Children's Home, Residential special school run by The Hesley Group Limited in Doncaster

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

 Young people do not always receive consistent care. The quality and standard of care from staff fluctuates from shift to shift. The staffs experience, skills and detailed knowledge of the young people varies. This is due to the continual addition of new support staff to the service.  The mix of young people in one house is not conducive for all. This affects the day to day life experiences for these particular young people.  There has been a long delay in providing training to staff to support a young person accessing the wider community on a regular basis. Deficiencies have been found in the skills of the staff providing care to one young person to ensure their needs can be fully met.  A transition plan is not in place for a young person over the age of 18 years. The placing authority has not been robustly challenged by the Registered Manager and provider. This leaves the young person without a clear and

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because:

appropriate transition plan to move to adult services. This presents the individual with increased anxiety levels.  Shortfalls and discrepancies have been found in some records. Some of these deficits could compromise the safety of young people.  The Registered Manager’s monitoring does not fully evaluate and focus on the quality of the care and the experiences of children living there. This includes obtaining their views about the care that they receive.

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The children's home strengths

 Young people have positive and trusting relationships with their longer standing core staff team.  There have been no instances of young people going missing from the home.  A good proportion of young people have made progress. This relates to the reduction in their anxiety levels, challenging behaviour, improved education attendance and attainment, independence skills, social interaction and participation.  Young people’s general and specific health needs are met. In additional there has been a recent appointment of a practice lead for health. This provides a clear focus on young people’s wellbeing. Further improved links have been made with local health professionals.  Staff receive formal and timely supervision addressing their need to stay child-focused.

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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

13. The Leadership and Management Standard (1) The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that- (b) promotes their welfare. (2)In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to - (c) ensure that the staff have the experience, qualification and skills to meet the needs of each child; (e) ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. In order to meet the regulation, staff working with young people should be able to consistently meet the needs of young people in line with their support plans, risk assessments, help profiles, communication levels and other day-to-day needs 08/01/2016

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Requirement Due date

12. The protection of children standard (1) The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. (2) In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— (a) that staff— (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (ii) help each child to understand how to keep safe. In order to meet the regulation, ensure that all identified risks are recorded in each young person’s risk assessment to provide staff with detailed guidance on how to support and reduce the risks identified. Work with the young person to address behaviour, which may put them at risk to harm 08/01/2016

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Requirement Due date

5. Engaging with the wider system to ensure children's needs are met 08/01/2016 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff— (c) if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority's or a relevant person's performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child's needs are met in accordance with the child's relevant plans

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the quality of care provided for children; (b) the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (c) any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children (Regulation 45 (2)(a)(b)(c)). In order to meet this regulation, action must be taken to address shortfalls in young people’s care and experience. Also acting and reporting on young people feedback on the care that they receive. 08/04/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Regulation 35 -39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s case records (regulation 36) must be kept up to date and stored securely in the home. Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62, paragraph 14.3) In particular that all records are completed accurately, including risk assessment, restraint records and body map forms. 

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Recommendations

 Homes must meet children's the basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. Staff should seek to meet the child's basic needs in a way that a good parent would, recognising that may children in residential care have environments where these needs have not been consistently met- doing so is an important aspect of demonstrating that the staff care for the child and value them as an individual. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.7) In particular, that 2 Arches close is decorated and furnished throughout to a good standard. That the intermittent smells from drains are investigated and suitable action is taken to remedy this.  Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the

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Recommendations

results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (The Guide to the Quality standards, page 22, paragraph 4.11) In particular, young people’s views and concerns about their living arrangements should be acted upon to address their concerns.

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Information about this children's home

This service, run by a company, is a residential school that accommodates young people who have complex needs and severe learning difficulties, including autism. The whole school is registered as a children's home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

Young people benefit from having strong and positive relationships with longstanding and experienced staff that provide care, support and know them extremely well. This is evident in how they spend time with them; young people are calm, smiling, enjoy participating in activities and interact well through speech and sign. However, this standard of care and support fluctuates due to the on- going changes in the staff team.

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Requires improvement

Some parents and professionals report that there have been a number of changes in staff caring for young people. While new staff receive induction training and eight shadow shifts, the majority come with minimal previous experience. Staff rotas indicate that young people are regularly cared for by staff who are not as familiar to them as members of the core staff team. This does not ensure continuity of care.

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Requires improvement

A young person told the inspector about his experience at the home. He said, ‘I like my room and the activities I do, I like going to the gym.’ Since coming to live at the home he has learnt to read and not get so upset about things. He said, ‘I’m proud of this.’ He named two staff that care for him and are part of his core staff team and said, ‘They are brilliant.’ He went on to say, ‘What I don’t like is the noise that the other boys make (other young people that he lives with), banging when I am trying to sleep or screaming at meal times, it drives me mad.’

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Requires improvement

For young people who do not communicate verbally, their overall needs are well supported by having detailed communication passports, supporting aids and terms of reference or identified motivators. Staff use aids, symbols and sign language to communicate with young people. In spite of this, training has not been provided to all staff in a timely manner to ensure that all those working with one young person have the suitable level of Makaton skills and knowledge. This significantly affects this young person’s daily life experiences and does not support their on-going progression in this area.

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Requires improvement

Young people are consulted about their chosen activities and staff advocate on their behalf. They have good opportunities to access a range of social and leisure activities on site and in the wider community. For example, art and crafts, massage, hydro pool, gym, going on walks, bowling, swimming, , museums, trips shopping, going on barges and holidays. However, a young person has had a lengthy delay to access and participate in community activities. This has been due to a serious deficit in suitable training being provided to all the staff that support him. This has occurred due to a number of factors. These include, staff not working on shift or unable to be released from the care duties when the person delivering the training was available. This matter has been pursued by the young person’s care manager and staff, with the management team but to no avail. This has drastically limited this young person’s experiences and enjoyment over a three

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Requires improvement

A young person over the age of eighteen does not have a completed transition plan, provided by the local authority as required. This young person is therefore not able to be fully prepared for a move to an adult service. The manager has requested the plan. However, this has not been effective. This leaves young people and their family in a state of limbo, uncertainty and increased levels of anxiety.

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Requires improvement

Staff support young people to develop life and independence skills. These include, partaking in their own personal care, making choices, developing social and communication skills, being involved in daily living tasks such as shopping. This assists in preparing them for adulthood.

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Requires improvement

Young people are well supported to attend education. For those young people who have struggled to access education in the past, their attendance has improved. Young people’s attainment overall in education has increased. This provides them with new skills that will support them into adulthood.

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Requires improvement

Young people’s sense of belonging is enhanced with the contact that occurs with their family and carers. A parent said, ‘I visit the home and see my son every week; staff have agreed to support him on a home visit, which will be really great for us all.’ A number of young people visit their families at home. Parents comment that communication is good, they are kept well informed about the care of their child and how they are progressing.

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Requires improvement

Young people’s health needs are given importance. They have access to an array of on-site professionals including a speech and language therapist, occupational therapist and clinical psychologist. Young people assess routine health check-ups and more specialist appointments to support specific health needs as epilepsy. The service has recently appointed a practice lead for health. This provides staff with additional support, advice and guidance to effectively assist in meeting the health needs of young people. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people’s safety is secured by staff that are trained in child and adult protection, first aid, fire behaviour management and other health and safety matters. Staff demonstrate a good awareness of the safeguarding procedures to follow to maintain and keep young people safe.

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Good

Young people are cared for by staff that have undergone robust recruitment checks to ensure that they are safe and suitable to work with young people.

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Good

Young people benefit from the consistent application of their written positive behaviour and support strategies. Staff, parents and a professional have said that the challenging and difficult behaviour of young people has notably reduced over time. Young people respond to clear routines, support strategies and boundaries, which assist them in maintaining positive and more socially acceptable behaviour.

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Good

There are low numbers of incidents where physical interventions have been required. However, the form for recording restraints has not been accurately completed in some instances. This relates specifically to recording the names of those involved in the physical intervention and those present at the incident being recorded together. This has not been detected in the in the managers monitoring.

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Good

Young people are safe; staff clearly demonstrate their knowledge of each young person’s vulnerabilities and identified risks. A staff member said ‘X does not like overcrowded places, so we plan for this when he is going on an activity.’ In the main this is reinforced by each young person having a detailed written risk assessment, which all staff read to ensure that they are aware of the specific risks to each young person. A staff member explained that a risk to one young person is that he likes watching cars. He will regularly sit down in the school car park without considering the dangers. Staff stay with him to make sure that he is does not come to any harm when cars enter and leave the car park. However, this risk taking behaviour is not recorded in this young person’s risk assessment. Furthermore, staff did not wear visibility clothing to assist in alerting oncoming traffic. Consequently, this could pose a potential risk if the young person was to be

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Good

Young people have not gone missing from the home. Staffing levels provide close support and supervision which reduce the occurrence of such incidents. Staff are clear on the action to take in the event of a young person going missing in line with clear written guidance. Information has been passed to the police relating to young people who are more at risk to going missing. This ensures there are clear plans in place to protect and reduce the risks of young people from going missing, to keep them safe. Judgement grade

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Requires Improvement

The Registered Manager has been in post since 2014 and has the over twenty year’s relevant experience. She holds a Level 5 Diploma and a level 4 Diploma in Care and Management.

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Requires Improvement

A number of deficiencies and shortfalls have been found in the managers monitoring systems. These include training deficits, which impact on the care of an individual young person. Not all staff have received timely essential training. This serious shortfall negatively impact on the day-to-day experiences for a young person.

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Requires Improvement

Young people benefit from being cared for by a core group of staff with a good level of knowledge and experience. However, there is a continual turnover of staff. The management team have given attention to reduce this. While the turnover of staff has reduced, there continues to be a steady flow of staff leaving the service. The recruitment to these vacancies means that young people have to adjust to being cared for by new people. New staff receive induction training and a number of shadow shifts to support them getting to know the young people. This provides them with basic skills and knowledge. For the vast majority of the time young people are cared for by staff that know them well. However, there are times when the consistency of care provided to young people is not maintained.

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Requires Improvement

Undetected inaccuracies and omissions have been found in records. The managers six monthly monitoring report does not include feedback and opinions from young people or fully evaluate the impact on the changes made in the service.

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Requires Improvement

Staff receive a range of training opportunities, which starts with a three week induction. This training is built upon, providing all mandatory training, with the progression to complete the Level 3 Diploma in caring for children and young people. More specialist training is provided in such areas as autism awareness and epilepsy. Although as described above there has been delays in some specialist training areas.

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Requires Improvement

Thorough monitoring is undertaken by the regulation 44 visitor, which includes analysis and evaluation of the quality care provided. Recommendations for improvement are made each month. The new addition on a practice lead with a focus on health and wellbeing has already brought benefits to the young people’s care around medication and accessing external health services.

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Requires Improvement

The two requirements and a recommendation made at the last inspection have been met. The Statement of Purpose has been reviewed and includes information on the use of any surveillance and monitoring of young people. The regulation 44 visitor reports detail if young people have been effectively safeguarded. The grounds have been assessed for tripping hazards and suitable action has been taken to make them as safe as possible.

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Requires Improvement

The Statement of Purpose sets out the service to be provided to young people with complex needs and includes the information set out in the regulations. This provides people with clear information on the care and facilities to be provided to young people coming to live at the service.

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Requires Improvement

The Registered Manager, and senior management team ensure that staff receive regular formal supervision. This provides them with good support and this is strengthened with daily shift handovers and managers meetings where they discuss each young person. Staff said, ‘Managers are supportive and approachable.’ The manager ensures that where staff practice falls short of expectations that this is addressed with individual staff within supervision. Additional training, support and guidance are given where identified. This ensures the staff are provided with constructive support so that they can meet the needs of young people.

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Requires Improvement

Professionals report that they are satisfied with the care provided to young people, communication is good and young people are making progress. A social worker said, ‘I have visited him six times or seven times since July. There have been no issues, there have been positive changes.’ These relate to being more independent with aspects of their personal care and more settled behaviour. Allegations and complaints are vigorously reported to the appropriate agencies, promptly investigated and suitable action is taken when required to promote the safety and wellbeing of young people. A number of staff have been promoted to new positions as care manager; deputy care manager’s and team leaders. They have been provided with coaching and mentoring to assist them in carrying out their duties and to embed into their new roles.

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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

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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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