Preston Springs Farmhouse

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home is good because:

 Young people benefit from child-centred care that helps them progress in many areas of their lives. This provides the stability that young people need in order to feel secure and move forward in their lives.

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The children's home is good because:

 Young people receive very good support when they move in or leave the home. They are prepared well for their arrival or departure and this helps to reduce the emotional and social impact of changing placements.

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The children's home is good because:

 The staff team are fully committed to securing positive outcomes for each young person and to improve their life chances and opportunities. Young people recognise the good progress they make as a result of the positive help they received.

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The children's home is good because:

 Young people feel safe in the home and with the staff who look after them. They benefit from familiar and enabling routines that match their needs and circumstances.

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The children's home is good because:

 Young people’s risk taking behaviours reduce over time including being less vulnerable to exploitation and missing from care.

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The children's home is good because:

 Relationships between staff and young people are good overall. Young people are encouraged and supported to behave well. They experience a balanced and fair approach when receiving help with their behaviour.

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The children's home is good because:

 Young people are consistently helped to deal with and overcome any emotional difficulties or distress. Their self-care and social presentation improves greatly because of the work undertaken by staff.

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The children's home is good because:

 Young people benefit from a strong level of advocacy from the staff team. They are proactive in promoting contact with other services that benefit each young person’s education, health, welfare and potential progress.

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The children's home is good because:

 The team communicate well with each other to ensure everyone is kept up- to-date with new and changing information about young people’s needs and circumstances

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The children's home is good because:

 Some aspects of the home’s quality assurance systems are not strong. Feedback from young people and stakeholders are not reflected in managers’ audits or quality assurance processes. Monthly monitoring visits are not being undertaken by an independent person.

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

44 The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

(6) If the independent person becomes aware of a potential conflict of interest (whether under regulation 43(3) or otherwise) after a visit to the home, the independent person must include in the independent person’s report –

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Requirement Due date

(a) details of the conflict of interest; and

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Requirement Due date

(b) the reasons why the independent person did not notify the registered provider of the conflict of interest before the visit (Regulation 44(1) & (6)(a)(b)) 31/07/2015

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Requirement Due date

45 In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating:-

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Requirement Due date

(b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it and

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Requirement Due date

(c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children and

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Requirement Due date

(5) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(2)(b)(c) and (5)) 31/07/2015

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Information about this children's home

This home is registered for three children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned and managed by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

05/03/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

17/07/2013 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

p.5

Good

The staff team are providing the right care and support that positively influences young people’s self-esteem, confidence and emotional well-being. Young people are able to talk about their family histories and experiences with staff to help them make sense of their own circumstances and feelings. Staff show understanding and respect, they do not judge young people because of their difficulties or backgrounds. One young person stating, ‘the help and support I have received has been way beyond what I was expecting, I can’t thank them enough.’

p.5

Good

Young people make good progress from their starting points because the home is flexible and responsive in meeting individual needs. Staff pay close attention to the ways in which young people share their views and opinions about their own care and support. This helps staff increase their knowledge and understanding about individual preferences and choices. Young people clearly benefit from having a team of staff who are well informed and focused on monitoring and promoting good health. This is because young people are given a good range of guidance and advice about their health and well-being. Staff have effective relationships with a range of health services to ensure each young person can access services according to their needs.

p.5

Good

Young people’s rights are comprehensively promoted by the team. Young people know how to complain if they are not happy about something including knowing how to access external advocacy services if needed. They are listened to and any complaints are resolved quickly; outcomes are evidenced through formal letters to young people from the Registered Manager. Because staff are attentive and listen to young people, resolutions to more informal concerns or grumbles are quickly found.

p.5

Good

Each young person is attending their education placement with the support and encouragement from staff. Education and learning programmes are varied to suit individual abilities and academic or vocational aims. Staff know about each young person’s education plan which helps them provide the right support to each individual. Young people make progress from their starting points, with some newer arrivals able to quickly pick up work in preparation for their GCSEs. Where young people struggle with more formal arrangements, education timetables are tailored to individual circumstances.

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Good

The range of activities on offer to young people is good. Staff make full use of local facilities and attractions as well as being able to access a range of home-based resources and leisure activities. Young people have lots of choice and their preferences are frequently incorporated into the home’s routines. One young person stating, ‘I like to be doing things and staff are good at helping me with this.’ Young people are fully supported to maintain contact with people in their lives who are important to them. Staff pay particular attention to what young people have to say about these arrangements to ensure everyone is safe and that contact is appropriately facilitated and monitored where necessary.

p.6

Good

The staff team are committed to providing young people with individualised support, which is focused on their personal development and individual circumstances. Staff prioritise the work they do with young people in terms of life skills, behaviours and future plans. Young people benefit from a pragmatic approach, which fully involves them in day-to-day routines that helps them learn about personal responsibility and becoming more independent.

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Good

Young people’s arrivals and departures to and from the home are well managed. Wherever possible, staff start to build relationships with young people before they arrive at the home. This gives new arrivals a head start in getting to know their new carers. Young people who leave and have been a resident for some time are provided with continuing support as they settle into their new accommodation. Young people are every positive about how they are helped with their traditions. One young person stating, ‘just because I have left doesn’t mean to say they have stopped caring about me.’ Judgement grade

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Good

The Registered Manager and staff team have good systems in place to ensure young people are protected from harm. This includes good systems that are well known for reporting safety concerns to outside agencies. As a result, young people say they feel safe in the home and with the staff who look after them. Young people’s behaviour and relationships are closely monitored to ensure the home continues to provide an environment of comfort and safety for all. Bullying is not an issue; staff are alert to any form of oppressive behaviour that may arise and they deal with this quickly if it happens. One young person stating, ‘I’ve had my ups and downs but it’s always been a safe place to live.’

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Good

Young people rarely go missing from care or have unauthorised absences. Staff know what to do if these circumstances occur but their main focus is on working with young people to prevent these incidents from happening in the first place. Staff have successfully reduced the risks posed to young people from this form of behaviour. Staff have worked effectively to help young people improve their personal safety and greatly reduce their vulnerability to exploitation.

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Good

Young people are provided with good support to help them positively manage their behaviour. Detailed and individualised plans are in place to help guide staff in their day-to-day work with young people. Staff are trained in a way that reflects the home's behaviour management policy. Young people benefit from this approach as staff practice is well informed and tailored to each individual’s behavioural needs. Boundaries are made clear and in a way that helps young people learn about socially acceptable behaviour. They are rewarded when things go well and appropriately sanctioned if poor behaviour persists. Young people say they staff are fair.

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Good

Physical restraint is a rare occurrence. Staff are trained in the provider’s behaviour management approaches which ensures that they equipped to support young people who may be in crisis. The team’s key focus is to help young people find more constructive ways of dealing with their difficulties rather than staff having to physically intervene.

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Good

Young people’s safety is further protected by well-established recruitment procedures that ensure only suitable people are employed to work at the home. Additionally, there are good systems used by staff to ensure that any risks to young people are identified and addressed. This means that the home is safe for young people and staff to live and work in. Judgement grade

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Good

The experienced and qualified Registered Manager provides effective leadership and guidance to the staff team who are well supported, supervised and managed. Managers are actively involved in the day-to-day operation of the home and they are regularly available and approachable to staff and young people. Open discussions about care practice is encouraged which helps the partially qualified team to reflect on the quality of their work with young people.

p.8

Good

Sufficient and consistent staffing levels are achieved to ensure young people experience the necessary levels of supervision and support. This means that diary and medical appointments, family contact and leisure pursuits are not missed. Staffing of the home is very flexible and responsive. Each young person is able to make choices about their own routines because of the one-to-one staffing arrangements. The team is consistently managed in a way that focuses on individual needs and circumstances.

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Good

Young people are cared for by a child-focused team of staff who are positive about their roles and each individual they work with. Staff meetings and handovers between shifts ensure sharing of detailed information about young people supports consistent practices. This work is underpinned by a range of training, appraisal and one-to-one supervision that provides the basis for the good quality care provided.

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Good

The Registered Manager has well-established systems to monitor the operation of the home. Information is available about the strengths and weaknesses of the service but the systems used to collect this evidence are not robust or wide ranging enough. Monthly monitoring visits are not being completed by an independent person. For example, one recent monitoring visit was undertaken by a Registered Manager from another home within the organisation. In addition, the person who regularly visits the home on a monthly basis has other operational responsibilities for health and safety across the company. This undermines the central aim of the independent visitor role because the services that young people are using are not being assessed or judged impartiality.

p.8

Good

Managers do evaluate the home’s operation to ensure young people’s needs are being met but quality assurance routines do not regularly capture feedback from professionals, staff or young people. In addition, these processes are not used to evidence the actions taken as a result of any consultation or comment. Consequently, young people do not necessarily benefit from using a service that is being developed or improved as a result of any feedback received.

p.8

Good

The home fosters a beneficial multidisciplinary approach to improve outcomes for young people. The team actively work with a wide range of internal and external professionals to ensure young people receive the right help when they need it. Young people’s case records are detailed, clear and concise. The records provide both staff and young people with strong evidence of their experiences and progress during their stay at the home.

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Good

The provider meets the aims and objectives in the Statement of Purpose, which is has recently been updated. The children’s guide provides information in an understandable format to help young people learn about how care and support is provided. Young people and staff are clear about the aims and objectives and what services and facilities are to be provided and made available. The home notifies the appropriate authorities of all significant events that relate to young people’s protection, confirming the actions taken to promote their safety and well-being.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences and progress of children and young people are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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What the inspection judgements mean

An outstanding children's home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help and protection and care. Their progress exceeds expectations and is sustained over time. A good children's home provides effective services that help, protect and care for children and young people and have their welfare safeguarded and promoted. In a children's home that requires improvement , there are no widespread or serious failures that create or leave children being harmed or at risk of harm. The welfare of looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements are in place, however, the children's home is not yet delivering good protection, help and care for children and young people. A children's home that is inadequate is providing services where there are widespread or serious failures that create or leave children and young people being

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What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This 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 Children's

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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