Annex A. Request for information at a full inspection of a children’s home

Unique reference number SC477205 Inspector Seka Graovac Type of inspection Full Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Registered person address Town Hall Hornton Street LONDON W8 7NX

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Responsible individual Clare Chamberlain Registered manager Lee Robert Kirwin Date of last inspection N/A 2 of 9 Inspection date 04/09/2014

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Previous inspection N/A Enforcement action since last inspection first 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 good

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Overall effectiveness

Leaders and managers have created a culture in which young people are central to how the service operates. Young people's views are integral to the home's effective care planning and robust management of risks. Empowering them to achieve positive outcomes and enabling them to move on in their lives are at the heart of the service.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff members have built trusting relationships with the young people and with the professionals involved in their care. The situations in which young people put themselves at risk are well managed within an effective multi-professional context.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff are sensitive to the needs of young people and consistent about the boundaries and expectations. The home provides a safe, beautiful, orderly, supportive and nurturing environment. Staff bring positivity, warmth, consistency and stability into the lives of young people.

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Overall effectiveness

Staff social care practice is subject to the continual in-house and the local authority's quality assurance processes, reflection and learning. The team is focused on developing further the evidence-based practice that fully embraces the views of young people. Significant progress has been achieved. This inspection identifies keeping clear and accurate records as an area for further improvement. 3 of 9

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Information about this children’s home

The local authority's home has recently moved to a new building. This has triggered a new registration. The home provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who can be described as having emotional or behavioural difficulties. The local authority's semi-independent accommodation is available in the same building but does not form part of the registration.

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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 all records are clear and accurate. (NMS 22) 4 of 9

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people understand the key health risks and the importance of having a healthy lifestyle. The minutes of their meetings demonstrate their consistent commitment to eating healthy meals and leading active lives. Fresh foods available, an in-house gym, a beautiful garden and local recreational facilities support effectively the health of young people.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

They engage positively with staff members and various professionals who visit the home. This includes social workers, nurses, psychologists and drug and alcohol misuse workers. They have gained good levels of understanding of the risks associated with alcohol, drugs, unsafe sex, negative group influence and destructive relationships. They are making first steps towards establishing safer behaviours.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

They have a growing understanding of the impact of their past experiences on their current feelings, behaviours and vulnerabilities. With the enhanced personal insight, their confidence, resilience and the ability to take more responsibility for their behaviours, feelings and safety have also grown.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

They enjoy having improved relationship with their families. They are more able to make positive attachments and have formed friendships with other young people. They have a freedom to invite their families and friends to use the communal areas in their beautiful home. They also have good opportunities to arrange for their siblings and close friends to stay overnight.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

This summer, many young people had together an exciting holiday abroad. For some of them, this was the first time that they went abroad and travelled by aeroplane. The trip helped them to learn about safe travel and about the life in a Mediterranean country. They relaxed in a different environment and had fantastic time. A young person explained to the inspector what made the experience special: 'We did this together and stayed together as a family.' Young people showed having good social skills and making new friends. An example of this is that they were protective towards a young person who was in the same resort and was experiencing difficulties in their life. They demonstrated to have developed empathy and care towards others.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

Young people who chose not to go on this holiday with the home, had different opportunities to relax and have fun. One young person chose to be pampered in a spa in England, with their parent.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

In the context of the young people's starting points and their individual journeys, they have made good progress in terms of their learning and educational achievements.

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Outcomes for children and young people good

They also have good opportunities to develop a wide range of life-skills and to 5 of 9 prepare well for living independently. Those young people who have moved from the home into the local authority's semi-independent provision are doing really well. Some of them have got jobs, while others continue to work towards achieving professional qualifications. Staff prepare young people effectively for a successful transition to independence and adult life.

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Quality of care good

Young people talk positively about the staff members and about the quality of the support they receive. One young person described the staff as, 'friends' and the service as, 'a family'. The home provides positivity, consistency and stability in the lives of young people. This is in contrast to the often chaotic lives and unreliable support that they had experienced previously. An example of this is a young person who returned to live in this home on separate occasions when in need of residential support. Another young person told the inspector that the staff were always there to help young people with anything they needed.

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Quality of care good

Social workers who contributed to the inspection, spoke very highly about the quality of care provided. An independent reviewing officer judged the support given to young people as exceptionally good. The professionals were particularly complimentary about the quality of relationships that the staff have built with the young people and with the professionals involved in their care. A visiting children's advocate told the inspector: 'You should have more children's homes like this: beautiful environment and excellent staff'.

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Quality of care good

Detailed support plans are individually tailored and focused on clear measurable outcomes and timescales. The plans systematically contain views of the young people. Young people are integral to the care planning process. A young person told the inspector: 'Staff ask me about my opinions and respect me'. The full participation of young people enriches the care planning process and secures its effectiveness. Young people have been empowered to shape their care and to take more responsibility for their lives. An example of this is that a young person chaired their own statutory review-of-care meeting.

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Quality of care good

Staff build effective partnerships with other professionals to address any barriers to the progress of young people. An example of this is the way the staff members work together with mental health professionals to promote the emotional welfare of young people. When young people refuse to engage directly with the clinical services, the home's psychologist advises the staff members on the approaches they can use to promote the young person's well-being.

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Quality of care good

Staff work closely with the virtual school and the social work team to create suitable educational options for young people and to ensure positive educational outcomes. 6 of 9 Young people's files clearly demonstrate that the staff members often initiate professional network meetings. They do not shy away from challenging other professionals' views to ensure that the most insightful decisions are made in respect of the young people in their care. Other professionals welcome the staff's proactive communication and the passion to, by working together, provide the best for young people.

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Quality of care good

In addition to what children's homes usually provide, staff members are also involved in a significant family support work. They work in close partnership with parents to help them to develop better parenting skills and to have a more satisfying family life. The family work has had a significant positive impact on the young people and their families.

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Quality of care good

The other strength of this service is an effective outreach support that the staff members provide to young people once they leave the residential provision and move to the semi-independent accommodation which is situated in the same building where the home is.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The robust risk assessment process leads to comprehensive safety plans being in place for the young people who are at risk. A wide network of professionals that includes the local police is fully integrated in the risk management process. The way in which the safety plans are agreed secures everybody's commitment to ensuring that they are consistently implemented and that the young people's safety is protected.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Thorough consultation with the young people themselves enhances their insight into the risks and into the impact of their behaviour on their safety. The consultative approach facilitates the trust of young people in the professionals and help keep the lines of communication open, even in challenging situations. When a young person went missing for a significant period of time, they still kept in contact with the staff on the social media. The social worker commented positively about the home's flexibility, adaptability and creativity when taking a step to open a social network account in the light of this being the young person's preferred channel of communication. The young person responded. The communication meant that the police were able to visit the young person and ensure that they were safe and well.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Safeguarding young people is fully embedded in all aspects of the service. Staff are highly skilled in using every opportunity to instil in young people how to behave in ways that promote their safety and welfare. The key-working sessions often focus on the issues surrounding personal safety, internet safety, safe relationships, building assertiveness and resilience and the importance of not going missing. These discussions enhance the young person's resolve to be safe and their understanding of 7 of 9 how this can be achieved. An example of this is the young person's recorded comments, 'to keep to the right path by keeping out of the harm's way; not being in certain areas to avoid contact with certain groups and disassociating with the peers with the negative influence'. The young people who are at risk of being involved in gangs or being pursued by them receive additional individual support from an

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The local authority also offers safeguarding information and training to the parents. An example of this is that one young person's father recently attended a session on child sexual exploitation.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

Risk management plans are kept under on-going review. The format has been recently amended to also record the progress that the young person has made since the last review in terms of developing safer behaviours. This enhances the home's evidence base regarding the goals and outcomes that the young people have achieved.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The young people who were on supervision orders have successfully completed them. Since living in this home, they have not engaged in any criminal activities. The standard of young people's behaviour is generally good. There has been no need for staff to intervene physically.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

The police have not been called to the home for any other reason than because young people were missing from care. The frequency in which some young people go missing has significantly reduced. When those incidents happen, staff work in effective partnership with the police to locate the young person and secure their safe return home. Following the return, in addition to speaking to staff, the young person is encouraged to meet with a children's advocate. This has happened; those meetings indicate that the young people were not running away from the home, but were pulled towards other people and situations.

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Keeping children and young people safe good

On occasions when young people raised concerns about the staff members and their practice, this information was robustly followed up with the appropriate involvement of the Local Authority Designated Officers for safeguarding children and adults in the borough.

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Leadership and management good

The manager has been registered with the regulators of children's homes for approximately 12 years. In addition to having many years of relevant experience, the manager is a qualified social worker and has achieved a level 5 award in leadership of social care. He competently leads a team of qualified, experienced, skilled and motivated staff members. The effective management arrangements include a highly experienced deputy manager. The manager is well supported by the senior managers who continue to keep a robust oversight and continue to motivate the staff to keep 8 of 9 on moving the quality of the service forward.

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Leadership and management good

The whole service has moved to the new, purpose built premises in May 2014. This has triggered a new registration process. The main reason for moving was to provide young people in care with a nicer physical environment. The move demonstrates the local authority's commitment to provide the best for children and young people in their care.

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Leadership and management good

The move was well managed. Some neighbours had expressed the anxiety about the level of noise they envisaged that the move and having the children's home in the area were going to create. They were pleasantly surprised. They commented that they did not even realise when the move happened and when the home became operational.

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Leadership and management good

Young people now live in an environment of outstanding quality. The transition of the service into the new location has also been used as an opportunity to have a fresh look at the whole social care practice in the light of the new developments in the sector. Ofsted receives regular monitoring reports that show the management's high levels of reflective and analytical thinking and decisive planning for improvement.

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Leadership and management good

The service demonstrates great participation of young people and a children-centred approach that encompasses a wide professional network. Leaders and managers have continued to inspire the commitment to improvement that has the empowerment of young people at the heart of all aspects of the service.

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Leadership and management good

The improvements have been particularly significant in the care planning and the risk management process. The records clearly demonstrate the difference the home has made in the lives of young people and the positive outcomes that they have achieved.

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Leadership and management good

However, the minor recording errors have made some records inconsistent and confusing. The examples include inaccurate dates and the wrong names of the home and in one instance seen by the inspector, of the young person. The independent visitor had also identified the record keeping as an area for improvement. The management is implementing an action plan that aims to strengthen the quality assurance process in respect of records. 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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