Children's Home run by Norfolk County Council in Norfolk

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 make significant progress as a result of being at the home.  Staff develop good, supportive relationships with young people. This helps young people to feel valued and welcome.  Staff have in depth knowledge of individual young people and their specific needs. They have the needs of young people at the centre of their work.  The knowledge and understanding that staff have of young people helps them to work effectively with them, especially in relation to behaviour management, as staff can understand what is behind the behaviour.  There is a low use of restraint and effective behaviour management, which reduces the risk of young people being criminalised and helps them to reflect on and manage their behaviour and feelings.  Staff provide a safe environment. They know what to do to protect young people. There are effective working relationships with others involved in the protection of young people, which helps to keep young people safe.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The Registered Manager provides a high level of support for staff and helps them to improve their work with young people through constructive criticism.  There are good working relationships with a variety of other agencies to meet young people’s needs but the Registered Manager has not always sufficiently challenged other agencies. Consequently, some up to date information is missing from young people’s files and the suitability of plans are not as clear as they could be.  Staff work to young people’s plans, but plans for education are not always sufficiently up to date and informative.  There are shortfalls in the clarity of information in the Statement of Purpose and in some records made by staff.

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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

8. The education standard: In order to meet the education standard with particular reference to ensuring that children have appropriate education plans which staff can work to, the registered provider must ensure that staff: 2 (a)(ii) support each child’s learning and development, and 2 (viii) help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. 09/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

5: Engaging with the wider system to ensure each child’s needs are met

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet wider engagement standard, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(c) if the registered person considers a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. This relates to ensuring that plans are suitably verified by appropriate professionals and that any barriers to this are addressed. 09/10/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. Specifically, any criteria used for the admission of children to the home, including any policies and procedures for emergency admission. (Regulation 16 (1)) 30/09/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):   Ensure that staff understand the importance of clear recording. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this children's home

This children’s home provides time-limited placements and is owned and run by the local authority. It is registered for two young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

25/03/2015 CH - Interim Sustained Effectiveness

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Good

Young people build good, appropriate relationships with staff. This provides them with consistency and stability. Staff know the young people very well. They listen to them, focus on their needs and have their interests at the centre of what they do. The care of young people is appropriate to them as individuals and takes account of their plans. A placing social worker spoke of how good staff are at working to care plans. This helps young people to feel valued and that they belong at the home. It results in young people making significant progress. Staff encourage young people to be involved in making decisions about their everyday lives, for example in areas such as choice of meals and activities. Young people are also able to express their views and have these views taken seriously in relation to more significant decisions, where this is appropriate.

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Good

Young people make good progress in relation to their health, social and emotional well-being. Education professionals say that staff are good at working with those responsible for providing education for young people, and at engaging young people in learning. However, there are not always clear and up to date plans to ensure that education is appropriate to the individual and to inform staff of how best to work with young people who are out of formal education. Action is taken in respect of young people’s education, but the lack of plans mean that it is not as focused as it could be and lacks the oversight to ensure that the work undertaken is the most effective and appropriate.

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Good

Staff help young people to think about and develop the skills they will need to prepare for future independence. Consequently, young people learn skills that will help them to successfully live independently in the future. The areas include practical skills such as budgeting, cooking and self-care, but also skills such as road and cycle safety, which helps young people to be safely independent.

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Good

Young people are able to raise concerns or complain about aspects of their care. Staff take complaints seriously and act upon them, so that young people feel listened to and practice or services can improve. Staff use their training and understanding of young people to help them learn how to regulate their own behaviour and feelings. Sometimes this includes very close working with outside, specialist services to provide the specific input the individual needs to be able to move forwards. Judgement grade

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Good

Staff make sure that young people can live in a safe environment. There are procedures for checking that fire prevention systems are working and up to date risk assessments inform the work that staff do. Staff address damage promptly so that the environment remains suitable and safe. Staff know about the risks that individual young people are subject to. They have training and easy access to guidance so that they can respond appropriately. There have not been any instances of young people going missing from care since the previous inspection. There are clear guidelines and safeguards so that young people use the internet safely.

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Good

Staff work in a way which stops young people being unnecessarily criminalised. They have effective training in de-escalation and have a good understanding of the reasons behind young people’s behaviour, which helps them to address it effectively. Disciplinary measures are designed to help young people understand the implications of their behaviour, through a restorative approach. An external professional said: ‘Staff support the young people to reflect on their difficult behaviours. When they have had time to calm down, young people are supported to develop alternative ways of coping with difficult feelings.’

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Good

There is a low use of restraint. Records of sanctions and restraints provide young people with the opportunity to record their views and to sign the records. Sometimes the staff entries are difficult to read due to the handwriting. This can make monitoring the records and practice more difficult. It will also make it more difficult for young people who want to read their records now or in the future. Staff recognise positive behaviour and progress in how young people behave. They record these observations daily into books for young people. This helps young people to see their progress and feel good about it. Staff work in a consistent way so that strategies and approaches are effective.

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Good

Staff receive training in areas such as safeguarding and sexual exploitation so that they can identify concerns and respond effectively. There are good working relationships with services that are in place to protect young people, including the local authority designated officer (LADO). Staff report concerns promptly with satisfactory resolve, promoting young people’s safety. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

The Registered Manager has been in his post at this home for six years. He has appropriate qualifications and experience and keeps up with relevant training to undertake his role. He has a good knowledge of young people who live at the home. This is in part due to the small size of the home, but also through monitoring of outcomes. Young people make significant progress from their starting points. The home is suitably resourced to meet the needs of the young people, including appropriate levels of staffing, which at times can be on a ratio of two staff to one young person.

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Requires improvement

Staff feel well managed and supported by the Registered Manager. They say he will go above and beyond in order to support them but will also provide constructive criticism to help improve their practice. He uses supervision to address any practice issues, so that young people are well cared for. There is a comprehensive training programme, which staff say helps them to be effective in their work with young people and to meet the objectives of the Statement of Purpose.

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Requires improvement

The manager regularly reviews the Statement of Purpose; it contains most of the information required but it does not set out the policies and procedures for emergency admissions. Consequently, the Statement of Purpose does not provide this significant information to those reading it and the home cannot be measured against it. The management of emergency admissions is important, as young people who move in as an emergency are more likely to be upset, confused and vulnerable.

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Requires improvement

A part-time senior provides support for the Registered Manger in the monitoring and oversight of the service. They also provide support for staff when the Registered Manager is absent. The Registered Manager has a good understanding of most of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. However, some areas have not been identified through monitoring and so not addressed. For example, significant information has not been chased frequently enough. This has had an impact on the quality of the education plans for young people.

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Requires improvement

The Registered Manager and staff have good and effective working relationships with other agencies such as placing social workers health and education staff. Such professionals say they have a ‘high regard’ for staff in the home and that staff are keen to work with them. The Registered Manager has not always challenged robustly enough when responses from other services have not been effective. This has left the appropriateness of some aspects of plans for young people unclear.

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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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