Children's Home run by Roundhouse Care in Staffordshire

Unique reference number SC425859 Inspection date 16/01/2014 Inspector Joanne Vyas Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 28/11/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

This home, which is operated by a private provider, is registered to provide care and accommodation for three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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

Children like living at this home and they are happy. They are in a stable placement which has enabled them to form close attachments with staff. They clearly see this as their home. Children have made exceptional progress especially with regards to their health, academic achievement and their behaviour. A strength of this home is the ability of the staff to provide a loving, nurturing home for children. Staff are skilled at delivering individually tailored care for children. The Registered Manager clearly understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home which enables him to successfully drive forward improvement.

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Overall effectiveness

Some minor shortfalls have been identified. These are with regards to fire safety, health and safety, maintenance and notifications of significant events to Ofsted.

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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 all significant events relating to the protection of children accommodated in the home are notified by the registered person of the home to the regulatory body, Ofsted (NMS 24)  ensure avoidable hazards are removed. This specifically refers to recommendations made by the local fire and rescue service (NMS 10.3)  ensure avoidable hazards are removed. This specifically refers to ensuring the home is free from legionella (NMS 10.3)  ensure the home is well maintained. This specifically refers to the poorly fitting door to the kitchen. (NMS 10.3)

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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

Children make exceptional progress in this home, particularly with regards to their behaviour, independence skills, academic achievement and their social, physical and emotional wellbeing. A previous carer said of the progress a child has made, ‘She’s done amazing.’ Children who have lived in the home for some time have grown in confidence and maturity. They are developing a positive self-view within this high warmth and low criticism environment. Children have the confidence to exercise their rights to voice their views in adult forums such as statutory reviews. They are better able to manage conflict within their lives. Children consider this to be their home and feel relaxed and happy. A child said what was good about the home is, ‘They care about me.’

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children have excellent attendance at school and enjoy attending. They are making good progress academically and socially. They have friends at the variety of clubs they attend such as Brownies, Girls Club, horse riding, after school club and swimming. They enjoy a variety of other activities as well including ice skating and walks in the local park.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children develop skills which will enable them to successfully embrace adulthood. This not only includes practical skills such as personal hygiene and self-help skills but also emotional skills such as being able to control their emotions. Most children who have left the service keep in contact with staff and continue to make good progress.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children mostly enjoy good health. Children who have long-term health problems are gaining a good understanding of their health needs. They attend healthcare appointments as appropriate and adhere to any medical advice. Children understand the value of eating a healthy diet and benefit from regular exercise.

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Outcomes for children and young people

Children benefit from contact with their families, previous carers and friends as agreed by their social worker. They enjoy a very active social life through their school and outside of school. This enables children to sustain attachments and build on their resilience.

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Quality of care

The quality of the care is outstanding .

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Quality of care

The ethos within this home is centred on each individual child. There is a culture of participation and attending school. Staff fully support children to be ready in time for school and transport them. Some children walk with their friends to their local school. Staff speak regularly to teaching staff to discuss each child’s progress. Staff actively encourage education and celebrate all the children’s achievements.

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Quality of care

Staff clearly know and understand the children well and provide a loving, caring environment where children flourish, develop a positive self-view and build on their resilience. A social worker said, ‘They have taken her from a poor start in life to a child who is happy, content and making good progress.’

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Quality of care

Staff work closely with other professionals such as health, therapy and education staff aswell as social workers. This ensures children are viewed holistically and staff are able to provide a high quality consistent and considered package of care. An external professional said, ‘Staff are always looking how to best work with the children they provide a service to. If something is not working then staff are able to adapt and change the way they work to better support the children.’

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Quality of care

Children are actively involved in decisions about their care and the day to day running of the home. For example they choose activities and the menu. Children with communication difficulties are helped to understand issues by the use of pictures. This means these children are able to make informed decisions and choices.

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Quality of care

Children in this home are encouraged to be children. They have access to a wide range of toys, games and books encouraging the development of imaginative play and social skills. Children have dolls from different ethnic backgrounds helping children to understand and embrace difference in people.

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Quality of care

Children have strong relationships with staff. There is a clear focus on parenting the individual child. Children feel loved and are loving back towards staff. They are keen to share their experiences with staff as a child would with a parent. Nonetheless, as a good parent, staff uphold strong boundaries which enables children to feel secure and to flourish.

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Quality of care

The home provides a child-centred therapeutic but warm and homely environment with lots of the children’s artwork and photographs on the walls. Children’s games, books and toys fill the home, giving children access to a wealth of imaginative and stimulating play. Children’s bedrooms are highly personalised and offer a comfortable place to play and sleep. The home is generally well maintained and decorated to a high standard. However, a door to the kitchen is difficult to close. This could become a hazard in the event of a fire.

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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

Children are supported within a therapeutic environment where staff are positive and nurturing. This means children feel happy and secure within their home and do not feel the need to misbehave. Therefore, this home does not have a need to restrain children and the children currently residing at the home do not go missing.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Children are safe living in this home. Staff know how to keep children safe and adhere to good procedures. Children do not bully each other in this home. Staff are committed to each child ensuring bullying behaviour does not occur. Children make good progress in learning to control their emotions and behave appropriately. They do not drink alcohol, smoke or take illegal drugs. Furthermore, they do not get involved in criminal activity.

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Safeguarding children and young people

Fire safety is taken very seriously. Staff have good night time fire safety routines in conjunction with fire detection and warning systems. Children know how to evacuate the building and practice this regularly. A fire officer has recommended, during this inspection, some changes to the storage of chemicals, the position of a carbon monoxide detector and an annual emergency lighting battery discharge to ensure the home is ‘extra safe’.

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Safeguarding children and young people

The management of health and safety within the home is generally very good. Staff have good risk assessments for children’s activities and the environment. These all contribute towards keeping children safe. However, the water system is not currently risk assessed with regards to legionella bacteria. The children have a spa bath. These are known to be a risk of harbouring legionella bacteria which can be very harmful. However, currently the children do not use the spa in this bath as it is too noisy. Therefore, the risk to children is currently low.

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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 is an experienced and qualified manager. He offers strong supportive leadership. He clearly recognises the strengths and the weaknesses of the home and strives for continual improvement. The Registered Manager has good monitoring systems in place which ensure the effective running of the home and includes consultation with all those involved in the home. There were no requirements or recommendations made at the previous inspection.

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Leadership and management

There is a stable staff team. They pride themselves on providing a service which is centred around the children. They offer a strong and consistent approach to the care of children. Staff are committed, caring, enthusiastic and highly motivated about providing a long-term, safe and caring home for children. Staff say they are fully supported by each other and their manager. Staff are either qualified or working towards an appropriate qualification and have access to a good training programme. This means staff are competent in their knowledge of the children and the care they require.

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Leadership and management

The home has a comprehensive Statement of Purpose which has issues of equality and diversity threaded throughout the document. Children are well informed about the home prior to arriving through the Children’s Guide, visits from the Registered Manager and visits by the child to the home. The Registered Manager notifies all significant events such as disclosures made by children to the appropriate authorities. However, notifications to Ofsted about children who have a serious illness and are admitted to hospital are not made. However, social workers are notified which means there is no impact on children.

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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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