Children's Home run by Broadlands Hall Limited in Suffolk

Unique reference number SC060936 Inspection date 09/08/2013 Inspector Linda Leeder Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 22/02/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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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.

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Brief description of the service

This privately owned children's home provides care, accommodation and education for up to 11 young people with learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Brief description of the service

There is a large education building, which is inspected by Ofsted, in the grounds of the 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

The dedicated and competent staff team provide excellent quality care in a safe and nurturing environment. Because staff are consistently respectful and supportive, young people grow in confidence. They learn to display appropriate behaviours in the home and in the community. Young people receive superior care that improves their physical, emotional and mental health as a result of living in the home. Educational attendance is good and young people's achievements are celebrated. The home provides young people with a broad and exciting range of activities and leisure pursuits. This develops skills in all areas and young people are able to make a positive contribution to their home and the wider community.

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Overall effectiveness

Management is strong and committed to continual improvement. Sound safeguarding practices generally promote the safety of young people. The service has a strong ethos of working with other professionals and parents to provide consistent and individual care that improves the outcomes for young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Areas for development include making sure staff implement local missing from home protocols; the telephone number of Ofsted is entered in the children’s guide and records kept by the home about individual children are kept confidential.

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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 the children's guide shall include the address and telephone number of the HMCI. (Regulation 4 (3) (c ) ) 15/09/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) implement as required a procedure to be followed when any child accommodated in a children's home is absent without permission which has regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. 15/09/2013

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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 information about individual children is kept confidential and only shared with those who have a legitimate need to know the information. (NMS 22.3)

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have improved life chances as a result of living at the home. Young people make positive moves to appropriate independent provisions. Young people make significant progress from their starting points in their abilities to develop and form attachments, improve their emotional resilience and increase their self-care skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people enthusiastically engage in education training or employment. Despite some young people's background of missing significant periods of schooling, there is marked success in supporting them to do well and achieve while in placement. All young people have made significant progress. For example, young people are able to attend vocational training in areas they particularly enjoy and have an interest in, such as agriculture, farming, art and craft.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Staff take young people to visit family and they benefit from consistent and well facilitated contact with friends and significant others in their lives. Parents report that staff are 'very good at arranging contact and are proactive at keeping parents informed.’ Individual plans contain information regarding contact and details of family who may visit the home. Risk assessments help identify any contacts which need supervision. This helps keep young people safe. Young people enjoy a balanced diet and active lifestyles, which keeps them healthy. For example, young people attend local running clubs, gyms and ride bicycles within the large grounds around the home. Young people access suitable medical and mental health services, which include confidential appointments with their own doctor and other health care providers. This means they receive personalised and age-appropriate healthcare.

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Outcomes for children and young people

The home is good at helping young people make constructive use of their time. The wide range of stimulating activity empowers young people to take on challenges, and develop increased emotional resilience. Young people develop a positive self-view and become confident to express their individuality. For example, young people attend local clubs, care for pets and take on gardening projects. This reduces young people’s social exclusion and encourages discussion and understanding of the wider community.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make a successful transition into adulthood; they are encouraged to complete their own daily living tasks when they move into bedsits within the home environment. The home has good working relationships with colleges and partner agencies to provide information and guidance that is tailored to the individual needs of the young person. Where appropriate, the home builds good working relationships with adult care providers. Consequently, the transition from children’s services to adult services is well managed.

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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 is of an exceptionally high standard. Staff have a very good understanding of the individual tastes, preferences, and wishes of the young people. Because staff are consistently attentive to individual needs, young people feel that they are well cared for and looked after. Staff interact with young people in an open, warm, and affectionate manner. Staff are good at using humour to promote positive behaviour and there is a lively, happy atmosphere in the home. The home is a nurturing and supportive environment where young people thrive.

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Quality of care

Placement plans are detailed and thorough. They are regularly reviewed and updated by key workers and managers. Placement planning and admission processes are robust. The home ensures that any new placements are fully compatible with the existing mix of young people. Placement planning takes full account of individual needs that stem from culture, religion or personal identity. As a result, the equality and diversity of young people is fully respected. The home makes a very effective contribution to individual pathway plans and consequently supports young people very well as they move towards independence.

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Quality of care

Young people benefit from a diverse, interesting and fun range of activities. They particularly enjoy camping holidays, trips to the cinema and beach and eating out at restaurants. The very good quality and imaginative activity programme ensures that young people use their time constructively and enjoyably. For example young people have visited train stations and developed links with rail staff and they have also watched training sessions with the local fire brigade. Social workers state that staff go above and beyond what is expected of them. For example, staff have supported a young person with a paper round.– This has channelled the young person’s skills in a very positive way, which boosts self-esteem. The enthusiasm of staff for such events enables young people to reflect positively on their time in the home when they leave.

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Quality of care

The home is excellent at promoting school attendance. Staff have a very good knowledge of the young people, and they are able to motivate them and provide tailored incentives for attendance. Young people are supported to establish morning and bedtime routines. These routines ensure that young people begin the school day in a positive frame of mind. Educational achievement is promoted because the home has very good links with education providers. Staff from the home support young people at school every day. This enables young people to be comfortable and secure at school. Very high levels of educational support enable young people to do very well at school.

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Quality of care

Staff support and encourage young people to access external health professionals in line with their individual needs. Examples include staff taking young people to hospital and counselling services. The home provides young people with the support, both directly and indirectly, of a psychologist. This has developed, in a number of cases, effective and safe strategies in working with young people who find it difficult to manage and understand their own behaviour. Records of appointments with health professionals are clearly maintained ensuring the physical, emotional and mental health needs of young people are met.

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Quality of care

Young people live in a large, bright home which provides sufficient space to meet their needs. Most parts of the home are decorated to a good standard. The home is now more homely with new pictures and wall hangings. The staff encourage young people to personalise their rooms and there is a programme of redecorating the communal areas. There are large gardens and grounds with some play equipment and young people participate in the care of pets such as guinea pigs and fish.

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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

Young people are safe and feel safe in the home. They are consulted on a regular basis and staff support them to express concerns. Staff take swift action to ensure that any bullying incidents and the impact of bullying is minimised. Close supervision further ensures that bullying is quickly identified and addressed. Staff are able to identify the signs and symptoms of abuse and take appropriate action in response to these concerns. Investigations into allegations or suspicion of harm are handled fairly, quickly and consistently. This means that the home provides effective protection for young people. Safe recruitment processes, including enhanced checks and telephone verification of references, reduce the risk of the home appointing inappropriate adults to work with the young people. Visitor records demonstrate that unchecked adults are appropriately chaperoned when on site. This practice further reduces the risk of

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Safeguarding children and young people

The staff have very good interpersonal skills and communicate well with young people. Restraint is only used in exceptional circumstances. The home ensures that staff are trained in safe handling techniques that minimise the risk of injury or trauma to the young people. The safety of young people is further enhanced because they rarely go missing from the home. However, on one occasion when a young person did go missing from the home, staff did not know that he was missing and therefore did not comply fully with local missing from home protocols.

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Safeguarding children and young people

There is a strong health and safety culture in the home. Staff conduct daily checks of fire safety systems and take prompt action to remedy identified faults. ‘Near miss’ and accident reporting systems ensure that hazards are identified and removed wherever possible. Environmental risk assessments are reviewed and updated, fire safety systems are robustly monitored, and electrical systems are safe. The manager responds to these audits effectively, ensuring that any follow-up actions are carried out quickly. These factors mean that young people can grow and develop in a safe and secure environment.

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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 is efficiently managed and organised by a Registered Manager who is respected by the home's staff and has worked hard to improve the quality of care for young people in the home. This helps to keep young people safe and secure. Managers and senior staff continuously review practice to ensure that young people receive a high level of care and support. The Registered Manager demonstrates considerable awareness of the home's capacity to provide young people with a well organised environment which meets their individual needs. For example, the behavioural management and social needs of the young people are clearly identified, monitored and actioned within this home.

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Leadership and management

Improvement is promoted by robust quality assurance processes conducted by management and external visitors. These systems are good at identifying weaknesses and potential shortfalls. Actions generated through quality assurance processes are positively addressed by the home and result in improved quality of care. Records are generally clear, up-to-date and contribute to an understanding of young people’s lives. However, on one occasion a record was not kept confidential.

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Leadership and management

Management and staff are committed to continual improvement and have met the one requirement and two recommendations set at the last inspection. Consequently, methods used to avoid the need for restraint are now recorded, regular key work sessions are recorded appropriately and the Statement of Purpose now reflects how the service meets the needs of young people with autism. Parents state that 'the expertise of all the staff in supporting teenage boys with autism in my opinion is of a very high standard.’ Improvement is needed to the children's guide as it does not contain the telephone number of Ofsted.

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Leadership and management

The manager sets challenging improvement targets in the home’s development plan. This plan is then used as a tool to monitor progress. It has driven improvements in a planned programme of holiday activities, updating safeguarding policies and ensuring independent advocacy for young people.

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Leadership and management

Staff value the opportunity to take part in regular supervision that they find helpful and supportive. Managers use supervision well to communicate high expectations, improve standards of care, and give clear guidance. Quality of care is improved because any shortfalls in work practice are positively addressed through the supervision process. Regular staff meetings provide a forum for staff to share best practice and develop strategies to meet the needs of the young people.

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Leadership and management

Staff benefit from a comprehensive programme of training. New staff undertake appropriate induction training and more established staff complete further training such as higher level vocational training in working with children and young people. In addition, staff receive training in a range of areas such as safeguarding, physical intervention, administration of medication and extensive training in working with young people who have autism. This ensures that they have the knowledge and skills necessary to provide the services set out in the home’s Statement of Purpose.

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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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