Children's Home run by 2nd Nurture Limited in St Helens

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:

 The home is a friendly and nurturing environment where the young person receives excellent care and support from a consistent, stable and dedicated staff team. Staff genuinely care about her and have created a warm family atmosphere where she has been able to make positive relationships with staff. A social worker confirmed: ‘The staff are very nurturing here.’  Staff encourage and support young people to engage in education. They identify young people’s skills and interests, working collaboratively with education staff to promote learning. This approach has resulted in the young person gaining educational qualifications.  Staff provide care that is consistent and responsive to young people’s identity and family history. This helps them to develop a positive self-view and an ability to form and sustain attachments and a sense of identity.  The young person’s safety is given top priority. Staff have an excellent

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

knowledge and understanding of young people’s risks and vulnerabilities. They ensure that the right action is taken to keep young people safe from harm. Risk taking behaviour, such as anti-social behaviour and engaging in criminal activities has not been an issue.  Staff are skilled in identifying risks and helping the young person manage free time safely and successfully. They support her to engage in activities designed to deflect her from negative influences in her life.  Clear risk assessments and behaviour management plans help the young person manage her emotions in a safe environment. Plans are regularly monitored and reviewed to ensure that they remain effective.  Staff work with the young person supporting her to make positive choices. Strong safeguarding procedures and appropriate training provides staff with the knowledge and skills to recognise signs that young people are at risk of harm.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 The manager is highly motivated and committed to supporting optimum life chances for young people. She is a strong leader and has high ambitions for her staff team. She drives improvement to ensure that young people receive highly individualised care and support.  The manager has well established working links with a range of care, education, health and safeguarding agencies. This multi-agency approach is extremely effective in providing young people with the right level of care and support to meet their individual needs.

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Information about this children's home

This privately-owned home is registered to accommodate one young person with emotional and behavioural difficulties or learning difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/02/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

The home environment is warm and welcoming and is personalised throughout with photographs of the young person who lives there. Staff support and encourage her to choose the décor for her bedroom and other living areas in the home. This has assisted her in making a positive transition from previous placements and secures a sense of belonging. She takes a pride in her environment and has developed good attachments with her staff. The young person said: ‘I like it here.’ The young person living in the home receives excellent care and support from a consistent, stable and dedicated staff team. Care is individualised and designed to meet the young person’s assessed needs. This is making a considerable difference to her life. Staff genuinely care about her and support and encourage her to develop and reach her goals. She is clear about her individual targets and knows what she needs to do to achieve them. Staff reward her for all her

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outstanding

accomplishments. This caring approach has enhanced her self-confidence and furnished her with the determination to gain educational qualifications for example. A social worker said: ‘This is a fabulous placement. The staff work very hard and they really care about her. X lacked nurturing and really enjoys the care and attention staff provide. She has a very high level of support from staff and has made fantastic progress.’

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outstanding

Staff are excellent role models for the young person. They take a clear and fair approach in helping her to make good life choices. They provide a high level of support and encouragement and develop positive relationships, building up trust and self-worth. They take an interest in the young person and get to know her and identify her strengths and interests. This has enabled staff to promote all areas of her wellbeing and to regain trust in adults. She now enjoys attending a boxing class, socialising with friends and engages with professionals such as her tutors. A social worker commented: ‘X came to the home with extremely challenging behaviour. She has settled here, which is amazing and has maintained relationships. This is a massive change.’

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outstanding

Staff value young people’s education and have high aspirations for them to achieve. Staff expect young people to participate in education provision and ensure that this is at the right level. They have developed effective links with education staff and support individual learning in the home. Education attendance has considerably improved with the young person choosing to sit exams and aspiring to become a nail technician. A social worker said: ‘Prior to this placement she couldn’t manage education. Now she is accessing education five days a week. It’s amazing that she is enjoying the beautician course. What a massive, massive achievement.’

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outstanding

Staff promote healthy lifestyles. The young person contributes to menu planning and is encouraged to eat a healthy well balanced diet. She enjoys exercise and participates in a local boxing class. She benefits from a detailed health assessment and is well supported in accessing routine and specialist healthcare services. Staff encouraged the young person to attend the dentist for outstanding treatment and supported her to develop a trusting relationship with the nurse. This combined approach assisted with the fear of injections, resulting in all health appointments being up to date.

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outstanding

Staff provide the young person with a wide range of opportunities to develop life skills and increase levels of independence. She has developed cooking skills and made Christmas dinner for family. She has learned how to budget and do her laundry. These accomplishments have increased her self-confidence and will assist her to successfully manage her adult life. The young person said: ‘I was nervous about cooking Christmas dinner but it wasn’t that hard.’

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outstanding

Staff place the well-being of young people at the centre of their practice, despite the challenges they present. They promote young people’s culture and identity by supporting them to maintain contact with their families. Individual contact plans ensure young people's time spent with their families and friends is safe and a positive experience for all involved.

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outstanding

Staff give young people’s safety top priority. Individual risks are clearly identified, understood and well managed. Interventions are thoughtful and supported by clear risk assessments and behaviour management plans. Staff are vigilant to indicators of risk and are able to identify signs that young people could be at risk of sexual exploitation. They take immediate action to protect them. Staff encourage the young person to engage in activities designed to discourage her from negative influences in her life. They take a multi-agency approach, working with police, the placing authority and the home’s local authority to ensure that the young person is safe from harm. A social worker commented: ‘The staff are excellent at safeguarding and X is totally safe in their care.’

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outstanding

The young person says that staff help her to keep safe. She knows that the actions staff take are because they care and need to protect her. Staff support her to understand and manage her behaviour and feelings in a safe environment, with clear consistent boundaries. Behaviour management plans are regularly reviewed to ensure that they are effective and take into account her views and experiences. High levels of staff supervision and a dedication to keeping the young person safe means that there have been no incidents of her going missing. The young person said: ‘I feel safe and staff make sure I am safe.’

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outstanding

Staff understand the triggers to behaviour and pre-empt potential risks. They know the young person well and understand how past history has an impact on her emotions and how this may cause her to react in a negative way. Staff work sensitively with the young person and respond in a calm manner, encouraging her to discuss any issues with staff. This calm approach has resulted in a significant reduction in aggressive behaviour. Clear well-thought risk assessments and behaviour management plans are designed to assist the young person to understand and manage her behaviour and anxieties in a safe environment. Staff talk to her about behavioural expectations and she is fully involved in setting her own targets, goals and rewards. The effectiveness of this approach means there have been no sanctions or physical restraint. The young person is taking an increased responsibility for her own behaviour.

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outstanding

The home develops highly effective links with specialist agencies in respect of risk evaluation and young people. Comprehensive risk assessments identify areas within the locality which may pose risks to vulnerable young people. The manager has a good knowledge of the dynamics in the area. The home maintains links with the Local Safeguarding Board and staff promote good relationships with community police; working in collaboration with a number of other agencies to ensure that young people are safeguarded. Judgement grade

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outstanding

The Registered Manager was approved to manage this home in March 2014. She has a vast amount of management experience and is currently working towards the level five diploma in leadership and management. She has the necessary skills to provide clear leadership and management to a highly motivated and dedicated staff team. She is exceptionally child focused, confident and proactive and has an excellent understanding of the individual needs of vulnerable young people.

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outstanding

The staff team is experienced, stable and competent in delivering high quality care to young people and their families. Staff have a good relationship with the manager and receive regular supervision and appraisal, which focuses on their professional development and the progress the young person continues to make. Staff have access to training and workshops through Action for Children. Mandatory training is up-to-date which assists staff to identify and understand risks and to take appropriate action to ensure young people get the necessary support they need. The manager is well supported by a dedicated, very capable and well established staff team who provide the young person with a high standard of care and support. Staff report they feel valued and supported by the manager as good arrangements are in place for regular supervision and support and development of staff. A staff member said: ‘The team is consistent and we have supervision once a

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outstanding

month and our appraisal annually. We discuss the progress of the young person, our own development and training needs.’

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outstanding

Care planning is of a high standard and is specific to the needs of the young person. The manager regularly monitors and reviews progress, enabling her to identify any developing patterns or trends. Subsequently, she can take action to swiftly address any areas of concern that are identified. She compiles clear evaluative reports and participates in meetings with the young person, escalating issues with other agencies such as education, to ensure that individual plans are effective and achievable. A social worker commented; ‘Communication is excellent. The manager has a great knowledge of X and is fully involved in her care planning.’

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outstanding

The manager has well established links with a number of external services such as placing authorities, independent reviewing officers and local authority designated officer. She promotes a multi-discipline approach to meeting the young person’s needs. As well as providing direct support these links are also used to provide staff with information, training and support which enhances their skills in meeting young people’s needs. This has proved effective in helping the young person make positive progress in terms of their individual goals, including keeping herself safe from harm.

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outstanding

The home is consistently managed and effective in meeting the aims and objectives outlined in its Statement of Purpose. Child focused practice is rooted within the home's philosophy and has resulted in the young person achieving positive outcomes in many aspects of her life. Feedback from placing authorities is highly positive and recognises the child centred and nurturing approach as key strengths of the home. A social worker commented: ‘This is the only placement to manage and sustain X, which is a reflection of the care staff provide. The staff are fantastic and I am extremely pleased with the progress X has made.’

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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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