Children's Home run by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in Rotherham

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 and young people enjoy attending this setting. Their life experiences are improved from the activities provided here.  Children and young people make good progress in all areas of their development.  Managers and staff have a good understanding of each individual's complex needs. Care, is tailored for each young person to ensure they receive good quality support.  Children and young people enjoy positive relationships with staff and peers. They like the happy atmosphere, which provides social opportunities they do not experience elsewhere.  The registered manager is committed to the continual development of the service. He strives to ensure children and their families receive the services they need.  Managers have strong oversight of the setting ensuring any issues are quickly identified and robustly addressed.

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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

12: The protection of children standard 2 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure – (a) that staff- (vii) are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; In particular ensuring the accurate and detailed recording of safeguarding issues. 22/2/2016

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard 2 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to- (b)ensure that staff- (iv) provide personalised care that meets each child's needs as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background; With specific reference to ensuring care plans are up to date and reflect the individuals current care needs. 22/2/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Children must be consulted regularly on their views about the homes care, to inform and support continued improvement and quality of care provided (Guide to the Quality Standards, paragraph 4.11, page 22). With specific reference to continuing to develop communication systems.

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Information about this children's home

This is a short break service run by a local authority, providing care and accommodation for young people with learning and physical disabilities. This service also has an emergency bed, which can be used for young people who currently access this service.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/12/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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people living in the home are

Children and young people enjoy attending this setting. One social worker commented, `She counts down until she's going. She really loves it there.' A parent commented, `He enjoys his time there and has grown in confidence socially from being there.'

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people living in the home are

Children and young people benefit from staff that show empathy and offer a nurturing approach to their care. As a result, they develop appropriate trusting bonds with staff. One young person commented, `Yes staff are all good. I like them all.’

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people living in the home are

Children’s wishes and feelings are sought in a variety of ways. For example, through a comments box, children's meetings and individual consultation. Not all young people have the ability to access this consultation, although innovative ways to enhance participation and develop the communication resource base is an area of ongoing development. This will lead to further enhanced communication for all individuals regardless of their level of ability.

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people living in the home are

Staff ensure positive relationships with schools, health professionals and parents are maintained. This makes sure children receive a holistic approach to their care. Consequently, families feel fully supported and involved by the service. One parent commented, `Staff are helpful and nice. They have all got the time of day for you and they are always there. They talk to me whenever I need, even several times; it really puts me at rest.'

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people living in the home are

Children and young people's life opportunities are broadened by attending this service. They experience a range of activities here that many cannot access elsewhere. Some young people’s favourites include bowling, trips to the cinema, walks in the park and meals out. One parent commented, `It's brilliant, he has been to the cinema for the first time. He goes shopping with them too.'

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people living in the home are

Children and young people enjoy a healthy, varied and balanced menu. One young person said, `The food is good, the meatballs are perfect.' Staff work hard to promote healthy eating and encourage children and young people to broaden their diets. Staff are successful in creating a fun atmosphere at meal times. This encourages young people to socialise and consequently enjoy their experience. In addition, their social skills and eating habits improve.

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people living in the home are

Children and young people make good progress in all areas of their development. The recording of individual progress however does not always reflect achievements by children and young people. The staff are aware that progress recording is an area of development and has no impact on children and young people's experiences.

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people are helped and protected

Staff have high expectations for children and young people and positive behaviour is consistently encouraged. Detailed risk assessments equip staff with in-depth knowledge of each individual and their complex needs. As a result, incidents of challenging behaviour are minimal. Any challenges that do occur are positively managed and restraint is used as a last resort.

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people are helped and protected

There are no instances of children and young people being missing from the home. Should this situation arise, missing from home procedures are robust. Staff demonstrate good knowledge of what action to take. Individual records provide a good account of the actions needed. Consequently, this would provide staff and other safeguarding agencies with the level of detail needed to help keep children and young people safe. There are no children and young people involved in child sexual exploitation in this setting. However, staff are trained to recognise the signs to help safeguard them should this ever occur.

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people are helped and protected

Staff demonstrate good verbal knowledge of child protection procedures. However, in practice, a recent safeguarding concern was reported but the correct reporting process was not followed. A lack of detail in some parts of the incident recording highlighted this issue. This lapse in following procedure had no impact on this occasion and the young person's needs were appropriately met. The reporting policy to ensure safeguarding concerns are shared correctly has been robustly revised andstaff have undertaken training in this area. Additional training to ensure robust recording is planned. However, the impact of this training needs to be assessed and embedded.

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people are helped and protected

The home is designed specifically to meet the individual needs of children and young people. It offers a large space for children and young people to socialise. Additional rooms offer space where individuals can retreat. The balance between providing a homely, yet low arousal environment is achieved. Consequently, children and young people are relaxed in their surroundings, which helps to reduce behavioural incidents caused by anxiety from the environment. Biometric door technology prevents unknown people from entering the building. It also ensures children and young people leaving the building are appropriately supervised.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager has been in post since July 2013. The manager holds a level 5 management qualification and has many years of experience working with children with disability in residential settings.

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leaders and managers

The manager leads by example. He takes a hands on approach. This ensures high standards of care for children and young people are maintained. He has substantial understanding of individuals and their disabilities. He uses this in-depth knowledge to plan the service. This ensures the right mix of individual's access the service together so they get the best experience possible.

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leaders and managers

The manager is keen to continually progress the service. For example, the staff team are to undertake training in relation to alternative feeding techniques. This will expand staff skill and widen the care they can offer. As a result, new young people with a variety of special needs are able to benefit from the service. This will significantly enhance children and their family's lives. One parent commented, `The facilities are excellent and the staff are very efficient and passionate about making our child's stay a positive one.'

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leaders and managers

Staff receive regular reflective supervision. Consequently, they feel confident to undertake their role. One staff commented, `We get good managers support. The manager is down to earth. I have regular supervision. It is good.'

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leaders and managers

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and area’s for development of the home. He holds high expectations and is quick to address any issues robustly. An area identified for improvement relates to the need for up to date care plans. This does not affect the quality of care delivered by staff however, potentially hinders the ability to demonstrate individual progress. It can also impact on the manager's capacity to identify areas that need additional attention.

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leaders and managers

This home is fully meeting its statement of purpose. It provides, ‘a short break service which supports children and their families continuing to operate as a family unit.' It offers the stimulating and enjoyable experience it describes. This enables children and young people to develop skills through participation in a range of activities.

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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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