Children's Home run by Castle Homes Limited in Bromley

Unique reference number SC419334 Inspection date 07/10/2013 Inspector Tola Akinde-Hummel Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 26/02/2013 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 and accommodation for up to four children or young people who may have emotional or behavioural difficulties. The home has a registered school on site which is available to children and young people not attending an external school or alternative education provision.

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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 home provides a good service to young people. Young people are nurtured by staff whose objective it is to improve their emotional, social and physical well- being.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people describe the home as a safe place to live. This is demonstrated by the steady reduction in the incidence of absence and missing of most of the young people since their arrival.

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Overall effectiveness

The management of the home is effective thereby ensuring that staff work well together to provide young people with consistency and boundaries that they understand.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are well trained and supported and display confidence in managing behaviour and creating an environment that is conducive to the learning and personal development for young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Requirements and recommendations made as a result of this inspection focus on the variety of food provided, a more planned approach to reducing young people's smoking habits and receipt of the Registered Managers monitoring reports twice a year to HMCI.

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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 children accommodated in a children's home are provided with food which is sufficiently varied (Regulation 13.1 (a) (iv) ) 08/11/2013

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Reg. Requirement Due date

(2001) shall supply to the HMCI a report in respect of any review conducted by the Registered Manager (Regulation 34.2) 06/01/2014

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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 children understand their health needs, how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to make informed decisions about their own health (NMS 6.2).

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people make good progress in the home. They are well supported by staff who listen to them and teach them how to value themselves. Young people are encouraged to pursue their education in the home and in schools. Despite some reluctance at times to do so; staff remind them of their future aspirations and work with them towards achieving these.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are encouraged to consider the impact they have on others in the home and learn to live in a harmonious way. Young people understand that the staff have their best interests at the centre of what they do and help them to raise their expectations of themselves. One young person said, 'I know staff care about me and do what they can to make me comfortable.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people are safe in the home, they know that staff take action to maintain a safe environment. Most young people have reduced their risk- taking behaviour and are clear about the action staff will take to keep them safe.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people always have staff they can talk to help them understand and manage the challenges they face. They are more aware of the consequences of their actions on themselves and others.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people take greater care of their physical appearance and have improved self- confidence as a result.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people have a variety of opportunities to engage with community activities. They have raised money for a national charity and regularly pursue leisure interests of their choice and go on holiday with staff in the summer. This broadens their horizons by engaging them in national issues and pursuing activities that they would otherwise not experience.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people maintain contact with their relatives and are comfortable about inviting family and friends to the home. One Social worker said, 'The staff genuinely work to maintain family relationships that will be sustained in adulthood.'

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people live in an environment that is well decorated and comfortable giving the ambiance of a large family home. Young people take pride in the presentation of the home, They keep communal areas of the home clean which boosts their independent living skills.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Young people do not always understand the importance of looking after their health, particularly in relation to smoking and in some cases attending medical appointments.

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Quality of care

Staff provide consistent and individualised support to young people to address their care needs. Staff have a good understanding of the reasons why young people are placed in the home and their role in meeting the objectives set out in the individual placement plans. Young people are set individual targets which are monitored and measured on a monthly basis. Targets are agreed with young people and discussed with the staff team to ensure the approach used is followed by all staff. Regular key work sessions explore the progress of targets and when these are achieved new targets are set. Young people comment on their progress in reports sent to social workers and are fully engaged in the process.

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Quality of care

Young people have some degree of choice about their keyworkers and this does not prevent them from having key work sessions with staff that they feel most comfortable talking to. Staff and young people make good use of these sessions.

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Quality of care

Staff help young people to find ways to express their feelings in a controlled way; for example young people often write down how they feel about significant events or relationships to enable them (with staff) to explore how they could manage situations more effectively.

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Quality of care

Staff provide a consistent approach to young people pursuing their education. If young people are not in full- time education, they work with staff in the dedicated study area in the home. Staff actively pursue education professionals to establish what young people should be working on and tailor learning programmes to suit the subject. These include relevant educational trips. Most young people want to pursue their education and reach their aspirations. Staff help to maintain their optimism and motivation for learning until they are able to attend school more regularly. One professional said. ' Staff facilitate the education of young people and help them to re- integrate into school.'

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Quality of care

Staff regularly communicate with a variety of professionals. This contributes to solid networks around young people to ensure al parties are fully informed of developments and issues that arise. One social worker said, 'I have a good relationship with staff and I know they have good relationships with other professionals involved with the young person.'

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Quality of care

Some young people refuse to attend health appointments despite support from staff to do so. Staff have used various methods to support young people in accessing health care. A number of young people smoke and whilst they are reminded of the health risks and some are accompanied to seek additional advice to stop smoking, they continue to do so. The home does not have a robust action plan in place to reduce the smoking habits of young people.

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Quality of care

Menus are planned in consultation with young people however the variety is limited and on occasions repetitive. Young people participate in some meal preparation but this is not fully established mainly due to the level of interest of most young people. All young people sit with staff at mealtimes and this is used as an opportunity to relax and converse.

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Quality of care

Staff understand different cultural backgrounds and experiences that young people come from. They apply their knowledge sensitively and promote difference in a non- judgemental way. They encourage young people to adopt the same attitude when dealing with people who are different to them.

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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 feel safe in the home. They enjoy positive relationships with staff which increases their sense of safety. One young person said, I like living here, they look after you and care for you, I like all the staff.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

Young people know that any form of bullying is not accepted and is promptly addressed in the home. Young people on the receiving end of bullying are appropriately supported as are the perpetrators. External agencies are involved to help young people understand the consequences and the legal implications of such behaviour. Staff are knowledgeable about keeping young people safe. Procedures, training and staff practice contribute to the reduction in missing and absent episodes of most young people living there. Staff regularly follow young people when they leave the home without permission and encourage them to return. The home has a good system of reporting young people who do not return or maintain contact when they are away. Young people contribute and review the missing persons section of the young people's guide to ensure they understand the procedure that staff will follow if they go missing or are absent.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The home has good working relationships with the local missing persons unit, the police community support officers (PCSO) and specialist health professionals. One Police Officer said, 'We have a good rapport with the home who manage young people missing very well, we are invited to strategy meetings where there are high level concerns and take the opportunity to speak to young people about their behaviour.' One PCSO added, 'We get to know the young people living here, They let us know when a new young person moves in and we introduce ourselves. They inform us if there are any people that are befriending the young people or hanging around the area that are causing them some concern.'

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Safeguarding children and young people

Individual risk assessments provide good detail about identified risks to young people and how these are managed.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Individual behaviour plans are clear and explain what situations might trigger certain behaviours, how these manifest themselves and the potential risks. Plans also detail strategies to manage the behaviour. Young people have boundary agreements which help set out the parameters of acceptable behaviour and rules of the home to limit conflict. The plans are followed by staff to provide young people with clear messages about behaviour that is acceptable within the home and to ensure all young people are safe. Regular discussion about young people's behaviour and engagement takes place during handovers, and in team meetings. On a monthly basis, behaviour trackers are completed to monitor and measure behaviour with a view to providing additional support or praising young people on their progress.

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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 promotes the well- being of young people in line with the recently updated Statement of Purpose. This enables stakeholders to have a good understanding of what they can expect from the home.

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Leadership and management

The home is managed by an experienced and committed Registered Manager who provides good leadership and management to the staff team. Staff commented, 'I really enjoy working here, I love the young people and the manager is very supportive on a professional and personal level.' Staff undertake mandatory and specialist training to enable them to meet the support needs of young people. Team meetings are regular and focus on the safety and welfare of young people. Another staff member said, ‘The house works well when we pull together as a team, we have lots of management support to run the home and regular team meetings.'

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Leadership and management

Good staffing ratios in the home to enable off- site activities to take place as well as maintaining sufficient staffing levels within the home. Building and activity risk assessments cover most eventualities in the home and out in the community. These are thoughtfully put together and include young people's own capabilities when taking them out on activities. For example; indoor swimming. Other assessments make clear how to manage young people from accessing prohibited areas or activities.

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Leadership and management

The home’s an annual development plan is monitored quarterly to measure improvement intended to enhance the experience of young people and develop the staff team.

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Leadership and management

Monitoring visits on behalf of the provider are forwarded to Ofsted and give a good indication about how the home is functioning and areas for improvement.

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Leadership and management

Monthly monitoring reports are completed by the manager however these are not forwarded twice a year to HMCI to evaluate how the home is performing and improving.

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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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