Coniston House

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:

 Children and young people are positive about the care and support they receive and feel safe and comfortable in the home.  Physical restraint is rare and the use of sanctions is minimal.  Children and young people are encouraged to be involved in planning and reviewing their care.  Staff are good at keeping young people safe. They are cared for safely and staff have a good understanding of vulnerabilities and safeguarding issues. Staff are appropriately trained and have the required skills to look after the young people effectively.  The home is effectively managed. The manager and staff team are committed to ensuring young people are provided with a good standard of care. Staff receive good support through supervision and regular staff meetings  Partnership working is effective. This joined up approach has contributed to supporting young people in the home.  The home’s statement of purpose requires updating to accurately reflect the

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The children's home provision is good because:

workforce.  The home’s risk management policy requires updating to reflect the practice that is carried out in 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

6. The quality and purpose of care standard.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure –

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Requirement Due date

(c) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to;

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Requirement Due date

(i) meet the needs of each child. 30/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate revise it;

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Requirement Due date

Notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (3) (a)(b)) 07/09/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and where appropriate revise it. (Regulation 35 (2)) 30/09/2015

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Information about this children's home

The home is one of three within this private organisation that offers placements for up to five young people who may have a combination of mental health, psychological, emotional or complex care needs that present challenging behaviour. The service is designed to offer medium to long term care placements.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

09/03/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

28/03/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory progress

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good

Young people living in the home receive good care which is personalised and supportive. Good quality relationships that exist between the young people and the staff is a strength. This has resulted in young people trusting staff and growing in confidence. Young people’s care plans cover all aspects of their health and care needs. The plans link into risk assessments and support plans so staff are well informed and able to deliver appropriate safe care. Young people are registered with the various local healthcare services and are supported to attend any appointments. Young people’s individual health needs are met with a variety of therapeutic models. The home has admitted some young people who have been assessed at a high level of self-harm and suicidal ideation which, as a result of the therapy that has been delivered, has reduced greatly. Suitable education arrangements are now in place for all young people. These are

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good

tailored to their needs and take into account their previous educational circumstances. Each young person living at the home has a key worker to ensure that they have the opportunity to express their views. Regular meetings between young people and their key workers takes place. Key worker meetings focus on any issues young people are facing or any problems they have. The meetings also reflect and acknowledge any achievements made. Keyworker meetings ensure that young people are involved in their own care and are receiving personalised support. Young people are consulted in all aspects of how the home operates. This includes menu planning and activities. Young people also have further opportunities to have their views heard through the weekly resident meetings and access to independent advocacy services. Young people are supported by staff in maintaining contact with their families. The staff assist with transport and where required the supervision of contact. Family

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good

and carers are welcome at the home. This ensures that young people remain close to individuals who are important to them and benefit from being involved in a wider support network outside of the home. Judgement grade

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good

Young people report that they feel safe at the home. One young person said ‘You can speak to the staff here about anything and they will always support you’. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s needs and any indicators of concern are acted upon immediately in line with safeguarding protocols. Young people are aware of how to make a complaint should the need arise and are confident it will be taken seriously and addressed promptly. Staff have a good understanding of the vulnerabilities of the young people in their care. Staff ensure plans and risk assessments for young people's safety are consistently put into practice to fully address their needs. Medication is stored safely, and records are maintained on its administration. The home complies with locally agreed protocols for young people that go missing. When young people do go missing, liaison with the police and other authorities is

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good

undertaken, detailed records are kept of actions taken and appropriate individuals contacted. Young people are given the opportunity to meet with their social worker on their return and key worker meetings are undertaken to support them in developing an understanding of the risks they may be taking. Challenging behaviour is well managed in the home. Behaviour management strategies, together with staff knowledge, training and understanding of the young people, means that difficult behaviour is managed well. As a result of this, there have been no episodes of physical intervention since the last inspection. The manager and staff ensure that the home is safe. This is achieved through regular checks on fire and maintenance equipment and young people taking part in fire evacuation drills so that they understand what to do in an emergency. Staff are also trained in fire marshalling enabling them to use the appropriate strategies in

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good

the event of an emergency. Young people are further protected by the organisations home's robust staff recruitment practices. These ensure that staff are carefully selected and checked prior to commencing work in the home. Visitors to the home are required to produce identification and sign in the visitors’ book. These processes contribute to keeping young people safe by ensuring that unsuitable individuals are unable to gain access to the home. Judgement grade

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good

There is an appropriately experienced registered manager who has oversight of the home. She has had management responsibility for this home since March 2014.

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good

Staff are positive about working in the home and report that they feel well supported by the management team. This support is delivered through monthly supervision, annual appraisal and monthly team meetings. Staff undertake mandatory training courses to develop their knowledge skills and professional practice. The training needs of staff are identified and met. As a result, staff are well trained and qualified to meet the needs of young people.

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good

The home’s statement of purpose does not reflect the home’s current staffing compliment, so does not provide parents and professionals with an accurate overview of the home. The homes physical restraint policy requires updating to bring it into line with the practice that staff use in the home.

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good

At the last inspection there were two requirements for improvement. These have now been successfully addressed with revised arrangements in place for capturing the views of young people after a missing from care or physical restraint episode.

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good

The home is visited monthly by an independent visitor as part of the quality assurance process. Reports are forwarded to Ofsted as required. Any action points raised as an outcome of the visit are swiftly addressed. The manager also completes monitoring reports to identify any trends or patterns in the home. This means that there is continuous monitoring of the care the home delivers.

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good

The home promotes and develops effective partnerships with other agencies including the police, health professionals and placing authorities. The manager also ensures that that Ofsted are kept informed of serious incidents pertaining to young people. This means that the home is working collaboratively and carrying out its safeguarding responsibilities.

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good

The home is a spacious detached property that receives regular maintenance. Despite this the front door of the property is showing signs of wear and does not do justice to the rest of the home. Young people are able to personalise their own bedrooms, helping them feel that they belong here. The homes location risk assessment is up to date and this contributes to keeping young people safe at the home.

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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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