Children's Home run by Pathway Care Solutions Group Limited in Cornwall

Good

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

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The children's home provision is good because:

Young people are happy and state that they feel safe living at this home. Where young people would rather be living somewhere else they settle, make good progress and build positive relationships. Young people enjoy a welcoming, and nurturing home to live in. They have personalised bedrooms that they make their own. The shared spaces are homely and where staff and young people come together and talk about their days. Leadership and management in the home are strong. The highly skilled and experienced deputy manager ensures that the care young people are offered is not compromised when the registered manager is absent from the home. The staff group hold respect for managers and their positive approach to care is reflected in the day-to-day running of the home. Leaders and managers instil an ethos of child-focused practice that cascades into every aspect of the care young people receive. Staff use creative approaches to

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The children's home provision is good because:

care, ensuring young people have a meaningful role in making decisions about their care and their futures. A diversely skilled and dedicated staff team ensures that young people receive consistent good quality, and individualised care. The focus of the staff team is to ensure young people achieve and are safe and secure. This is achieved in practice and young people really appreciate this. Risks for young people are carefully considered. Structured, robust risk reduction strategies are in place. This ensures that risks for young people are managed and reduced. Staff know and understand young people well. They take an active interest in young people and make their stay a nurturing experience for them. Young people report feeling cared for. This results in mutual respect between staff and young people. The home has good relationships with outside agencies. Where specific risks are prevalent in the home; leaders and managers ensure collaborative multi-agency

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The children's home provision is good because:

approaches and agreements are met to reduce risks to young people. Leaders and managers will appropriately challenge other agencies when they feel that they are not responding to risks.

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered for three children and/or young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is part of a national company. This is the first inspection since this home was registered.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.4

Good

Young people live in a comfortable and well-furnished home. The rural setting offers peace and tranquillity and the grounds offer young people a great space for outdoor activities and cultivating vegetables. Young people state that they really like living in the home and appreciate the care they receive.

p.5

Good

Young people who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively and with careful thought and considered planning. Where young people are preparing to leave the home appropriate transitional work is undertaken that ensures positive endings.

p.5

Good

Young people are encouraged and supported to build trusting relationships with adults who work in the home. This has resulted in an ethos of mutual respect even during the most testing times. Young people really appreciate the thought that goes into ensuing that they have a voice in the home and feel listened too.

p.5

Good

Due to the positive relationships between staff and the young people; young people are able to identify adults who they can talk to if they are worried or unhappy. They understand how to make a complaint. Creative strategies are in place to enable young people to share any concerns or suggestions they might have. This enables young people to access a system without having to talk directly to staff. As a result, young people have honest and open discussions with staff about some very personal issues in a safe and secure way.

p.5

Good

Staff know the young people well. They are able to identify behaviours early and this prevents incidents occurring. Staff routinely promote positive behaviour in the home and model calm and consistent approaches to care. Staff use de-escalation strategies effectively and as a result physical intervention has never been used in the home.

p.5

Good

Young people are supported to engage in education by the staff. All young people have finished formal education and are being supported to access college courses. Young people hold real aspirations about their future and are motivated to do well. Young people are offered a good range of extra-curricular activities that are fun and educational. Young people really appreciate this.

p.5

Good

Young people are supported to develop the skills and confidence that that they require to successfully manage their lives as adults. The home successfully reaches a balance of nurture while ensuring young people make progress and develop life skills.

p.5

Good

Young people state that they feel safe. One young person stated that they feel more at home and safe here than they have living anywhere else. Safeguarding young people is a priority of staff. Effective and creative approaches to care support risk reduction strategies for young people. Young people know that staff do everything they can to keep them safe. This supports young people feeling nurtured, safe and secure.

p.6

Good

Care plans for young people are child focused and they are fully involved with the planning and decisions around their care. Young people receive good quality individualised care that is tailored to their needs and takes into account the risk assessment. A dedicated staff team work hard to build trusting relationships with young people and support them through difficult and high-risk situations. Staff are committed to the young people and place their well-being at the centre of practice. As a result, risks to young people continue to reduce.

p.6

Good

When young people go missing from home staff are committed to ensuring their safe and early return. Staff do not settle until the young person’s whereabouts are known and they have brought them home. At times this means staff maintain telephone contact throughout the night. Risks to young people who are missing are reduced significantly because of the actions that staff take to support and protect them.

p.6

Good

Proactive and effective working relationships are in place with appropriate agencies that supports young people to receive a good level of care. Leaders and managers have effectively challenged the police about an uncoordinated approach in respect of a young person being missing from home. The police reviewed the incident and upgraded their response. Because of collaborative working, the safety of two young people was secured.

p.6

Good

There is regular contact with placing social workers to ensure that plans to safeguard the young people are agreed. Managers escalate concerns appropriately when they do not agree with decisions. This ensures that high-risk situations are managed better. Any concerns about the safety of children are shared immediately with the placing authorities and any other relevant agencies. Communication is good and care planning is dynamic. Because of this approach to care, missing from home incidents have reduced significantly.

p.6

Good

Staff are fully aware of the individual risks for young people and the strategies they must follow to reduce these risks. Specialist services are in place to support the planning of risk management. Good communication in the home ensures that gaps in documentation in respect of risk are not affecting the care that young people receive.

p.7

Good

A permanent and suitable team manages the home effectively and efficiently. Leaders and managers ensure that the home is appropriately staffed and the ethos they have developed prevents the use of agency staff. Recruitment follows strict guidelines to ensure that all staff who are employed go through a robust vetting system to ensure young people are safe.

p.7

Good

Leaders and managers are child focused. They understand the needs of young people and prioritise them. They regularly monitor the progress young people make and the quality of care they receive. Young people feel cared for and like living at the home. When the registered manager is absent from the home the skills and experience of the deputy manager ensures that leadership is not compromised.

p.7

Good

Leaders and managers take steps to ensure that care plans for young people are individualised and meet their needs. In one case a significant risk for one young person was missing from the documentation. This did not impact on the care received by the young person and was rectified during the inspection.

p.7

Good

Leaders and managers work with the local community to help them understand the homes purpose and become positively involved with the home. As a result, neighbours are supportive of the home and want to support the young people to achieve and have good outcomes. This supports young people to feel accepted as a part of the local community.

p.7

Good

Supervision staff receive is regular and important. Staff feel supported and state that the managers are approachable and highly skilled. Training and development activity is effective. Gaps in skills and knowledge of staff are identified early and steps are taken to ensure that they are equipped with the tools they need to effectively care for the children. This improves the quality of care that young people receive and ensures that it adapts to their known and emerging needs.

p.8

Good

The statement of purpose is kept under regular review and reflects the service provided by the home. The children’s guide to the home is outstanding. Leaders and managers ensure that each young person has a bespoke document relevant only to them. Young people’s level of understanding, their experiences and their needs are all taken into account when preparing the guide for them. This ensures that young people are only given the information they require when they move in to the home, thereby, reducing their anxiety.

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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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