Children's Home run by Pebbles Care Limited in East Riding of Yorkshire

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:

 During the last 12 months the new manager and staff team have worked consistently to improve the way in which they look after the young people. There has been significant progress for all young people who live in this home as a result of this concentrated effort.  The manager and staff team have a positive ethos about young people attending school and education. Young people are supported to attend school and college.  The staff team are good at building trusting and secure relationships with the young people. They listen to them and ensure that their voices are heard in meetings about them.  Health plans are up to date with the staff team supporting young people to be healthier. There are significant improvements in young people’s health and in the way they take responsibility for their own health.  The manager promotes the benefits of working with all the agencies involved in the lives of the young people. She is an

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The children's home provision is good because:

excellent advocate for the young people and is confident to challenge those who are not focusing on meeting the needs of the children and young people.  The new manager has introduced significant changes to the way the home is run. New ways of working have been introduced which have improved the way staff record information and in the way the manager gathers and reports information.

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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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33: Employment of staff

The registered person must ensure that all employees— receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience;

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33: Employment of staff

Specifically that the registered manager and staff receive regular good quality effective supervision which addresses emotional resilience and their understanding of the young people they are working with and yearly appraisals to ensure they have the skills and knowledge to continue to do their job effectively. (Regulation (33)( 4) (b) ) 30/12/2015

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44: Independent person: visits and reports

The registered person must ensure that- an independent person visits the children's home at least once each month and The independent person must produce a report about a visit which sets out, in particular, the independent person's opinion as to whether— (a) children are effectively safeguarded; and (b) the conduct of the home promotes children's well-being.

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44: Independent person: visits and reports

Specifically that the independent report is carried out every month and contingency plans are in place if the visitor is unable to do this and that the reports are evaluative rather than descriptive and clearly state an opinion regarding children been safeguarded and the impact of the conduct of the home on children. (Regulation 44.—(1) (4(a)(b) ) 30/12/2015

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular the risk assessment should address all identified risks and have clear management strategies for these risks (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42 paragraph 9.5).

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Recommendations

 The home's records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Children and their parents should be supported to understand the nature of records kept by the home and how to access them. Staff should understand their important role in encouraging the child to reflect on and understand their history, according to their age and understanding. In particular, recording should be accurate, easy to understand and describe what is happening in the young person’s life.(The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62 paragraph 14.5)

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Information about this children's home

The children's home is provided by a private company and cares for up to six children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. Most children and young people are cared for in the main house but one child is also cared for in a detached bungalow situated in the rear garden.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

05/03/2015 CH - Interim improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

04/11/2013 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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good

The staff have taken time to build trusting and secure relationships with the young people. They know the starting points of young people and quickly learn to recognise the impact of their previous experiences. Young people say they feel comfortable with staff and can confide in them. One young person stated ‘I feel like I belong here’. This sense of belonging and trust helps to develop young people’s resilience and sense of permanence.

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good

The manager and staff make considerable efforts to make sure young people are asked about important things that are happening in their lives. They help them take part in meetings and advocate on their behalf when they do not feel able to do so. Young people are also asked about important things that happen in their home including which activities and what sort of things they want to eat. The staff and manager promote restorative approach to managing difficult behaviours. Young people feel that their say matters and also feel they can contribute to the running of the home. Young people’s self-esteem and self-worth are improved together with gaining confidence in making decisions and dealing with consequences of their actions.

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good

The manager and staff team promote the importance of attending school and college. The staff support young people by helping them get into routines of getting ready for school, completing homework and being interested in what they have done a school. Staff regularly liaise with schools to ensure that the young people are meeting educational targets. The manager has built up excellent liaison with the Virtual Head and has arranged for the staff team to attend specialist training designed to improve their understanding of education for Looked after Children. This positive ethos towards education has had a positive impact on young people, there attendance and attitude has improved significantly. One young person has recently received a reward from the Local Authority to recognise the improvements he has made at school.

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good

Young people are supported by the manager and staff team to have contact with families and other important adults. For some this contact is used to rebuild relationships and support young people to start to understand what has happened in the past. For some this contact focusses on building a positive social network for when they move into independence. Staff help young people to manage their feelings about contact, and make sure contact is safe. One young person said ‘I talk to my keyworker a lot about seeing my family, I can always talk to her’. Judgement grade

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good

The staff team have a very clear understanding of what to do if they are concerned about a young person. They are clear about the things which might suggest a young person has experienced harm. Staff are very clear of who they would talk to and when they should refer information to other professionals. Young people have an increasing sense of feeling safe.

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good

Young people speak of feeling safe with staff and feeling they can tell them anything. Young people are confident of what they can do if unhappy or afraid. The complaints process is very clear and young people are confident that something will happen if they speak up. The manager and staff team are confident advocates for the young people. They will support young people to challenge professionals around them who are not fully supporting them or do something that makes them feel uncomfortable.

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good

Young people also become safer as staff quickly learn about the reasons they sometimes go missing from the home. A clear ‘missing risk assessment’ is personalised and reviewed where appropriate. Staff look for young people who go missing and welcome them back when they come back. Return interviews are used to gather information which helps understand why they go missing. Staff use this information to help reduce the risks associated with missing from home.

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good

Risk assessments help to inform placement plans which describe how the young person likes to be cared for. There have been significant improvements in the way these risk assessments are prepared however they need to improve further to include all the risks young people may experience and how they will manage these risks.

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good

There is a robust process in place to ensure that young people arriving at the home remain safe and their behaviour will not affect others already living at there. The manager ensures she has all information available and talks to all the professionals working with the young person. Introduction visits happen wherever possible. One young person explained she had come to the home recently. She said initially she did not want to be there but the manager and staff made her feel very welcome and safe.

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good

The home follows robust recruitment procedures to make sure staff are reliable and suitable to work with young people. There are good processes to ensure all visitors to the home are supervised appropriately. The physical environment has improved significantly and is enhancing the feeling of safety in the home. Judgement grade

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good

The new manager has significant experience of working in residential childcare. She has the relevant qualifications and continues to keep up to date with the changes in guidance and research.

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good

She has introduced new ways of working which have helped in meeting all the requirements and recommendations of previous inspections. Significant improvements in leadership and management include improving the way risk was identified and managed; improving consistency and improving the morale of the staff team. The improvement agenda has been handled well and staff speak of feeling more involved and are motivated.

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good

The staff team are stable and consistent and say they feel supported. There is good training schedule ensuring staff have opportunities to develop the skills to do their job. Whilst supervision is happening it is not consistent in the way it is recorded or in its quality. This means the manager does not have a consistent picture of the way staff are improving the lives of the young people or of any identified learning needs of her staff team.

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good

The manager has improved the way the home works with other agencies and the community. Young people are regularly involved in community activities and have built up friendship groups in the the local area. A sound understanding of the local community and any associated risks allows the manager to ensure young people are safe in the community.

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good

The manager has improved the way information is recorded in young people’s records. She has an excellent overview of all the young people who currently live in the home or have just left. She is clear of the plans for each young person and uses audits and monitoring of these files to ensure plans are progressing. The monitoring processes have improved significantly but need to improve. There needs to be more in-depth scrutiny of the information she gathers. This includes how she uses the independent visitors report and works with the independent visitor to improve the reports.

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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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