Children's Home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceeds the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 The overall progress of the two residents in the home has been considerable. The young people have an appropriate sense of permanence and belonging at the home. One young person said: ‘I haven’t just turned a corner in my life; I have turned a massive bend’.  Young people currently resident at the home do not go missing from care as they are happy, settled and content to be at the home. They keep themselves safe and protected from harm.  Young people have exemplary attendance levels at a school that is run by the organisation. Young people demonstrate a motivation that shows how far they have come since the start of their placements.  Leadership and the quality of care are both outstanding. The progression of staff members and young people alike, show how effectively the home is managed and the care is delivered.  The home delivers comprehensively on the ambitious offer of a seamless care, education and therapeutic placement described in the statement of

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

purpose. Specialist therapeutic help is available according to the individual needs of young people and in line with the guarantees set out in the statement of purpose.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 The home has a relaxed air. Staff members know what they are doing and young people understand and respond to the routine of the care provided.  The staff team’s tireless risk assessment, support and supervision of face-to- face contacts have resulted in increased contact for both young people since arriving at the home. New technology is utilised to provide daily contact via a video link between a young person and his family.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 The registered manager manages with assurance and authority. Administration in the home is excellent. The manager’s support for her team is impressive and enables staff members to deliver a very high standard of care to young people.

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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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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children’s home may accommodate up to two young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/02/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

The home is located in a rural village location. The two-storey house has three bedrooms and the integral garage has been converted into a games room for residents. A small patio area and a lawned garden area offers space for outdoor activity and these are bordered by ploughed fields. Internally the home is clean, homely and decorated and furnished throughout in a comfortable, modern style.

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outstanding

The two residents in the home have made great progress. Despite their distinct backgrounds and their diverse needs, they thrive under the meticulous care of the manager and her staff team. Pre-placement episodes of missing and offending are behaviours of the past.

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outstanding

Young people have excellent school attendance. They are learning and making good progress. Small class sizes, where teachers are supported by care staff where necessary, deliver a more individual learning experience. Formal classroom teaching is supplemented by vocational opportunities and challenging physical education activities. Young people demonstrate a keen dedication to their education careers; one young person is a member of the school council. They regularly receive certificates for achievement.

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outstanding

The young people enjoy trusted and secure relationships with adults working at the home because of the close, but not oppressive, supervision of the young people. The staff team is established and familiar to them. They enjoy a degree of stability at the home they did not experience prior to their placement. They understand how to talk about what is difficult and they know who they can turn to, and how to complain if necessary.

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outstanding

Young people are clear about how the home works and what the adults working there will do to help them. Weekly ‘house meetings’ with young people are well attended and offer the opportunity for them to express preferences about the way in which care is provided. In addition, young people attend their care review meetings and are able to express their views and wishes. As a result of feeling listened to, young people are empowered to participate in the planning of their care.

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outstanding

Young people enjoy a range of social, educational, and recreational opportunities. The staff team are proactive in seeking out new and interesting activities for young people, based on their expressed interests. The manager has been ambitious and resourceful in her determination that young people should have the holiday of their choice. One of these holidays involved a trip abroad, which was a testament to the high aspirations the staff team have for the young people they care for. The complex multi-agency planning required to make this happen was successful, resulting in the holiday experience of a lifetime for one young person.

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outstanding

Young people have access to local health services when they need them. Smoking cessation continues to be a challenge for one resident, despite the provision of support from staff members. Efforts to reduce cigarette consumption are ongoing. Specialist therapeutic help is made available according to the individual needs of young people and in line with the guarantees set out in the statement of purpose.

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outstanding

Qualified clinicians, working as part of the care provider organisation, provide therapy and counselling support. The young people are engaged in these weekly sessions and have derived benefit from them. They are developing insights into their pre-care lives and behaviours that they can use positively in the transition towards adulthood.

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outstanding

Young people who are new to the home are welcomed sensitively and with careful and considered planning. There are clear, consistent, and appropriate boundaries for young people, in the management of their behaviour. Praise and rewards far outweigh the few sanctions. Young people respond to the positivity of staff members and reflect this in their behaviours.

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outstanding

Good day-to-day care promotes the well-being and achievements of young people. Staff provide a structure that meets young people’s needs for routine, privacy, personal space, nutritious meals and a variety of activity experiences, alongside adults who know them well. This framework allows the young people to develop safe and secure attachments within a nurturing environment.

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outstanding

Young people have appropriate, carefully assessed, and supported contact with their families. Staff members work efficiently with parents and former carers to ensure that contact arrangements are beneficial for all concerned. New technology is utilised to provide daily contact via a video link between a young person and his family. The support offered by staff has been so successful and the behaviour of young people has been so good, that contacts are now supervised less and last for longer. This helps young people and their families to maintain a sense of continuity in their relationships.

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outstanding

Children and young people live in a safe environment and become increasingly safe because of the actions staff take to support and protect them. Thorough risk management is a particular strength of the staff team. Risk assessments are often updated well before the set intervals. Risk assessment and management is treated as an ongoing process that takes account of day-to-day circumstances. The management of incidents, when they occur, is proportionate and ensures that young people’s behaviour is not unnecessarily criminalised.

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outstanding

The staff team is fully aware of the requirements of the statutory guidance for young people who are missing. Managers and staff members work efficiently with other agencies to ensure that they are safe.

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outstanding

Young people feel secure living at the home and receive help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. This happens informally, as well as in the more formal structures of keyworking sessions. Where young people find it difficult to articulate their feelings face-to-face with staff, they are encouraged to reflect on what they want to say and put it in writing. This allows them to be less self-conscious in how they share issues of importance for them. Staff members establish clear boundaries about what is safe and acceptable and they understand the triggers for behaviour.

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outstanding

Young people report that adults listen to them, take their concerns seriously and respond appropriately. This is particularly evident in relation to young people’s request for increased contact with their families. The staff team’s tireless risk assessment, support, and supervision of face-to-face contacts have resulted in increased contact for both young people since arriving at the home.

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outstanding

The staff team understands the risks that use of new technologies may pose for young people. Consequently, young people’s access to these is managed closely. Young people use mobile telephones and computers responsibly.

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outstanding

The physical environment is safe. Checks by staff of health and safety issues are regular and rigorous. The home is secure and protects young people from harm or the risk of harm.

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outstanding

The registered manager has worked at the home for the last 7 years and was promoted to her present grade 18 months ago. She anticipates shortly completing the level 5 leadership and management qualification.

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outstanding

The manager has an acute awareness of the needs of the young people at the home. All relevant information to manage the home and to review the standard of care is readily available and current.

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outstanding

The home is properly staffed and resourced to meet the needs of the young people living there. The relatively small team has a range of experience in residential care and many staff members are in the process of becoming qualified. There are clear responsibilities and accountabilities and the staff team have a sense of shared ownership about their practice. One young person commented that, ‘Staff are happy here’. The easy and light-hearted interaction between staff and young people is evident and it rubs off on young people.

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outstanding

Leaders and managers actively and regularly monitor the quality of the care provided. Reports on the review of the quality of care that are required by statute at six-monthly intervals, are instead completed every quarter. The level of detail is impressive and in its structure, makes the links with the new quality standards. Internal review activity is enhanced by good quality monthly reports by the independent visitor. The only requirement arising from the previous inspection is met in full. The missing consents from placing authorities regarding the use of door alarms are now on file.

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outstanding

Managers take steps to ensure that care plans for young people comprehensively address their needs and experiences. Care reviews are held within the required timescales. Managers and staff members participate in these meetings and influence decisions successfully, as advocates for the young people.

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outstanding

Leaders and staff work proactively and positively with other agencies to ensure that young people benefit from their care. These efforts are successful and the progress made by young people is the result of this effective joint working.

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outstanding

The manager is assertive and persistent in reviewing, challenging, and escalating where there is insufficient progress. One recent example involved acting on information from one young person, about fellow pupils who were causing a distraction in class. The issue was put to the school and resolved promptly.

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outstanding

Managers and staff members understand the plans for the young people and actively drive the achievement of important milestones, goals, and permanence for their futures. Managers monitor the progress that individual young people make and can demonstrate the positive impact that living at the home has had on individuals, including on their life chances. The distance travelled in terms of the progress they make, is not lost on young people themselves.

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outstanding

Managers and staff receive regular and effective supervision that is focused on young people’s experiences, needs, plans, and feedback. There is effective support and challenge, including through team and management meetings, to ensure that the professional development of staff and leaders results in the right environment for good practice to thrive. The emotional impact on staff of the work is recognised and managed well by managers. The registered manager provided a dedicated debriefing session to a staff member who had recently been assaulted at work. To demonstrate the care and attention with which the manager supports her staff team, each staff member is individually risk assessed in relation to each of the residents. This data informs rota planning, shift planning, activities and keyworking sessions, and is reviewed regularly.

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outstanding

Training and development activities are effective. Induction programmes are robust, comprehensive and help new staff to acquire the specific skills and knowledge they need to work with the young people. Young people are cared for by adults who are well trained and supported. The manager generously assists her established and senior staff members towards their own management progression, whilst maintaining stability and consistency in the staff team by nurturing less experienced staff who are at an earlier stage in their careers.

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outstanding

The manager makes child-centred decisions about young people coming to live at the home. In doing so, she gives priority to the safety and stability of the group environment by taking account of all the needs of the young people living there.

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outstanding

The home feels and looks like a family home for young people. The manager and responsible individual ensure that the physical environment is maintained to a high standard, meets the needs of the young people, and is sufficiently resourced.

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outstanding

Case records reflect young people’s everyday lives and the work that is undertaken with them. Written and photographic records reflect their achievements and clearly relate to the plans for their futures.

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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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