Children's Home, Residential special school run by Overley Hall Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceeds the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Young people thrive and make outstanding progress in relation to their starting points.  Staff provide young people with extremely individualised nurturing care.  The home has an excellent multi-agency approach to supporting young people’s communication.  Young people enjoy very positive relationships with staff who know them well.  Young people’s safety and welfare is a very high priority for all staff who work at the home.  Excellent working relationships with education staff ensures young people achieve their potential.  Young people enjoy a wide range of social and leisure pursuits appropriate to their interests and choice.  Young people’s families are welcomed and involved in their lives at the home.  The registered manager is a highly effective leader who motivates staff.  Shortfalls include records of physical intervention not always being thoroughly completed and managerial monitoring not always being robust to

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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

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person") has spoken to the user about the measure and has signed a record to confirm it is accurate, and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure (Regulation 35 (b) (i) (ii) (c)) 29/01/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure all staff follow the home's policies and procedures with particular reference to recording physical interventions. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 54 paragraph 10.20).

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Recommendations

 Make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement, with particular reference to completion of physical intervention records (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 55 paragraph 10.24).

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Information about this children's home

The privately owned school is registered as a children’s home to accommodate 22 children and young people. The school provides education and care to children and young people who present with severe learning disabilities, challenging behaviours, autism spectrum disorder and sensory impairment.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/02/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Young people make outstanding progress in all aspects of their lives. They develop increased confidence and learn new skills. Young people receive excellent personalised individual care reflecting their abilities, needs and vulnerabilities. A parent said, ‘I have learnt new things about my son. He does things that I did not think he could ever do! He has made such progress there’.

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outstanding

Young people have very immensely positive relationships with staff. Staff are courteous and treat young people with dignity and respect. Staff strive to understand young people’s views and staff take time to understand what young people are saying. A variety of communication tools and techniques in the home reinforces and enhance the importance of young people’s voices. Some young people are helped to express their views by using Makaton or picture symbols. Others use talking tiles or talking mats. Young people benefit as staff work closely together as a multidisciplinary team to encourage and enhance young people’s communication ability.

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outstanding

Young people’s health needs are met as detailed health plans clearly describe their medical needs. Close communication with health professionals ensures that positive outcomes are maintained. Staff have innovative practice in supporting young people. For example, in attending hospital appointments. One young person was helped to prepare for a hospital appointment by the use of a talking book, which described each stage of the procedure complete with pictures and sounds. This supported him to attend his appointment in a calm and prepared manner as he knew what was going to happen next.

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outstanding

All young people attend school on the home campus. Attendance and punctuality are excellent. Young people are supported to move around the building and this helps reduce their anxieties about change and they are ready to learn and progress.

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outstanding

Young people enjoy a fantastic range of opportunities and activities in the home and community. The home is set in woodland, and young people enjoy a range of outdoor pursuits. In addition, they go to the cinema, swimming, have days out, and participate in projects in the home. They enjoy an exceptional day to day quality of life and participate in choosing outings and activities.

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outstanding

Young people contribute to the running of the home wherever possible. This includes helping with chores at meal times, cleaning areas of the home and keeping their rooms tidy. One young person is completing work experience at a local café resulting in increased self-confidence, self-esteem and social skills. A farm shop on the school site provides additional work experience opportunities for other young people. Staff are dedicated to ensuring the transition of young people to their next placement is as smooth as possible. A multidisciplinary approach helps young people progress as support at school, home and with family is seamless and messages are reinforced in each arena. Young people develop age appropriate skills that help them move towards increased independence suitably equipped with life skills.

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outstanding

Contact between young people and their families is promoted wherever possible. Families are welcomed in the home, and staff support contact wherever they can. Young people retain contact with important people in their lives reinforcing their connections and belonging. A relative said, ‘My son has a fantastic life here. He has a great quality of life. They make me welcome and I always feel involved’.

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outstanding

The home is a large, beautifully presented and resourced. Young people’s rooms are all individualised to their tastes and preferences. There are substantial grounds with a variety of fun activities and equipment for young people’s use. Safety considerations are top priority and carefully considered. A previous recommendation regarding improvements to the home has been met.

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outstanding

Young people are safe and protected from harm. They are safeguarded by staff’s excellent awareness and understanding of their individual needs and vulnerabilities. Risk assessments identify potential dangers with strategies in place to minimise these. The emphasis on safeguarding practice and strategy is comprehensively embedded in the functioning of the home.

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outstanding

Young people have very complex needs including challenging behaviour. The ethos of the home is one of encouraging positive behaviour, kindness and respect between young people. Staff work very effectively as a team and this means that young people begin to understand the difference between socially acceptable and unacceptable behaviour as staff support them in a consistent way. Staff are skilled and meticulous in using de-escalation techniques to channel young people’s behaviour in a positive direction. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort and all staff are trained in its use and regular refresher training ensures that staff maintain their skills in safely managing these techniques. Young people’s experiences since living in the home has had a significant impact on many aspects of their lives. This has been demonstrated by extremely positive feedback received from families and professionals. Parents said, ‘I cannot rate the

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outstanding

staff highly enough. They know my son so well. They are able to anticipate things and I am able to relax knowing he is well cared for.’ All staff are well trained and ensure that young people’s health and well-being are fully supported. There is a robust and secure system for the safe handling, administration, storage and disposal of medication. There have been no incidents of young people going missing since the last inspection. Managers and staff are very knowledgeable of the local protocol to follow with local police should such an incident take place. Staff fully understand the particular vulnerabilities of young people in their care. The ratio of staff caring for each young person is carefully assessed and means that risks are reduced and this further strengthens safe working practice. The organisation has thorough and safe recruitment practices. Staff are appropriately vetted prior to commencing their employment in the home. This

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outstanding

helps to ensure young people are kept safe from adults who may wish to harm them. Visitors are checked and monitored, again to reinforce young people’s safety. The home provides an on call service by senior staff so that young people and staff are fully supported 24 hours a day. All necessary health and safety checks at the home have been undertaken. Young people live in an environment which is safe and hazard free. Regular fire drills take place involving all young people and staff to make sure that everyone is familiar with the evacuation drill from the home, increasing confidence and understanding, and ensuring everyone’s safety.

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good

The registered manager has worked at the home for many years and became the registered manager in 2000. She has a Diploma 5 in Leadership for Health and Social Care and Children and Young People. The registered manager is tremendously committed to the welfare of young people in her care and goes above and beyond in her dedication to secure positive outcomes for them. Young people are cared for in line with the home’s statement of purpose, which is regularly reviewed and updated. The focus of the registered manager and team is the well-being and safety of each young person, and young people gain a sense of stability and nurturing as they know that staff care about them and promote their self-confidence and self-respect.

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good

The registered manager understands the strengths and areas for development for the home, and she has an ambitious and achievable plan in place to ensure the service continues to progress. These plans include working with staff to continue to develop communication techniques with young people, improving the recording of transition work and the development of a new sensory hub for young people in the grounds of the building. Young people benefit as the care they receive and the environment they live in continues to evolve and improve.

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good

Partnership working is a great strength of the home. A relative said, ‘managers and staff are excellent, It is a home from home, they keep me up to date about everything. I would recommend them to anyone!’ Social Workers commended the registered manager and staff on the regular and good quality recordings, ‘‘Fantastic communication. Staff always let me know if there are outstanding things to sort out. Reports are very good, very detailed’. The staff team is well balanced in terms of gender and life experience and this provides young people with opportunities to have positive relationships with a variety of adults. The home does not use agency staff and this means that young people develop firm relationships with adults they see regularly and who provide consistency of care.

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good

Young people are supported by staff who receive regular supervision, training and appraisals. They benefit as staff have opportunities to reflect on their welfare and progress. All staff complete the home’s induction and core training. There is an impressive range of additional training provided to staff including understanding autism spectrum disorder, Thera play, and attention autism. This ensures that staff have the necessary understanding and skills to meet young people’s needs.

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good

The registered manager works closely with the monthly independent visitor and addresses any shortfalls identified at the visits in order to improve the quality of care for young people. In addition, the registered manager self-scrutinises most aspects of the home’s running to improve the service. One shortfall identified related to a lack of monitoring of the physical intervention records, as these records are not always being thoroughly completed. Missing information included young people’s comments not always being included in the record, and management overview of the use of the intervention not always being recorded. Consequently, where they have not had a debrief with staff, young people may miss the opportunity to learn from an event. A lack of managerial oversight means that mistakes are not immediately identified and rectified and could compromise young people’s safety.

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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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