Children's Home run by The Together Trust in Stockport

Unique reference number SC025712 Inspection date 11/03/2014 Inspector Stella Lovie Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Date of last inspection 12/12/2013 Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Brief description of the service

The children's home is run by a charity. It provides accommodation for up to two young people with emotional and behaviour difficulties and/or learning disabilities, on a medium or long-term basis.

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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 good progress .

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Progress

The home was last inspected in December 2013. It was judged to be good overall, with some outstanding features. There were no requirements made. Five recommendations were raised to improved practice.

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Progress

Young people are very effectively supported in the home to develop their self- confidence, emotional resilience and self-esteem. Consequently, they have learned to manage their feelings and emotions and to devise coping strategies to promote their psychological well-being. As a result, they display none of the challenging behaviours they previously had, and make outstanding progress in all areas of their lives. As one education professional commented: ‘We are very, very happy with the progress the young person is making here. He has an incredibly positive attitude to his timetable. He is becoming more confident in talking with unfamiliar adults. He has developed so much that he now has a reduced level of support in the college. He’s working with a wider range of adults and is able now to accept these changes where before they would have unsettled him. It’s all been really magnificent for him. Overall, he has

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Progress

made remarkable progress.’ Excellent daily communication is maintained between school and education staff which allows for any concerns or achievements to be shared, thus ensuring a consistency of approach. This helps young people achieve key placement plan objectives such as preparation for adulthood. As one head teacher confirmed: ‘The support he gets from the home is really good. We have a daily handover with the care staff. I think it’s the best placement we’ve known for a young person. We all work together to continually challenge him so we get him ready for his post-care placement.’ The success of this working together is evidenced by the fact that both settings have been able to reduce the level of staff support that the young people need.

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Progress

Staff work sensitively with parents to further promote the personal growth and development of the young people. This is achieved through excellent relationships between staff, parents and young people, in conjunction with careful and considered target setting and incentives. There is evidence of better direct work by staff with young people to help them be more engaged with their care planning. Consequently, young people have grown in confidence and are able to make clearer choices about their day-to-day lives. They have also enjoyed an increase in family contact. This promotes those important attachments and thereby increases young people’s sense of well-being.

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Progress

Leadership and management arrangements remain strong. Robust internal and external arrangements for monitoring standards of practice ensure that there is thorough oversight of the care that is given to young people and the progress they make. As a result, most of the recommendations to improve practice from the previous inspection have been addressed. However, young people’s placement plans still require up-dating, and the home was unable to fully evidence that they have employed timely and effective interventions with placing authorities to ensure that all relevant young people have pathway plans in place. That said, the home can clearly demonstrate ambition for the young people, and the intention to help them to have secure and permanent plans for their futures.

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Progress

To conclude, young people continue to achieve significant improvements in their outcomes as a direct result of the high quality care they receive in the home. Consequently the home is making good progress.

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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 each child's placement plan is monitored by a key worker within the home, with particular regard to ensuring it is up-to-date in all aspects. (NMS 25.2)  ensure that the home contributes to the development of each child's care plan, including the pathway plan for 'eligible care leavers', with particular reference to timely and effective interventions with placing authorities to ensure pathway plans are in place (NMS 12.2)

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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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