Children's Home, Residential special school run by Rowden House School Limited in Herefordshire

Unique reference number SC035625 Inspection date 20/06/2013 Inspector Andrew Hewston / Robert Hewston Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Residential special school (>295 days/year)

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Date of last inspection 21/02/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This service is a privately registered children's home that also provides education on site for up to 30 young people with special educational needs. The service comprises of seven separate residential homes.

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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 outstanding .

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from consistent levels of support, encouragement and praise. There are high aspirations for young people, and the committed staff team provide good quality and highly individualised care. Consultation with young people is central to the running of the home and there are many opportunities for them to integrate with community events and activities. There are some strong relationships between staff and young people, evident by staff giving high regard to the well-being of individuals. This level of support contributes effectively to increase young people’s confidence and self-esteem; young people are happy and proud of their achievements.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are trained and supported in their roles, and their enthusiasm is evident. The leadership and management have effective monitoring systems and this home adopts a proactive approach to further improve the outcomes for young people. The home has significantly improved over the last three years due to the robust and diligent management arrangements and the development of the staff team.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Outcomes for young people are outstanding .

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make significant progress throughout their time at the home. This is based on the excellent attachments that they are able to make with a highly motivated and caring staff team that support them. A social worker stated that staff have focussed on areas that are important to their young person and 'promote how his sensory needs can be responded to and this has really helped with his development.’ Parents are also able to identify individual staff members that have been intrinsic in their child's development due to their 'high awareness' of how to respond to the young person.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's health improves through well organised and consistent approaches to some complex health needs. Health promotion allows young people to become more aware of their ability to look after themselves through self-care and the development of skills involved with this. Medication has been reduced for some young people and regular reviews are held with professionals to ensure that the most appropriate medication is administered.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people's educational ability and their involvement in an educational framework have increased. The close links between school and the home areas allow for a consistency of expectations and high awareness of the young people’s needs.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enjoy regular and well supported contact with their families where appropriate. The innovative use of static caravans on the site has enabled families to visit and stay with young people while having the support of the staff team available at all times. This also enables young people to get used to differing surroundings and has also promoted the ability of young people to go on holiday, sometimes for the first times in their lives.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Transition arrangements from the home to adult placements are managed excellently. Young people benefit from integrated staffing arrangements between the child and adult placements. This allows for a seamless move and a consistency of care.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

The quality of care provided at the home is outstanding. This is achieved through a highly professional staff team that have developed an exceptionally thorough awareness of the differing needs of the young people and how to respond to these. Staff respond to the complex needs of the young people through imaginative and well thought out support structures such as colour coded days of the week planners and specific diversionary techniques for young people regarding their behaviours.

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Quality of care

Young people are fully supported in making their own choices throughout the time that they spend at the home. Individual bedrooms are well personalised and young people have had a say in the colour and décor of their rooms and also have had an input into colours within communal areas. An excellent system for mealtimes within the school block enhances young people's ability to make their own choices and the use of this area is promoted by the staff team. Young people's meetings are a chance for all young people to be involved in a discussion regarding differing issues within the home. Young people's views are fully acknowledged and acted upon where appropriate. Complaints and concerns are taken very seriously. The management team seek out areas that could be developed further and areas where young people may not be happy, but are unable to communicate this. Care staff are seen to positively advocate on behalf of the young people to support their placements and to raise

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Quality of care

issues with placing authorities if they are not responding appropriately. These actions ensure that young people's rights and views are central to the care provided.

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Quality of care

Placement plans are informative and contain clear information for any new staff. They are written in the first person from the young person's perspective, giving them a highly personal tone. A high level of detail is included within placement plans and they clearly show a wide range of information about how the young person would like to be cared for. Placement plans link up to other plans, such as education and health plans, to ensure a continuity of care is achieved across the provision. Plans are updated on a regular basis to ensure that the correct information is in place.

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Quality of care

Young people's health care is central to the provision, due to their differing range of needs and the complexities of their conditions. Plans relating to health are very detailed and the promotion of a healthier lifestyle is a positive way forwards for the young people. Protocols are in place for some medications to ensure that they are only given in the right situations and support young people's safety. Medication errors have occurred at the home since the last inspection although these had been quickly picked up. Where errors have occurred the home is responsive; for example, staff receive additional training, shadowing experiences, and also are moved to areas so that they learn from other colleagues. Links between the home and with a wide range of differing health professionals from across the country are of a high quality and staff ensure that all require medical checks or appointments are kept. These

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Quality of care

actions fully support the health of the young people.

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Quality of care

Due to the setup of the homes all young people have excellent links with the school on site. Staff fully support young people through providing a continuity of care that covers education. Care staff are involved in supporting young people's education and education staff conversely share information with the home relating to the young people’s day in education. All necessary education meetings are completed to make the most of the educational provision and allow young people to develop as much as possible.

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Quality of care

Young people are consistently busy while in residence while also being able to have time to be on their own and relax if they wish to do so. Activities are highly individualised and good use is made of community resources to allow young people to have as many experiences as possible. Young people's activity planners are age appropriate and responsive to their likes and dislikes, so while older residents may be visiting a local pub, younger residents are using public transport to visit a local youth club. Excellent planning has been completed to ensure that a young person was able to have their haircut at a local barber. A wide range of activities are offered on the home's site and within the individual homes to promote young people’s opportunities to become involved in different activities. A good activity hall is available on site to allow young people to keep busy. The site is very well maintained and provides young people with a very pleasant

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Quality of care

environment to live in. The site's maintenance team responds to issues swiftly. All necessary adaptations are in place depending on the young people's needs. There is some innovative practice in relation to personalising the home's areas to respond to specific needs of young people, including providing additional shower curtains to promote privacy in bathroom areas.

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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 protected by robust and effectively implemented safeguarding arrangements. Their well-being is promoted at all times because safeguarding is at the heart of the service. Parents are unanimous and confident that the service keeps their young people safe.

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Safeguarding children and young people

All staff are aware of their own roles and responsibilities, and those of other agencies involved in keeping young people safe. Safeguarding issues have been raised at the home since the last inspection, these have been responded to with exceptional efficiency and diligence. The manager and staff are proactive in establishing effective links and working partnerships with the police and the local safeguarding children's team. This liaison results in safeguarding concerns being robustly investigated and addressed. Following investigations there are proactive responses to how such circumstances can be avoided in the future and how to support or increase training for those involved in the situations. The home works well to ensure that contact with safeguarding organisations is seen as positive rather than something to be concerned about. This promotes further reassurance that the home effectively supports the

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Safeguarding children and young people

The atmosphere at the home is relaxed. The emphasis among the staff team is to defuse any potentially difficult and challenging situations swiftly and without issue. Staff receive regular training and updates regarding behaviour management. All staff have an excellent understanding of individual plans relating specifically to differing behaviours and the strategies in place for responding to these. This enables them to manage situations with skill and confidence. Staff are calm, consistent and clear about their expectations and young people have an understanding about rules. Young people experience high quality nurturing, warm and positive relationships with staff. It is through these relationships that effective routines and boundaries are established. Restraint is used as a last resort, however, in the event of a restraint taking place appropriate records are maintained. Staff are consistent and clear in

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Safeguarding children and young people

their expectations, and young people and parents have a good understanding of the rules. Practical consequences for inappropriate behaviours are used giving young people the opportunity to recognise their behaviour is not acceptable and enable them to put things right.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has excellent systems in place to protect young people should they go missing. The home follows the local authority’s policy on young people missing from care and implements this in accordance with a young person’s risk assessment and care plan. No young people have gone missing from the home despite this being a concern raised for some young people in their risk assessments.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people are protected with robust recruitment processes. Visitors are checked, vetted and monitored. Excellent staffing levels further help to keep young people safe and reduce any risk of harm. The organisation’s effective recruitment procedures ensure the careful selection, recruitment and retention of staff. New staff are comprehensively vetted prior to their deployment in the home and before having unsupervised access to any young person. This ensures young people are safe and have a staff team who know them well

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Leadership and management

The leadership and management of the children's home are outstanding .

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Leadership and management

The Registered Manager and staff team deliver an outstanding level of care for young people. The home is effectively and efficiently managed. The manager constantly communicates high expectations to the whole staff team and gives young people, their families and placing authorities comprehensive information about the services offered by the home. The home is well-resourced, indicating the financial viability of the provider. The staff treat young people with the utmost respect and dignity and support them in overcoming significant and complex issues. Staff are held accountable for their performance and their individual development needs are identified through regular professional supervision. This means they are able to reflect upon their performance and consider ways of further enhancing this.

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Leadership and management

Young people make exceptional progress because the service provides them with a safe, nurturing and structured environment. Staffing levels are tenaciously managed, in keeping with the service’s Statement of Purpose and the needs of the young people. There is an effective and stable group of core staff in the home. The staffing arrangements provide young people with permanency and consistency.

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Leadership and management

The staff in the home have a clear sense of purpose and fully implement the home's Statement of Purpose. They understand the ethos and aims of the home and communicate these effectively to others, including children and young people's families. This clear sense of purpose provides a solid foundation for the outstanding quality of work undertaken in the home.

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Leadership and management

Trends and patterns are used to address improvement because records are clear and accountable. The Registered Manager and staff have an excellent knowledge of the legal framework and regular management checks are carried out. These checks, alongside monthly checks by an independent visitor, ensure a comprehensive audit against the requirements and standards set down for registered children’s homes.

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Leadership and management

The home has a diverse staff group that uses staff’s individual experiences to develop young people's knowledge. The strength of the home is the enthusiastic, competent and consistent staff team that is totally committed to putting the best interests of the young people at the heart of their work, enabling them to provide outstanding care and support.

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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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