Children's Home run by Flying Spur Limited in Norfolk

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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:

 When young people are missing from care, staff are very proactive in trying to find them. This includes regular calls to their mobiles, speaking to their friends, going out and looking for them and close working with other agencies.  Staff listen to young people and seek their views.  Staff help and encourage young people to reduce their risk taking behaviours.  Staff have good knowledge of young people, including their individual vulnerabilities.  Staff view managers as supportive and providing clear leadership in how they work with young people.  There is effective monitoring so that managers know what progress young people are making. If required the ways in which staff work with young people can be amended to try and provide better outcomes.  There are good staffing levels to help provide individualised care and meet young people’s needs.  There are good working relationships with police and other agencies to provide

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The children's home provision is good because:

consistent care for young people.  Managers and staff place young people at the centre of their work.  Staff support young people to engage in their education so that they can improve their educational outcomes and have better opportunities for their future employment.  Staff provide good support for young people at difficult times, such as when they move into or out of the home.  Staff help young people to understand and feel comfortable with their identity.

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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

12. The protection of children standard:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard with particular reference to the assessment and reduction of risk the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(a)(i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. This relates to written risk assessments. 04/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development. This relates to training to meet young people’s needs. (Regulation 33(4)(a)) 25/09/2015

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Information about this children's home

This children's home provides care and accommodation for up to six young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is privately owned by an individual.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/02/2015 CH - Interim Improved effectiveness

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people living in the home are

Staff encourage young people to build appropriate, supportive relationships with them. Staff offer young people time and activities on a daily basis to help them build these relationships. They are creative in thinking of ways to achieve this, but some young people are resistant to such engagement. Others accept it more readily and even young people who are new to the home are starting to develop appropriate and supportive relationships.

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people living in the home are

Staff and managers have good knowledge of individual young people. This enables them to provide individualised care to help them meet young people’s specific needs. This is dependent upon young people being willing to engage and for some this has proved difficult. However, even for these young people, this home has provided longer and more stable placements than others. Placing social workers identify the progress that these young people have made and state that the staff are ‘dedicated’ to them.

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people living in the home are

Young people at the home make progress in their education attendance and achievement. Some whose school attendance had been irregular before they came to the home have gone on to take GCSEs and other exams. The results which have come out so far show them to have been successful. All of the young people at the home have plans to start further education college courses for September. This will provide them with better opportunities for their future, as well as helping to build their self-esteem.

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people living in the home are

Staff are able to identify young people’s health and emotional needs. They register young people with health services and use these to help ensure that young people’s health needs are met. They also identify specialist services, such as therapeutic and drug and alcohol services, and encourage young people to engage in these. Staff spend time speaking to young people about issues which are important to help them to develop their sense of identity and feel comfortable about themselves.

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people living in the home are

Staff seek young people’s views and listen to them. They do this through daily discussions as well as planned residents’ meetings. Issues that come up through residents meetings are linked into staff meetings and young people receive feedback which explains why any of their views or requests cannot be acted upon at that time. This helps young people to feel their views are important, but also to learn about negotiation and compromise. It also helps them to understand what are reasonable requests. Staff encourage young people to attend the Norfolk children in care group. Some have done this. Overall, young people have good opportunities to express their views and influence their care.

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people living in the home are

Staff help young people to prepare to move into and leave the home. Social workers are positive about how the staff do this, describing them as flexible and providing physical, emotional and practical support for young people during moves. This helps to reduce the stress and uncertainty that these moves can cause for young people. Each young person has a memory box in which staff keep mementos for the young person to have for the future as memories of their childhood. This is something that young people who grow up in care and move places can easily miss.

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people are helped and protected

Staff use written risk assessments to identify and reduce risk to young people. In a few cases these are not sufficiently clear or considered. Staff do generally have a sound understanding of the risks that individual young people are subject to and how to manage these. However, not having them clearly recorded means that the safeguards are not as robust as they could be. Staff knowledge may vary and preventative measures may be misinterpreted and this could lead to young people not being kept as safe as they could be.

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people are helped and protected

Staff do work with young people to try and reduce their risk taking behaviours. They take strong action when young people are missing from care to try and maintain contact with them and to find them. This includes regular calls to young people’s mobile phones, looking for them in areas where they may be, contacting their friends and close working with police and social workers. Staff also encourage young people to reduce or stop behaviours such as smoking and drug use, or behaviour which makes them vulnerable to exploitation. They discuss these issues with young people and make them aware of the potential dangers. One social worker described staff as being creative and striving to meet young people’s needs and reduce their levels of risk. This all helps to provide safer placements for young people and while some do continue with risk taking behaviours, the risk is reduced. There are regular checks to the building and fire safety processes so that young

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people are helped and protected

people can live in a home which does not put them at physical risk.

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people are helped and protected

Staff encourage young people to develop appropriate behaviour. Sanctions are reviewed to ensure that they are effective. Young people are involved in this process, they are consulted over appropriate sanctions and have opportunities to record their comments and sign sanctions records. Staff recognise young people’s positive behaviour. There is a compliments book for each young person and staff regularly record positive comments for young people, praising their achievements and behaviour. When young people leave they take these books with them. This all helps to ensure that the process of behaviour management is effective and helps young people to develop and understand about appropriate behaviour. There is a very low use of restraint. There has only been one incident since the home opened. However, this was used inappropriately and was not referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer as it should have been. The Registered Manager was

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people are helped and protected

quick to accept this shortfall and to rectify it. Managers have had appropriate safeguarding training and have previously made appropriate referrals, so this seems to have been an isolated mistake. The Registered Manager has put measures in place to reduce the chances of such an incident recurring.

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people are helped and protected

The low level of restraints is positive as it avoids young people having to be subject to such processes. There have times when staff have called the police when they felt they could not physically intervene safely. Police say that they are called to the home appropriately. They have never felt they were called for something which staff should have dealt with themselves. They say they are impressed by staff and that some staff are ‘superb’. There are good working relationships with the police and the local police officer visits the home regularly.

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leaders and managers

The Registered Manager has been in post since the home opened in September 2013. He has an appropriate professional qualification and is currently undertaking a qualification in leadership and management. He has experience of working at a senior level in other children’s homes. The management team provide clear leadership and management for staff to help them work effectively with young people. Staff spoke of how much they appreciated the managers. There is regular supervision of managers and staff. This covers performance issues as well as development. It helps to ensure that staff provide good levels of care for young people.

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leaders and managers

There is a training programme which is generally good, but has a couple of notable omissions. Staff have not had training on identifying and addressing bullying or how to safeguard young people when using the internet and social media. Consequently, staff are not fully informed and supported in how to work effectively and protect young people in these areas. Staff spoke positively about the training they have received. They are encouraged to identify training they would like to do in order to better care for the young people. Some training has been provided specifically to help staff meet individual needs. As well as formal training, there are other opportunities for staff to develop knowledge and skills to look after young people well. For example, the police missing from care co-ordinator is due to attend a team meeting to talk to staff.

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leaders and managers

There is a good staffing level so that young people can have individual care. While the home opened with a number of staff who did not have specific residential experience, many had transferrable experience and skills. Staff are developing their experience. A good number have achieved, or are working towards their level 3 qualification. Several other professionals were complimentary about how staff work young people.

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leaders and managers

Managers use monitoring tools which are effective in tracking the progress of young people. Where this indicates that progress has slowed or stopped they take appropriate steps to review and amend their work. This helps to ensure that work with young people is effective. Young people are at the centre of the work of staff and managers. The Registered Manager has developed a format for his Regulation 45 reports and begun to complete this. He and the assistant managers monitor the work of the home closely and regularly. They have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home. This helps to ensure that the home is meeting the aims set out in their Statement of Purpose.

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leaders and managers

The managers and staff have good and effective working relationships with other agencies such as the police, independent reviewing officers and social workers. Consequently young people receive consistent and co-ordinated care.

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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

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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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