Children's Home run by City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council in Bradford

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 receive good quality personalised care enabling them to develop new relationships with staff and peers.  Children learn new skills promoting progress in all aspects of their development.  Children are safe and protected from all types of harm including abuse and neglect. They are no episodes of missing or concerns linked to child sexual exploitation.  Children develop trusting relationships with staff enabling them to talk openly about important issues.  Children engage with a variety of different activities exploring their talents and interests.  Staff are motivated, skilled and experienced in meeting the complex care needs of children.  Staff ensure children are supervised on a one-to-one supervised basis allowing them flexibility both in the home and outdoors.  Staff use their good relationships with children to help modify behaviours. Physical interventions are rarely required.  Staff are supported to develop personally and professionally. The

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The children's home provision is good because:

environment is conducive to good learning outcomes.  Staff foster professional relationships to maximise outcomes for children. They work collaboratively with parents ensuring school attendance is promoted.

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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

In particular, the registered person must ensure that – medicine which is prescribed for a child is administered as prescribed to the child whom it is prescribed and to no other child. (Regulation 23 (2)(b)). 30/11/2015

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority children’s home. It is registered to provide short breaks care and accommodation for up to 6 children with physical, learning and sensory care needs. The home is adapted to meet the specific needs of disabled children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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good

Children build secure and trusting relationships with the staff that care for them. They benefit from stability in routines and consistency from staff that invest time in them and listen carefully to their views. They utilise a range of communication tools enabling children and young people to express their views. Staff know and understand children, even when they are unable to communicate. They know from the smiles on their faces, gestures and body language whether they achieve children’s desired outcomes. As a result, children enjoy their short stays and look forward to returning. One parent says, ‘I wouldn’t send my child if I thought he didn’t like it here. I know he has a great time.’

p.6

good

Children and young people access a range of social and recreational activities. Recently completed questionnaires highlight the activities children enjoy. Staff utilise these to plan future events. They go horse riding, swimming, walking and go on train and bus rides. Staff don’t see their disabilities as a barrier to involving them in activities. Children and young people help staff with fundraising events. Handmade gift-wrap will be sold at the upcoming Christmas fayre. This enables children and young people to play an active part within their community.

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good

Regardless of their disability, children and young people make progress in all aspects of their development. Individually set goals help them to improve interaction with peers and make new friendships. Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual needs and abilities, helping them to clearly identify progress. Some children learn to manage their personal care; others learn to sit at the table at meal times. Parents praise the efforts of staff with one parents saying, ‘I can’t believe they get him to sit at the table. He won’t do this at home regardless of my efforts.’

p.6

good

Children and young people benefit from good attendance at school and thrive from consistent routines. Staff work in partnership with schools and parents and actively take part in children’s health and education reviews. They develop good relationships with health and teaching staff. This promotes consistency with strategies used in the home and at school leading to improved progress. As a result, children and young people achieve important milestones and maximise outcomes in line with their capabilities.

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good

Phased arrangements for new starters are sensitively planned allowing children to develop their attachments to staff and peers. Careful child centred planning for those transitioning enables this with minimum disruption. Unplanned endings are rare with few families leaving the service. Some request to return having explored other avenues of support through direct payments. This is because the quality of service, commitment and passion from staff is not available to them elsewhere.

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good

Staff support children to manage their lifelong health conditions and support parents to advocate for specialist provision where needed. They administer medication in line with changing prescriptions. However, in some cases, medication is not administered in line with children’s prescription. In these instances, staff immediately informed the manager and carers. The impact on children has not been detrimental. One parent says, ‘It can be hard keeping on top of the changing prescription. They informed me straight away and apologised for the error. It is easily done.’ The manager is seeking refresher training on handling medication due to the potential to negatively impact on children.

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good

Children are safe in the secure home environment. The electronic gates ensure only visitors that have justified their visit gain access to the premises. Staff ensure a robust response to safeguarding keeping children safe from all types of harm and abuse during their short breaks.

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good

There are no incidents of children being missing from the home or concerns relating to child sexual exploitation. The focused staff team have a good understanding of any safeguarding concerns that may arise. Immediate action ensures these are minimised and the welfare of children is promoted.

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good

Children are risk assessed at the start of each shift. Such robust staff practices ensure children are afforded appropriate levels of oversight throughout their stay. Staff are trained in safeguarding practices demonstrating a good knowledge of policies and procedures. Risk management records identify children’s individual vulnerabilities. Regular review of written records ensures information is up to date. Safeguarding practices and maintenance of records are regular items on the staff meeting agenda. This helps the manager and staff to stay focused on best practice for children at all times.

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good

Behaviour management strategies are effective because of the gentle and warm mannerisms of staff. They base their approach on respectful dialogue as a method to de-escalate the heightened response of children. Soft interaction and a calm approach ensure physical interventions are rare. As a result, children thrive from consistency and structure in the home enabling them to manage their specific physical and learning needs while feeling safe and protected.

p.7

good

Discussions about safe use of the internet help children understand the dangers linked to grooming and child sexual exploitation. Partnership working with parents and schools prevent escalating incidents, which compromise children’s safety and wellbeing. As a result, children safely explore the benefits to learning through use of the internet and social media sites.

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good

Staff and volunteers working with children are subject to robust selection and vetting procedures. This ensures only adults deemed safe to work with children are recruited. Regular monitoring of staff further enhances children’s safety, keeping them in the hands of safe and caring adults.

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good

Regular appliance and electrical testing ensures children’s safety and wellbeing is further promoted. Frequent conducting of fire safety testing and evacuation procedures helps keep both staff and children in touch with the process in the event of an emergency.

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good

The Registered Manager has been in post for twelve years and has a certificate in management studies. She has over twenty years’ experience of working in childcare settings. The deputy manager is managing the home in the absence of the Registered Manager. She has registration status following a fit person interview conducted in May 2015 and has over twenty years of experience. Alongside this, she holds a management qualification helping her oversee the role.

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good

The home is resourced with a team of stable, qualified and experienced staff. They internally support each other and manage shortfalls with the staffing rota in order not to impact on the care children receive. As a result, children benefit from quality one-to-one care.

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good

Targeted consultation with stakeholders informs the manager of the homes strengths and areas for improvement. Development plans aim to continuously improve the experiences of children accessing short breaks. The manager disseminates learning from complaints making sure staff practices are at all times effective and respectful. Robust monitoring systems help her maintain oversight of the quality of care afforded to children. Additionally, collaboration with the independent person helps identify any shortfalls and trends. Swift action rectifying deficits minimise the impact on children accessing respite care. This makes their stay a comfortable and rewarding experience.

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good

Essential information such as care plans and communication profiles provide comprehensive information about children’s individual care needs. The pen picture created by staff identifies their likes, dislikes and goals while nursing plans confirm their medical needs. This ensures information accurately reflects children’s current situation.

p.9

good

Staff routinely attend and contribute at child in need reviews. This enables them to advocate for children and work collaboratively with parents, schools and health practitioners. They build effective relationships through regular, open communication helping them to champion the rights of children. Child-centred decisions optimise children’s learning and development. Parents report feeling confident to leave their children knowing staff are competent at meeting their child’s individual needs. A parent states, ‘I can see from my observations that they can handle complex needs effectively. I know my child is comfortable and so am I.’

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good

The manager and staff routinely monitor the progress children make. They effectively demonstrate the impact of their care and show how realistic targets and goals drive this. Children benefit by achieving their milestones and making individual progress. One parent says, I can’t get my child to stop and listen to me but staff here seem to have the knack of doing this. He is even sitting down and sharing which he doesn’t do at home.’

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good

Staff have access to regular supervision and appraisal. This enables the manager and senior staff to address performance and development issues. Staff take part and contribute at weekly team meetings and training events suggesting their learning needs are well facilitated. This makes them more confident and effective at dealing with children’s complex care needs.

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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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