Children's Home run by The Serendipity Centre Limited in Hampshire

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 make good progress from their initial starting points with  each developing new skills and strategies to self-regulate behaviour and  emotions.  Staff have positive relationships with young people with each young person  stating they have someone they trust.  The home has a lovely homely feel to it with the kitchen-diner area being the hub of the home. The personalities and achievements of the girls are evident throughout the home.   Young people have access to a wide variety of activities which promote their  physical and emotional well-being.  Plans robustly address need and minimise risky behaviours through clear risk  assessments. Regular network meetings provide a forum to review plans and  address changes in need.  Staff advocate strongly on behalf of young people to ensure their wishes and  needs are addressed within transition planning.  Therapeutic support available through ‘My Time’ and other accessed therapies

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The children's home provision is good because:

 promotes positive management of emotional well-being, with girls learning self-  regulation of emotions and feelings.  The voice of the young person is present within all aspects of the home and to a  high standard within review and plans.  There are positive links with local organisations and statutory agencies with  young people accessing local services.  Safeguarding concerns are well recorded, reported and managed with referral on  to other agencies when required.   Episodes of missing are well coordinated with management plans and strategies  in place and robust collaborative working with other agencies.  The manager is introducing new monitoring systems which are not yet fully embedded.  Training available to staff ensures they are up to date with practice and new  theories and research that impacts on their practice.  Newly appointed staff are experienced and recruitment processes comply fully

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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 Leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that

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Requirement Due date

2(f) understands the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

(h) requires the registered person to use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 30/03/2016

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Requirement Due date

33: Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction 33(1)(a)

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Requirement Due date

ensure that all employees _ 4(a) undertake appropriate continuing professional development specifically regular staff meetings

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Requirement Due date

(b)receive practice related supervision by a person with appropriate experience and have their performance and (c) have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. 30/03/2016

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Information about this children's home

 The home is registered to care for up to 4 children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.  The home is privately owned by an organisation which also owns other homes and a therapeutic educational setting.  The homes specialises in caring for girls who have experienced physical and or emotional trauma in their past.  The home provides access to a variety of therapeutic services.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/11/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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good

Young people make good progress from their initial starting points with each having made achievements. They have been on holidays to Paris and the company’s caravan. Each young person has their own interests and hobbies with staff supporting them. All achievements are celebrated through rewards, house photographs and photobooks reminding them of their achievements and adventures.

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good

Robust support plans address need and provide clarity as to how to meet need. The regular network meetings are a strength of the organisation with a regular opportunity to review need and address any changes required to plans. Young people attend these reviews and are supported to voice their views.

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good

Health needs are clear with health action plans giving an overview of need and state when and by whom support is provided. Young people have therapeutic support available to them via a variety of therapies. The ‘My Time’ sessions are enjoyed by each of the girls. They have beauty treatments and relaxation time choosing what they want to do in each session. Those who do require additional health care support are helped to access these services.

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good

Each young person has an education plan, and is engaged in full-time education with good attendance. A new admission has recently been supported to transition into a new school with a clear plan in place providing clarity for all. One young person has a mixed plan of college and school attendance to support with her transition into college.

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good

Staff ensure that young people have access to a variety of activities which include social and physical opportunities. The activities also supplement therapeutic activities which young people enjoy. Several attend local groups and clubs including dance, drama, guides and swimming with others preferring to play an instrument.

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good

The voice of the young person is present throughout the home and within all plans and reviews. Staff are continuing to review how they support young people to have their voice heard. The ‘concerns and worries forms’ are regularly used and young people receive responses and outcomes to these.

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good

House meetings and conversations around the tea table are being used to explore day-to-day household issues and gain young people’s views and choices. One-to-one sessions happen regularly with some key discussions and learning coming from those sessions. Young people are exploring a variety of topics and developing skills to support them in the future.

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good

Staff facilitate contact arrangements for young people with family and friends and request review of plans when required. Staff have assisted young people to explore and manage their emotions when plans have been changed.

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good

The home is well presented with a lovely family feel to it; the kitchen-diner area is the hub of the home, with staff and young people gathering there to chat and take part in activities.

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good

Young people have good relationships with staff and each state they have someone they trust can confide in. Staff invest time in young people supporting them to explore challenges and work through difficulties.

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good

Staff support young people in forming new relationships and experience new things. They have also assisted a young person to take age-appropriate risks and have provided guidance when she made mistakes. They have helped the young person to learn from any mistakes.

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good

The environment is a safe one, with aspects of damage and repair being swiftly addressed. The environment checks and servicing requirements within the home have occurred. The weekly manager’s checks do not currently include the outside area. The manager intends to address and change this. During my visit the outside area had rubbish items lying on the floor, a broken table and damaged garden slabs which could present low level risk to others.

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good

Young people’s risky behaviours are identified and plans and strategies address and minimise them. Other risk factors are assessed and planned for; plans are regularly reviewed.

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good

Missing episodes have been well managed with a coordinated approach. There is a collaborative approach to missing utilising good links with the missing coordinator. This has led to plans which provide clarity regarding actions and management strategies. The grab sheets provide clear detail and actions required when an incident occurs. Some young people have had access to return to care interviews from the placing authority, with the home completing their own debrief with each young person.

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good

Child sexual exploitation risk assessments completed by placing authorities are present for some young people. The home has considered risk factors associated with child sexual exploitation within risk assessments with strategies in place to address. One young person has an assessment which identifies that she is at low level of risk with clear plans in place to address this.

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good

Pre-admission assessments identify risk and consider if need can be met. Plans and initial assessments provide analysis and basic responses to identified risk. Plans and risk assessments are updated as required within the initial assessment period.

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good

Staff are knowledgeable about safeguarding procedures and processes with staff having recently received radicalisation training and child sexual exploitation training. Staff have a good understanding of the whistle-blowing procedures to use if required.

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good

Behaviour management is well managed with clear boundaries and expectations in place, behaviour support plans consider triggers, de-escalation strategies and management strategies. Debrief and reflection is more consistently available to all young people and staff. Risk assessments and plans are updated and reviewed when required. Physical intervention is used occasionally, and all staff are trained in the homes preferred approach. Behaviour support plans clearly identify individual strategies and levels of intervention to be used within a stepped approach.

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good

Conflict is frequent between the girls within the home, staff support young people to learn from these incidents and develop more positive coping strategies.

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good

Safeguarding concerns are addressed robustly with good quality record keeping evident; referral and notification occur when required. Management oversight is given at all stages although with some inconsistencies in monitoring currently. The in-house safeguarding team provide support and guidance to staff with a robust assertive approach to safeguarding present.

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good

Complaints and allegations have been acted on and investigated with referral when needed, good working relationships with placing authorities and the local authority designated officer is present. Outcomes are recorded and complainants are informed of outcomes.

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good

Young people sign up to E- Safety contracts which advise them of the expectations of internet use. Young people’s knowledge is also supplemented in the one-to-one sessions and house meetings about the risks associated with the internet. Young people and local authorities are informed and sign to give consent for the use of the CCTV on the premises.

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good

Links with local police provide a message to young people that they help as well as being present in times of crisis. Links with local services ensure that criminal activity is addressed and follow on actions are implemented.

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good

The location risk assessment has recently been updated and now reflects the changes in the local area.

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requires improvement

The home is managed by a house manager who is currently applying to Ofsted to become the registered manager for the home. He is undertaking his Level 5 Diploma also and hopes for this to be completed within six months.

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requires improvement

The requirements and recommendations set at the previous inspection have been partly met with plans in place to fully address outstanding items.

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requires improvement

The home is well staffed; staff have relevant experience and knowledge to equip them to meet the needs of the young people in their care. The newly appointed staff have all been recruited in line with safer recruitment processes.

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requires improvement

Staff have recently been trained in ‘The Pillars of Parenting model’ and are now implementing this new practice. It has been positively received by the staff team with regular sessions to review and explore goals to work towards with young people. The staff team will receive more training in this approach in coming months. Leaders and managers state they feel it is important to ensure they are applying the best practice model and theories to the work they complete with the young people.

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requires improvement

The manager has robust systems in place to monitor and evaluate the quality of care within the home. These systems are in their infancy and as yet are not embedded or being used to their full potential. The manager has recorded aspects as being completed and addressed when on further scrutiny aspects have not been completed fully.

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requires improvement

A development plan is in place for the whole care service within the organisation but as yet the house manager has not developed an individual plan to address issues and areas requiring improvement in the home. An action plan is present highlighting some issues; not all items are addressed within this plan.

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requires improvement

Plans clearly state young people’s needs and how these will be addressed. Support plans have been recently changed in their style and content; the new documents are robust and very detailed in including all aspects of need and risk.

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requires improvement

Pre-admission processes are robust with assessment and analysis exploring risk, need and compatibility in place prior to admission. Managers and leaders have reflected on admissions and discharges. A recent discharge was reviewed in detail, it was identified that they followed their procedures prior to admission and evidenced that they could meet need. On this occasion the change in the young person’s presentation was not expected or predicted and so they concluded they were right to accept the admission. Once it had been identified they could no longer meet need this was addressed and alternative provision sought. Staff provide all young people moving on from the home a photo book of memories and achievements.

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requires improvement

Managers have good working relationships with those outside of the home and a positive presence within the local community. Staff are exploring opportunities for young people to volunteer at a local community café.

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requires improvement

Staff training and development is varied and explores a wide variety of topics. Staff are supported and enrolled on the required qualifications. Staff meetings are not occurring regularly currently, the manager has identified this and intends to address it.

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requires improvement

Supervision does occur but evidence to show it is regular and effective as outlined in the homes policy and procedure is not present. Group reflective sessions do occur but currently these are not recorded.

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requires improvement

Induction of new staff is robust with a clear process in place; new staff have a plan of what is to be achieved with training incorporated into this. Within the induction staff have their practice reviewed in the first week, first month and then at six months. Evidence to show this is being followed was not present.

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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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