Children's Home run by Flying Spur Limited in Norfolk

Unique reference number SC470585 Inspector Louisa Bayley Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered manager Richard Daniel Brandon Date of last inspection 05/03/2014 2 of 10 Inspection date 18/08/2014

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Previous inspection adequate Enforcement action since last inspection There has been no enforcement action since the previous inspection.

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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 outstanding

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Overall effectiveness

Young people benefit from personalised and well-planned care. Managers take account of individual and group needs when making placement decisions. This helps to ensure that group dynamics work well, giving young people the best chances of making good progress.

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Overall effectiveness

Young people say, through discussion and surveys, that they like living in the home. They hold staff in positive regard, developing good relationships and secure attachments with them. Young people say they feel safe, bullying is not an issue and staff put clear boundaries in place. This supports their feelings of security and helps them to develop their confidence and a sense of responsibility. Young people interact well with each other, while maintaining their individual identity and developing friendships outside of the home.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff have a good understanding of the risk factors that make young people vulnerable. They put strategies in place to help reduce risks and to increase positive engagement. A social worker said: ‘Overall, his engagement has increased 100 per cent.’

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Overall effectiveness

The manager has a balanced view of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He 3 of 10 has developed some excellent systems to monitor the progress young people make and demonstrate the value living in the home adds to their lives. 4 of 10

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Information about this children’s home

This children's home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is privately owned by an individual.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people make good progress across all areas of their development. A social worker said: ‘The outcomes have been fantastic.’ Young people have developed networks of friends within the local area, building peer relationships and broadening their social interactions outside of the care environment.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people have positive contact with family and friends from their home areas. This supports them to stay in touch with their roots and to maintain a sense of family and belonging.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

As young people settle into the home, they take more responsibility for their health. They have developed healthier eating habits, engaged with external professionals, such as substance misuse workers and they acknowledge and accept advice on sexual health. Young people have reduced behaviours that pose health risks and have become more aware of choosing healthier lifestyles.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

They have made significant progress in attending and engaging in education. For some, there is a history of non-attendance. This has moved to excellent attendance levels and completion of accredited awards.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Each young person is able to earn additional money by contributing to tasks within the home and completing independence programmes. They learn how to budget, cook and plan meals, do their own laundry and undertake household chores. The range of tasks helps to prepare them for adult life and to contribute to group living.

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Quality of care good

Staff in this home are young person-focused and have them at the heart of their practice. They build good relationships with young people, take time to understand their needs and do everything they can to accommodate their wishes. Staff use house meetings as a regular forum to gather individual’s views, to ensure that young people’s experience of living in the home is as positive as possible and that they are at the heart of how the home is run.

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Quality of care good

Care plans are highly individual; set out young people’s needs and guide staff to meet those needs. Young people’s views are integral to care planning and duly considered. Families are involved in and contribute to care planning, acknowledging the value of family relationships. Care plans reflect individual, cultural, educational and religious needs. The implementation of care plans means that young people enjoy equality of access to education, services and social opportunities. 6 of 10 Staff have a good understanding of young people’s educational potential. They support individuals to access education provision, attend education planning meetings, communicate well with education providers. Staff ensure they have current information, such as school reports. The approach of staff reinforces the ethos and expectation of full educational attendance so that young people have the best life chances possible.

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Quality of care good

Staff ensure that young people access the health services they need, for their physical, emotional, mental and sexual health. They make contacts with health professionals and accompany young people to health appointments. They give good support balanced with respect for privacy. This provides young people with a healthy attitude towards looking after themselves.

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Quality of care good

The accommodation is well maintained, has developed a more homely appeal and become more young person friendly. Young people have extensive space, good resources, significant outside space and live in a home that is likely to significantly contribute to their sense of feeling valued. One young person said: ‘This place is absolutely amazing.’ A family member said: ‘No wonder they are so happy here.’

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Quality of care good

Young people know how to make a complaint; they have good levels of information upon admission to the home. Staff ensure complaints procedures and external support contacts are well publicised within the home. There has been one complaint since the last inspection. The manager followed the complaints procedures and ensured there was a full investigation. This helps young people to know that they staff take them seriously.

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Quality of care good

The comprehensive records of the activities staff offerd to young people demonstrates that staff continually try to engage individuals in varied and interesting leisure opportunities. Equally, staff give young people choices and respect their choices when they would rather go out and see their friends. Staff provide activities on a highly individual basis, giving young people the opportunity to pursue their own interests. Young people engage in community-based activities and as a result, have developed friendships with peers locally.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Young people say they feel safe. They have comprehensive, robust and regularly reviewed risk assessments. There are clear guidelines for staff to follow to minimise the risk to individuals and to support them in reducing harmful behaviours.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The group dynamic risk assessments consider the specific nature of each young person’s needs and the way they interact together. They are comprehensive, realistic and include mitigating actions to reduce potential risks. This helps to ensure that staff are mindful of the group dynamics, take action to reduce risk and monitor the 7 of 10 group dynamics to note changes.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

There is good evidence of the staff in the home being alert to indicators of possible safeguarding concerns. Staff understand safeguarding procedures and how to respond where they identify concerns. They produce clear and comprehensive records that demonstrate appropriate information sharing with the staff team, to raise their awareness and ensure vigilance. This supports the team to take action appropriate to the concern and to build intelligence on triggers, patterns, trends and risks. A social worker said that a young person’s risk taking behaviour had reduced because staff were alert to it and put systems in place minimise those risks.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Bullying has not presented as an issue in the home. There has been one reported incident, which was minor. Staff are mindful of bullying and remain vigilant. The limited unsupervised time young people spend together limits the scope for bullying.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Missing from care is infrequent, with four incidents since the last inspection, all of which were same day returns. The staff work well with the police, they follow the missing from care protocols and ensure that all relevant parties are informed. The manager is proactive in ensuring young people have safe return interviews with an independent person. This contributes to young people’s safety and gives them additional opportunity to raise any issues.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Staff manage behaviour without resorting to restraint. They use sanctions and consequences to support young people to understand and reflect on their actions and take responsibility for them. The manager regularly reviews the effectiveness of those consequences, noting a decrease in negative behaviour.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Managers make clear records of recruitment checks, demonstrating they follow safe recruitment procedures. This prevents unsuitable adults having access to young people.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

There has been one allegation against staff since the full inspection. The manager ensured that he followed safeguarding procedures and notified the relevant parties. He has recorded the actions taken; records reflect the allegation was unsubstantiated.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Health and safety checks, fire prevention checks and servicing are all in place and current. This helps to ensure that young people live in a safe environment.

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Leadership and management outstanding

Ofsted registered the manager of this home in September 2013. He has a social work qualification and is enrolled to commence his level five diploma and considerable experience in working in children’s homes. He has worked effectively to develop the home, which became operational in January 2014. Since the home’s inception, the 8 of 10 manager has developed systems, identified areas for development and responded to feedback from a variety of people to inform continuous improvement.

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Leadership and management outstanding

There have been no complaints to Ofsted about the home.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The manager has used consultation and feedback from parents, young people, external professionals and Ofsted to affect improvement. He has responded to all negatives and considered how to use the feedback to make a positive difference in the home. He is aware of the strengths and weaknesses in the home and his robust oversight means that he is able to respond quickly to areas that need further development. This supports young people and other professionals to feel that their views are valuable and valued. He has addressed the two requirements from the full inspection. All staff now have first aid training and the manager has submitted the Statement of Purpose to Ofsted.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The manager completes internal monitoring of the service and submits the reports to Ofsted. The monitoring shows a good degree of reflection on the care provided and practice in the home.

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Leadership and management outstanding

External monitoring of the home takes place monthly and reports are submitted to Ofsted. The manager takes account of all feedback from the independent visitor and this helps to inform his improvement planning. The external monitoring acts as an additional safeguard for young people and provides an objective critique of the practice in the home and the experience of young people.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The young people's guide meets individual’s needs and gives them a clear understanding of the basic things they need to know when they move in. It is much improved in format and the current, redrafted version, is young person friendly.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The personal development plans the manager has in place for each young person are excellent. They give a starting score for young people, based on admission information. They include narrative about individual’s progress, risks, regression and other key factors. The manager reviews the score each month and this enables a clear visual picture of the progress young people make, when they regress and helps to identify any patterns. This reflection identifies the extent to which the experience of living in the home has contributed to individual progress.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The manager holds staff meetings on a twice-monthly basis. There is a good focus on young people, with comprehensive recording of discussion to reflect agreed strategies and approaches. The meetings are supportive of staff, focus on training and identifying ways to improve the quality of care.

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Leadership and management outstanding

Staff are very positive about the support they receive from managers. There is a good level of training in place and staff benefit from good supervision and reflection on their practice. One member of staff said: ‘I feel absolutely privileged to work here.’ 9 of 10 The case files for young people are clearly presented, with full and detailed records that provide a comprehensive picture of young people’s lives, the progress they make and the support they receive.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The manager chases up placing authorities to ensure they meet their responsibilities. He has developed good relationships with external professionals including meeting with the police. This has strengthened understanding between the home and the police and provided the staff with clear guidance on when to involve the police. These professional relationships serve to support and safeguard young people.

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Leadership and management outstanding

The manager has submitted timely significant incident notifications to Ofsted. There is a good level of detail in notifications, demonstrating that the manager has taken robust action where incidents occur. Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Leadership and management outstanding

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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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