Children's Home run by The Together Trust in Stockport

Unique reference number SC025712 Inspector Stella Lovie Type of inspection Interim Provision subtype Children's home

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Registered person The Together Trust Registered person address The Together Trust Centre Schools Hill CHEADLE Cheshire SK8 1JE Responsible individual Jill Marie Bernadette Sheldrake Registered manager Diane Yates Date of last inspection 09/10/2014 2 of 5 Inspection date 05/03/2015

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Previous inspection outstanding Enforcement action since last inspection none

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This inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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This inspection

The home was last inspected in October 2014. It achieved an overall effectiveness judgement of outstanding. Two recommendations to improve practice were made. They have been fully met at the point of the interim inspection. This demonstrates that the manager learns from inspection activity.

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This inspection

Young people continue to have a wide range of opportunities, support and help to enable them to achieve the best possible outcomes, mature successfully into adulthood and to develop a positive identity. Consequently they continue to do very well in their education. Staff at this home speak proudly of the young people's achievements and the progress they have made. They take pride in the fact that they have been instrumental in this. Young people are provided with easily accessible information about their rights so that they have independent support to express their views to relevant external professionals about the level of service they expect to receive. This helps them to feel empowered and listened to.

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This inspection

Young people enjoy very secure placements in the home. Their experience of care here resembles family care as closely as possible. As a result, they voice a strong sense of belonging. This provides them with a secure base where they feel rooted and accepted. Individually tailored care helps to prepare them for moving on to semi-independent and fully independent living. However, this has yet to address young people’s need for direct work around social and sexual relationships so that they have a better understanding about essential social and life skills.

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This inspection

Staff continue to facilitate constructive relationships between young people and their birth families. They achieve this by being empathic, flexible and open-minded in their work with young people and their families. As one social worker confirmed: ‘My young person’s mum is highly complimentary about the home. She feels it has helped her son to come on in leaps and bounds.’ This evidently strongly promotes 3 of 5 young people’s sense of well-being.

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This inspection

Young people still voice feeling a strong sense of safety in the home and in their local community. Despite heightened anxieties about impending moves out into more independent living, young people’s behaviour remains extremely settled and stable. This means there have been no incidents of restraint or use of sanctions since the last inspection, and young people have not felt the need to run away at any stage. Young people and their relatives demonstrate full trust in the staff and provider’s efforts to support them successfully through current challenging transition processes. As one parent commented: ‘The home has done everything possible to try to push the local authority to come up with a suitable plan for my son. Staff have been really great with him and myself. They’ve been amazing.’

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This inspection

Leadership and management arrangements remain effective. There is a strong, collaborative team dynamic which ensures consistency in ways of working with the young people. Monitoring and quality assurance arrangements are robust. They serve to ensure that the manager maintains a good grip on the quality of care provided. That said, there has been some slippage in the provision of regular formal supervision for staff. While there is no discernible negative impact of this in respect of the young people, it nevertheless inhibits the manager’s oversight of some staff’s professional development.

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This inspection

In conclusion, the home continues to provide an outstanding service to young people. As a result, young people continue to thrive. Two recommendations are made to further improve practice. 4 of 5

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Information about this children’s home

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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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/10/2014 Full outstanding 11/03/2014 Interim good progress 12/12/2013 Full good 04/02/2013 Interim 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 children are supported to establish positive and appropriate social and sexual relationships (NMS 12.1)  ensure staff are provided with regular supervision. (NMS 19.4) Website: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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Recommendations

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What inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspections we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection.

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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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