Children's Home run by Potton Homes Limited in Southend on Sea

Unique reference number SC438764 Inspector Joanna Heller Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Potton Homes Ltd Registered person address 9 Brookway LONDON SE3 9BJ

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Responsible individual Susan Mary Potton Registered manager Thomas Russell Thurlow Date of last inspection 19/02/2014 2 of 9 Inspection date 25/06/2014

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Previous inspection satisfactory progress Enforcement action since last inspection none

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Overall effectiveness good

Outcomes for children and young people good Quality of care good Keeping children and young people safe good Leadership and management good

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Overall effectiveness

This is a suitably resourced and well-managed home. Investment in staff training means that staff are competent and skilled. A strong commitment to safeguarding underpins staff practice.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people make strong individual progress from their starting points. Young people say they like the home and rate the staff 10 out of 10. Young people say staff are particularly strong at helping them to calm. Staff show a strong commitment to young people and build very positive relationships with them. The positive relationships mean that young people feel able to talk to staff about things which worry them.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people and other agencies rate the home as good. Placing authorities’ comment on the strong individual progress children have made. The manager maintains good communication with key agencies and placing authorities, ensuring young people remain at the centre of care delivered. Young people are healthy and make good progress in their education.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people‘s risk taking behaviours have reduced. Staff are clear on the thresholds for physical intervention and use restorative justice where possible to prevent criminalisation. Young people are beginning to mature and learn to self- 3 of 9 regulate their behaviours.

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Overall effectiveness

One shortfall in relation to fire precautionary arrangements was noted, which the manager addressed during the inspection. 4 of 9

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides long-term and task-centred care to a maximum of six male or female young people who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. This is one of two residential services operated by this privately run organisation, in addition to a school adjacent to this home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2014 Interim satisfactory progress 16/08/2013 Full good 28/12/2012 Interim satisfactory progress 25/07/2012 Full good 5 of 9

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Outcomes for children and young people good

The home provides young people with a happy environment in which they are nurtured to grow and develop. Young people benefit from individualised child-focused care. Young people enjoy living at the home and grade the home as good to brilliant giving the home an overall score of 9 ½ out of 10.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Most young people make good individual progress from their starting points. For example, some young people have made very strong educational progress increasing their educational attainment by two levels in core subjects, such as, English, maths and science. Other young people have developed maturity and are more able to self- regulate their behaviour.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people feel safe and risk-taking behaviours have reduced. Young people are developing strong attachments with staff who nurture them to develop their emotional resilience. Young people are involved in the daily running of the home and decisions made about their care.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people are healthy and are developing awareness of how to maintain healthy and active lifestyles. Young people develop self-care and independence skills appropriate to their age.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

The building provides young people with good quality spacious accommodation that meets their needs.

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Quality of care good

Young people enjoy placements where they are nurtured and are able to develop strong relationships with staff. This in turn helps young people develop their emotional resilience. Young people enjoy the high levels of personal attention paid to them by staff which they say helps them feel safe. Young people like living at the home and say the staff are nice, rating staff as 10 out of 10. Young people enjoy the company of staff who encourage them to read, go out with them and take them fishing.

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Quality of care good

Comprehensive placement plans developed by the home effectively guide staff on how to support young people on a day-to-day basis. The placement plan which covers all areas of the child’s strengths, needs, identity, routines and goals, is kept under regular review. This means that staff remain well aware of the child’s needs. Good information sharing between the home and other services, such as, education and youth offending enables consistency of approach and promotes positive 6 of 9 outcomes for young people.

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Quality of care good

Young people are healthy and staff ensure that young people receive regular preventative health checks. Regular discussions take place around promoting healthy lifestyles and addressing key issues, such as, the use of alcohol. Staff are sensitive to the emotional well-being of young people and work in partnership with child and adolescent mental health teams (CAMHS). Staff are supported in understanding young people's emotional well-being through case discussion with the homes psychologist.

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Quality of care good

Most young people have good school attendance and are making strong educational progress from their starting points. Effective liaison between the home and schools ensures a consistent promotion of education and learning opportunities. For example, some young people are supported by the home's staff within the organisation's school. This means young people are able to have learning delivered flexibly according to their individual needs. Good communication and planning means that some young people are able to maintain existing school placements safely. Staff are thoughtful in preparing young people for a positive day, for example, waking routines include offering young people cups of tea in their room and a relaxed and good variety of breakfast options to promote a calm start to the day. This means that young people are in a frame of mind on arriving at school to maximise learning opportunities. Staff provide a learning environment outside of the school day through

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Quality of care good

a variety of books and media for young people to browse and carefully planning activities which continue to stimulate and provide learning opportunities.

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Quality of care good

Staff are aware of young people's individual interests and support opportunities for normal childhood development and experiences. For example, one young person particularly enjoyed repairing things and staff linked them with the maintenance person, involving them in maintenance within the home.

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Quality of care good

Staff support young people to understand their personal history, and how this affects them. Staff are flexible in responding to young people’s needs and reflect on how young people’s life experience may impact on how they perceive the world around them.

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Quality of care good

Young people know how to make a complaint and are confident to do so. The manager investigates complaints appropriately giving clear feedback to young people of the outcome. The manager is proactive in promoting positive relationships with neighbours.

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Quality of care good

The home, spacious and well maintained and decorated giving young people suitable amounts of private and communal space.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

7 of 9 Young people feel safe, secure and well cared for. Young people develop strong relationships with staff who provide consistently clear boundaries whilst maintaining a calm and relaxed atmosphere. Professionals state that staff are strong at safeguarding and good at seeing potential risks. Positive relationships with the local authority designated officer (LADO) for safeguarding underpin a robust approach to safeguarding within the home.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people’s positive relationships with staff underpin the therapeutic ethos of the home. This approach is helping young people understand their anger and why they behave in the way that they do. Young people reflect that staff are strong at calming them and helping them communicate in a more positive way. Good systems are in place to promote positive behaviour through the use of regular praise and reward. This helps young people feel valued and builds their self-esteem. Staff are appropriately trained in restraint and are clear on the threshold for physical intervention. Young people are clear as to why restraint takes place and have an opportunity to explore their feelings about this. Any sanctions applied are appropriate and clearly recorded.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people feel they can talk to the caring staff about any problems they may have. Good quality discussions and pieces of work take place regarding keeping safe, making positive choices and the misuse of alcohol.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff are sensitive to emotional crisis that young people may be facing and tailor their support to effectively safeguard young people through this. Good quality risk assessments and management plans guide staff effectively on how to prevent and manage risk. Young people who go missing are effectively safeguarded and notified to the appropriate agencies in line with local guidelines.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Youth offending teams state that ‘staff are committed to Young People's welfare and promote restorative justice in order to prevent the criminalisation of young people.’

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The manager ensures good systems are in place to ensure the safety and security of the building. For example, there is an emergency escape plan that all staff and children are familiar with and have practiced so they know what to do in an emergency. However, the integrity of one fire door was compromised, this had the potential to undermine the otherwise effective fire precautionary arrangements in the home. The manager addressed this during the inspection ensuring young people and staff are safeguarded from fire in line with current good practice.

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Leadership and management good

The Registered Manager has been in post since October 2013. The current management arrangements are now embedded and the manager has overseen improvement within the home. The manager is appropriately qualified in childcare and plans to develop their management skills through undertaking management 8 of 9 training within the next year. Young people, placing authorities and the majority of professionals rate the home as good to excellent. Young people make good individual progress from their starting points.

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Leadership and management good

Staff display a strong commitment to ensuring young people have the best life outcomes possible. Staff say they are well led by a manager who leads by example and has a strong therapeutic base which underpins their practice. Staff are well supported through regular supervision and team meetings. Good communication between the home and school, and local safeguarding agencies, ensures that children's welfare remains at the core of the service.

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Leadership and management good

A strong investment in staff training means that staff are competent and well trained. As well as core training, such as, safeguarding, restraint and first aid, a wide range of relevant additional useful training for staff is provided. Individual case discussion and training for staff is available through the psychologist employed by the organisation. This enables staff to have a good understanding of young people's needs and promotes reflective practice.

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Leadership and management good

Staffing levels are suitable to meet the assessed needs of young people. Additional staffing is provided above that required to meet the needs of a number of young people who have one-to-one support throughout the day. This means that young people continue to be able to engage in activities and go out of the home when they choose even where they require supervision.

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Leadership and management good

Record management in the home is robust and fully evidences the care provided. This enables young people to have an understanding of their time in the home should they wish to access this information.

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Leadership and management good

The manager has been highly proactive in building positive community relationships with neighbours and partner agencies, such as, the local safeguarding and youth offending teams. The manager notifies all significant events to the relevant authorities and takes appropriate action following any incident.

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Leadership and management good

The home is suitably resourced to ensure that the service meets the aims and objectives as set out in the Statement of Purpose. The manager has ensured that all recommendations set at the previous inspection have been met. Quality monitoring processes at the home are robust and the manager has a clear development plan and vision for the home. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management good

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Judgement Description

Outstanding A service of exceptional quality that significantly exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Good A service of high quality that exceeds minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Adequate A service that only meets minimum requirements.

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Judgement Description

Inadequate A service that does not meet minimum requirements.

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Information 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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Information 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 framework of inspection for children's homes.

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