Children's Home run by Calcot Services for Children Limited in Wokingham

Unique reference number SC054468 Inspection date 07/01/2014 Inspector Emeline Evans Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 06/08/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The home is privately owned by an established company. The home is registered to accommodate a maximum of three young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. A therapeutic approach is taken in working with children and young people with the aim of enabling them to return to their family home or to an alternative family placement.

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The inspection judgements and what they mean

Good progress The children’s home has demonstrated continued improvement in quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the large majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Satisfactory progress The children’s home has maintained quality of care and outcomes for children and young people and where appropriate has addressed all requirements and the majority of recommendations that were raised at the previous inspection. Inadequate progress The children’s home has failed to address one or more requirements and/or has not met the majority of recommendations and/or the quality of care and outcomes for children and young people have declined since the last full inspection.

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Progress

Since their previous inspection the service is judged to be making satisfactory progress .

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Progress

The overall effectiveness of the home was judged as outstanding at the last inspection in August 2013 with two recommendations for areas identified for further improvement. The home has maintained outstanding quality of care and good outcomes for young people.

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Progress

At the last inspection, a recommendation was made to ensure sanctions for behaviour are clear, reasonable and fair and are understood by all staff and young people. A considerable amount of work has been undertaken with the staff team to ensure this recommendation has been met. This has taken place within staff meetings and with individual staff members during supervisions. In addition, staff are currently in discussions with the young people on their views and understanding of consequences. Outcomes from these discussions are then implemented into individual behaviour plans. When staff do use measures of control they are appropriately recorded, however, not all sanction records are included in the young people's case records, which is important information for young people to access in the future. In addition, when they are included in case records they lack detail of the sanction imposed.

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Progress

Young people are now fully involved in the staff annual appraisal process. This enables young people to give their views and be appropriately involved in appraising staff. Young people’s views are also sought in a number of ways in the running of the home. There has been a focus on continuing to develop independence skills in readiness for young people to be moving on to adult life.

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Progress

The management team continue to have a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and oversee the home through effective internal monitoring. The quality of the manager’s internal checks clearly identifies trends and patterns. However, reports in relation to visits made to the home to monitor its conduct have not explored a physical intervention used in the home. There was little reference made to this recent incident, which involved a high level of aggression. In addition, the reports lack detail and there is little evaluation to be able to form an opinion on the quality of care provided.

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Progress

Since the last inspection, the young people have worked on producing information on the impact of bullying and this has been shared with other homes in the organisation to raise further awareness. The home's development plan is being regularly reviewed and demonstrates the commitment that there is to continually improving the service for the benefit of young people. Staff set clear boundaries and young people know what is expected of them. As a result, young people continue to benefit from a child- centred approach from the staff team. The home is judged to have made satisfactory progress since the last inspection with outcomes and quality of care being successfully maintained.

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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 a record of the date and circumstances of any measures of control, restraint or discipline used on a child accommodated in the home is included in children's case records. (Regulation 28, Schedule 3) 24/02/2014

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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 the procedures for monitoring the activities in the home are effective and form an opinion on the quality of the provision; this specifically relates to visits to the home under Regulation 33 (NMS 21.1)  ensure visits of the home carried out under Regulation 33 include checks on the use of restraint. (NMS 21.7)

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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 progress made by the provider since the last full inspection, identifies any further strengths, any areas for improvement and makes judgements as outlined in the Inspection of children’s homes – framework for inspection.

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