Children's Home run by Birtenshaw in Bolton

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 live in a caring home where they are nurtured and helped to form good relationships with a stable staff team. Staff provide lots of opportunities for young people to make good progress in all aspects of their development.  Staff work closely with young people, their families and a range of professionals to ensure young people’s comprehensive needs are met. Young people benefit from this approach, evident in the good progress they make in many aspects of their life including managing their behaviour, education and preparation for adult living.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff always take the right action to keep young people safe. Care practice is underpinned by a range of safeguarding procedures which are consistently followed by staff. Staff have a detailed understanding of young people’s risks and vulnerabilities and manage these effectively through good supervision and well thought out risk management strategies.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 Staff are good at managing young people’s complex and challenging behaviour. They are patient in their response to negative behaviour and have been effective in their efforts to help young people manage their frustrations and anxieties which are often brought about by their disability.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager has high expectations of her staff team and promotes a child- centred approach. She aspires to achieve the best outcomes for young people and shows a solid commitment to continuous improvement. .

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The manager maintains good oversight of the home and a sound understanding of the progress young people make in relation to their individual plans. Comprehensive care plans and behaviour management strategies address young people’s wide-ranging needs.

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Information about this children's home

This one of a number of homes which operates as part of a charitable organisation. The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people with physical and/or learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.4

Good

The home environment is warm, welcoming, well-equipped and personalised with photographs of young people who live there. Staff support and encourage young people to choose the décor for their bedrooms, making it homely and pleasant place to live.

p.5

Good

Young people make good progress from their starting points in all aspects of their development. With staff support they form good relationships with adults and other young people living there. Staff value and respect young people and spend time getting to know and understand their anxieties and frustrations. They follow individual behaviour management plans which are clear and successful in improving young people’s behaviour and keeping them safe. A social worker commented, ‘I am delighted with the care staff give to X. She is happy and has made massive progress with her behaviour.’

p.5

Good

Young people’s admissions are well planned and sensitively managed. Staff help young people and their parents to understand what they can expect from staff. Visits are facilitated and provide the opportunity to meet staff and other young people who live there. Staff work closely with parents and social workers to gather information which is then used to plan each young person’s care. This ensures that staff are suitably prepared and that admissions are managed at a pace which suits the young person’s needs.

p.5

Good

Young people benefit from detailed health assessments and are well supported in accessing routine and specialist healthcare services. Staff follow robust procedures for the administration and recording of medication. The manager supports staff to gain access to appropriate training from specialist healthcare professionals. For example, when administering specialist medication or assisting with issues of mobility. Strong working links are maintained a range of specialist health agencies such as the child and adolescent mental health services. These links are well used and ensure a multi-agency approach to promoting young people’s emotional health and well-being.

p.5

Good

Staff value and promote education. They have strong with a number of schools including that run by the organisation. Communication between the two disciplines is effective. Strategies and approaches are regularly discussed and contribute to promoting consistency in meeting young people’s educational needs and managing their behaviours. Staff are committed to helping young people to reach their full potential and routinely support their learning experiences. These collective efforts Mean that young people regularly attend school and achieve their full potential.

p.5

Good

Young people have well supported, meaningful contact with their families. Staff foster good relationships with parents and families and promote positive, safe contact. They offer support to parents and families by helping them understand their child’s behaviour and develop improved ways of managing this effectively. One parent said, ‘X comes to visit us at home and because of the work the team has done we get to spend more quality time with him.’

p.6

Good

Staff support young people to make successful transitions to adult placements. Young people are afforded lots of opportunities to develop basic life skills and increase their levels of independence. The nature of young people’s complex needs means that they will continue to require a great deal of support throughout their lives. However, staff are dedicated to supporting and encouraging young people to gain skills which will assist them in their adult placements.

p.6

good

Staff have an excellent knowledge of young people and positive behaviour is consistently promoted. They make every effort to reduce young people’s levels of anxiety by providing them with a quiet and calm environment in which to live. Well thought out strategies, which wherever possible are developed in consultation with young people, have been used to reduce incidents of challenging behaviour.

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good

Physical restraint has been used appropriately by trained staff when these approaches have failed. All 17 restraints have been undertaken in a safe and sensitive manner in the best interest of the safety of young people and staff. All incidents are fully recorded and staff are proactive in their efforts to allow young people the opportunity to reflect on their experiences. The manager routinely evaluates information to ensure that the actions taken are in the best interest of young people and that lessons learnt are incorporated into future practice.

p.6

good

High levels of staff and supervision means that young people do not go missing from the home. Staff work together with school staff to ensure the right levels of supervision are maintained in school for those young people who may occasionally attempt to leave the school premises. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s known risks and vulnerabilities and make every effort to ensure that they are helped to keep safe. Staff effectively implement risk management strategies which are clearly outlined in young people’s individual risk management plans. Young people confirm that they feel safe and that staff keep them safe. One young person said, ‘I am safe here and staff are good and keep me very safe.’

p.6

good

The home has effective links with the Local Safeguarding Children Board and the local authority where the home is located. Staff work in partnership with these and other safeguarding professionals who provide guidance and support and help promote a robust and transparent response when matters of concern arise.

p.7

good

Young people benefit from living in a safe and secure home. Risks in the community are considered and recorded in the homes location risk assessment. The premises are sufficiently protected by sturdy fencing and gates which limit access and keep young people safe while they are enjoying the freedom of their own garden.

p.7

Good

The Registered Manager is suitably qualified, experienced and has been in post since September 2010. She is child-focussed, proactive and prioritises the needs of young people. Her knowledge of young people is excellent and she drives her staff to provide high quality care.

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Good

The Statement of Purpose provides a good insight into the overall aims and objectives of the home. Staff are clear about the overall purpose of the home and apply the principles outlined in this document to all aspects of care practice. The manager has been proactive in developing strong collaborative links with a range of partnership agencies. These links are well used to provide staff with topical information and guidance as well as providing direct support to young people. This has facilitated an enabling approach which has helped young people achieve many personal goals and aspirations.

p.7

Good

Staff practice is underpinned by detailed care and placement plans which clearly identify young people’s needs and how they are to be met on a day-to-day basis. The manager maintains good oversight of these plans and ensures effective delivery of an individually tailored care package. Her aim is to ensure young people gain maximum benefit from the care and support they receive. She regularly seeks the views and opinions of young people, parents and social workers and uses this information to improve young people’s care experiences. This level of insight means that she is able to proudly demonstrate and evidence the how young people have benefitted from living at the home and what the team needs to do to improve.

p.7

Good

The home is well resourced with sufficient staff on duty to ensure young people’s known and emerging needs are consistently met. Young people benefit from the care and support of a staff team who provide them with a stable placement that makes them feel safe and secure in their home. New staff are well inducted and given strong support from the manager and experienced staff. They are provided with good opportunities to develop their understanding and knowledge and apply this in their day-to-day care of young people. All staff receive regular supervision which focuses on their professional development and the progress young people make. Mandatory training is up-to-date and staff have completed additional training in child sexual exploitation and needs specific learning such as working with young people who have autism.

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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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