Children's Home run by Castle Homes Care Limited in Cheshire East

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 appropriately supported by a committed staff team. They are listened to and encouraged to share their ideas about improvements in the home.  Young people have successfully re-integrated back into their education provisions and are making good progress.  Young people are fully supported to attend all health appointments and staff ensure their emotional well-being is paramount.  Young people have access to a wide range of social and recreational opportunities both inside and outside of the home.  Young people are supported to develop their skills and confidence they need to successfully manage their life as adults.  Managers regularly review the quality of care provided, identify areas of development, and make improvements.  Staff receive regular professional supervision and training to further their skills and knowledge when working with vulnerable young people.  The statement of purpose is kept under review and sets out the ethos and

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The children's home provision is good because:

objectives of the home. All the staff are aware of these principles and how they impact on daily practice.  Sanctions are not carefully considered to see if they appropriate and proportionate and help to encourage acceptable behaviour.  Effective action is not always taken following a safeguarding concern. This is in regards to staff being moved to other children’s homes while internal investigations are completed.  The children’s guide and complaints procedure do not provide young people with all the information they need to know about the home.

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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

7. The children's views, wishes and feelings standard.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the children's views, wishes and feelings standard the registered person must —

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Requirement Due date

(c) keep the children's guide and the home's complaints procedure under review and seek children's comments before revising either document. 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure - (2)(e) that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. 31/08/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy ("the behaviour management policy") which sets out how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children's home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home. The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Where the placing authority or another relevant person does not provide the input and services needed to meet a child's needs during their time in the home or in preparation for leaving the home; the home must challenge them to meet the child's needs (see regulations 5(c)). Staff should act as champions for their children, expecting nothing less than a good parent would. The registered person should consider the use of an independent advocate (see paragraph 4.16) if the child's needs are not being met. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 12, paragraphs 2.8)

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Information about this children's home

The home, run by a private company, is registered to accommodate three young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. It is also registered as a school and provides education on the premises.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

10/02/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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good

Young people are cared for by a committed and supportive staff team, who know them well, listen to them and promote their safety and well-being. Staff include them in decisions about the home, including the recent refurbishment and development of the garden. They were provided with opportunities to have a say about colour schemes and how the recycling garden should look. Young people said ‘I like to go in the garden on a sunny day and I love the new paddling pool it’s great.’ Young people have all made significant progress in their education. One young person had returned to school after a considerable period of time. His reports indicated that he has already started to settle. His head of year said ‘His cheeky sense of humour lightens up lessons; he has already made excellent progress, a fantastic first year.’ Another young person had successfully completed her formal education and was awaiting the results of her GCSEs. She had attended the school

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good

prom with her friends and had just attended an interview at a local supermarket for a part time role, while waiting to start her college course in September 2015. She said ‘I can’t believe I have done so well, I’m really looking forward to college and I never thought I would say that.’ Young people’s health and well-being is promoted in the home. Health care plans identify their individual health needs and they are fully supported in this area. Statutory health assessments have been completed and all young people have attended all required medical appointments. External therapeutic services are available for young people. They provide an opportunity for young people to reflect on their relationships and successfully develop strategies to manage their own behaviours. Staff provide appropriate reassurance and support around these planned sessions to ensure the young person safety is maintained. Young people are supported to try new leisure activities. One young person had

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good

started at a local football team and is now the team captain, gaining several medals and trophies throughout the season. Staff capture day trips and activities with photographs and by collecting memorabilia. These are all displayed around the home and in young people’s memory boxes and photo albums. These are given to young people when they move on and provide an opportunity for them to have lots of memories to take with them. Young people enjoy contact with their families and friends. Staff facilitate contact at the home and transport young people to and from contact. This ensures young people remain connected to important people in their lives. If issues arise during contact staff take appropriate action to ensure the young person is safe and hold discussions with the relevant social worker to look at different ways of managing this effectively. This ensures that contact can continue in a safe and appropriate

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good

manner, while young people enjoy a sense of belonging and have a strong sense of personal identity.

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good

Young people live in a safe environment. They are aware of the complaints procedure and know how to raise areas of concern. Young people have used this procedure. Some said they were happy with the outcome, others felt the process was unfair. However staff had discussed this with the young person to explain why it was not possible to act upon their wishes. During key working this was also reiterated to help him understand that he will not always get a response he would prefer, like having staff moved. Risk assessments outline measures needed to support the young people in their environment, in the community and during activities. They highlight the reduction in risk taking behaviours, including in drug and alcohol misuse and also show the progression a young person had made in regards to concerns around child sexual exploitation. They are regularly reviewed and updated and any changes to the plans are discussed in team meetings and as part of a comprehensive handover.

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good

This ensures that the welfare and safety of the young people is promoted and staff are consistent in their approach.

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good

Young people very rarely go missing and when they do staff follow robust procedures to ensure their quick, safe return. Staff will follow young people and have visited friends and family to see if they can locate them. When young people return they are offered appropriate support and reassurance to ensure they are safe and well. Return home interviews are completed by an independent person to see if any learning about keeping young people safe can be captured from the event. The home has developed strong working relationships with the police and placing social workers to ensure young people’s safety is consistently promoted..

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good

The home’s behaviour management policy is not consistently implemented. While staff have received training, on some occasions responses to challenging behaviour do not provide a consistent, positive message to the young person. Consequences can sometimes be disproportionate and punitive with no clear overview of why this decision has been reached. For example, the record said ‘the young person was extremely challenging and verbally abusive’. The consequence was for him to have his TV, TV Ariel, DVD player and PlayStation removed and a planned activity delayed. He had to earn his possessions back over a four week period. The manager’s review had not considered the impact or appropriateness of this, due to the age and understanding of the young person. Records also did not show that the measures used resulted in the young people learning from their actions. This does not help staff to evaluate and identify the effectiveness of the measure used

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good

in helping young people make changes to their behaviours.

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good

For some young people the use of physical intervention has been a necessary part of managing immediate risks or dangerous situations. Young people have been provided with many chances to adjust or improve inappropriate behaviours before any formal measures have been used. Incidents are followed up in discussions with young people, where they are supported to reflect on the incident and learn better ways of regulating difficult emotions.

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good

Established procedures and guidance are followed that outline staff roles and responsibilities in relation to managing risks and keeping everyone safe. Incidents and allegations are dealt with in line with wider safeguarding and child protection guidance. However the effectiveness of measures used has not been carefully considered. For example, following safeguarding incidents staff have been moved to other children’s homes while internal investigations are conducted. This does not ensure the safety of all parties involved and consider the individual circumstances and what supervision arrangements are required to safeguard all young people, as required by the home’s policies. This does not ensure a transparent and effective process is followed. Staff continue to undertake regular training to ensure that they fully understand their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. They are vigilant to any signs

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good

which could suggest that a young person is at risk and are clear in relation to what action they would take. Staff spoken with during the inspection demonstrated a good understanding of child sexual exploitation and what action to take in the event of a concern. Good quality and informative project work has been undertaken with young people to ensure they understand about sexual exploitation and how to keep themselves safe both in the community and online. One young person said ‘I thought I knew it all, but still learnt something new.’ The home provides a safe environment for young people to live in. A range of health and safety checks are completed to assess whether there are any hazards which could pose a risk to young people. Young people and staff take part in regular fire drills to ensure they know how to safely evacuate the home in case of an emergency. Judgement grade

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good

The home is effectively led by a motivated and committed Registered Manager who has high expectations and aspirations for young people. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2011. She has the relevant management qualifications to undertake the role and has worked in social care for many years. She believes in leading by example and is actively involved in all of the home’s operation, including covering some shifts and completing health and safety checks. This enables her to monitor everyday practice in the home as she works alongside colleagues and young people.

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good

The requirement and recommendation made at the last inspection have been met. Restraint records have been improved and there is now a clear overview of every measure used. Young people are now provided with opportunities to reflect on incidents and their behaviours, including using pictures to help them to say how they felt about what happened. The manager has also looked at the monitoring in the home and how trends and patterns are considered and what learning points can be taken. This demonstrates the manager’s ability to learn from inspection to improve the service.

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good

Staff receive regular and effective supervision, which enables them to reflect upon their practice and recognise their own strengths and weaknesses. This takes place on a monthly basis. It clearly focuses on the needs of young people, the working practice of staff and any areas of personal and professional development. Staff said ‘we always have supervision and it is a good way of us looking at our practice and anything we need to change’. Staff also feel the team are mutually supportive and have the ability to reflect and learn from incidents. They use team meetings to review their practice and evaluate the progress and experiences of young people, for example behaviour management strategies The service has well-established networks and relationships with a range of agencies and professionals who are involved in meeting the needs of young people. Staff work closely with teachers, social workers, health professionals as

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good

well as maintaining links with agencies with lead child protection responsibilities. Feedback from all the agencies involved was very positive and they all commented on the commitment and dedication of the staff team and the effective communication with the managers. The Manager has challenged the local authority around ineffective care planning for a young person. This was in regards to trialling a restorative justice approach, in conjunction with youth offending service and the police. However when the social worker declined this no further challenge took place, despite it being in the young person’s best interest and preventing them from being criminalised. Managers should act as champions for their young people, expecting nothing less than a good parent would and further discussions needed to take place with the social worker or their manager to resolve issues. The statement of purpose has been recently updated to include all areas of care

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good

provided by the home. Both the manager and staff have a clear understanding of the purpose and ethos of the home and how they will achieve this through the care provided. However, the children’s guide and complaint’s procedure does not provide young people with up-to-date information explaining clearly processes and entitlements. They have been designed by the manager with limited consultation with young people. It also uses adult terminology without any clear explanation.

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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. procedures set out in 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

regulates and inspects to 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

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Information about this inspection

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

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Information about this inspection

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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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