully supported, as part of their professional development, to undertake additional training to enhance their skills, knowledge and competence. These opportunities enable staff to effectively work with and meet the challenging needs of young people.

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Leadership and management

The manager ensures that staff are appropriately managed to ensure that they are proficient in safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people. Their day-to- day working performance is suitably monitored through regular formal supervision. Excellent communication is also maintained between staff through thorough handover and regular team meetings. These forums enable staff to raise and discuss any particular concerns or issues relating to young people as well as to review and revise their day-to-day working practices. These opportunities contribute to the overall delivery of care provided to young people.

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Leadership and management

The quality of care is regularly monitored through the use of well-established external and internal processes. These arrangements monitor how the home is run and evaluate the progress and achievements of young people. The manager takes all necessary steps to address any recommendations made which ensures that continual improvements are made to the delivery of care which ultimately benefits young people. The views of young people are also obtained and acted upon regarding the quality of care provided.

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Leadership and management

The manager and staff work effectively with young people's families, placing authorities, and other relevant agencies to achieve the best outcomes for young people. Excellent communication is maintained with families, where applicable, and all relevant professionals. They are fully consulted about pertinent decisions in the review of care to young people which ensures that young people are well looked after.

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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 and the evaluation schedule for the inspection of children's homes.

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