Children's Home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

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 are active contributors in shaping their day-to-day experience of their care.  Young people are settled in a stable home environment.  Young people understand how the home works and what the adults working there will do to help them.  Young people’s educational progress is either in line with their agreed targets, or exceeds them.  Young people’s talents and interests are understood and nurtured. They select activities based on their personal preferences and abilities.  Staff protect young people from harm so that they feel safe.  Incidents of missing from care are reducing in number.  A competent and efficient staff team is led by an effective manager.  Management succession arrangements are effective in the provider organisation.  The provider delivers seamless care, education and therapy support.  The home is not maintained to a high standard and improvements in the fabric of the building are required.

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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:

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard with particular reference to maintaining the fabric of the building, the registered person is required to:

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Requirement Due date

(2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 12/03/2016

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Information about this children's home

This home is operated by a private company. Care and accommodation are provided for up to three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and may also have learning disabilities. The company has its own school for children not attending mainstream education and also has its own therapy team.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/03/2015 CH - Interim sustained effectiveness

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good

The overall experiences and progress of young people living in the home are good. Young people have developed positively in most aspects of their lives since their arrival at the home. One parent, referring to her son’s improvement, said ‘you wouldn’t believe the difference in him’.

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good

Care planning is robust. Care review meetings take place on time and young people participate in them. The arrangements for day-to-day care are reviewed every month to ensure that the provider meets the needs of young people identified in the placement plan, as well as any needs emerging during their time spent at the home. Young people are effectively supported in line with the wishes of their placing authorities.

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good

Staff work well with other agencies to good effect in terms of the consequences for young people. One allocated social worker whose young person has benefited from the wrap-around care, therapy and education said ‘(the home) offers the whole package’. Young people’s care is seamless because of the good multi-agency working that is co-ordinated for them.

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good

Young people contribute to, and understand their care. They are active participants in weekly young people’s meetings, where preferences are expressed and plans are made. These meetings not only allow staff to understand the wishes of young people, but enable young people to negotiate the arrangements of their shared living situation. The following week’s activities, menus and plans are agreed collectively and when these are implemented in the following week, young people can see that their views have been heard and put into action.

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good

Young people have good relationships with the staff that care for them. Close supervision keeps young people safe and is considerate of their general welfare. As a result, they invest in the home and feel settled in a stable environment. One young person wrote to his placing authority to say: ‘I didn’t want to come here at all in the first place, but now I know what it is about, what it does and the area that I live in, I like it a lot more and I find it comfortable’. All of the young people rate the home highly. They recognise and appreciate the support given to them by staff members.

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good

Young people are engaged in education. Their performance spans the range from good, to gifted and talented. Staff transport young people to school and remain with them to provide additional classroom support, where necessary. One headteacher described young people’s attendance and punctuality as, ‘excellent’. They are motivated and they understand the importance of their education for their future adult prospects.

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good

Young people are actively and positively involved in a broad variety of sporting activities away from the home, including skiing and bowling, as well as pursuing their own hobbies and interests in the home. Staff are good at identifying opportunities for activities that are appropriate and enjoyable for young people. During the summer break, they have enjoyed holidays in remote and unfamiliar settings. These holidays have broadened their horizons and allowed them some quality time as individuals with the support of staff.

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good

Members of staff encourage young people to maintain their good health by regular exercise and following a balanced diet. As a result of this support, young people have lost weight safely and appropriately. They also have a better understanding of the importance of eating healthily.

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good

Arrivals to the home, and departures from it, by young people are managed sensitively. Placements at the home take account of the feelings of new arrivals, as well as those already resident. The success of the home’s matching process helps to maintain a stable environment in which young people are able to accept others and learn to live together co-operatively.

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good

The management of behaviour by staff is clear and consistent. Good behaviour is promoted by a system of consequences that addresses poor behaviour and rewards good behaviour. Young people understand the effects of difficult and unsafe behaviours.

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good

Individual sessional work, led by staff, focuses either on immediate issues arising in the home, or addresses the broader aims laid out in each young person’s placement plan. This work allows young people to reflect on their pre-care lives and the experience of being in care. It also provides the opportunity, in a safe setting, to consider and make plans for life after care. The positive focus of this work promotes self-esteem and helps young people to understand the importance of the period of transition up to adulthood and independence.

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good

The well-being and achievements of young people are promoted by good day-to - day care. Young people have a sense of purpose, both for themselves in terms of their own educational and career development, and for other people. One young person has been successful in raising funds for Comic Relief by taking part in a sponsored walk. The residents have a sense of shared pride in an award they won as a team following their participation in the recent school sports day. Judgement grade

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good

The staff team knows and understands any risks associated with young people’s behaviours. A recent serious incident of threatening behaviour was dealt with robustly by staff members, and in such a way that the young person involved was not needlessly criminalised.

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good

Staff in the home are prepared for when young people go missing. Each young person has a tailored ‘trigger plan’, which is completed in conjunction with local police. The plan sets out the corresponding roles of a range of agencies in the event of a missing episode. Despite persistent requests sent from the home’s manager to placing authorities, independent return home interviews have not taken place. To compensate for this, the staff team’s good relationships with young people allows them to discuss the issues that led young people to go missing. These discussions inform risk assessments and trigger plans. The number of missing incidents is decreasing. Young people are protected by the multi-agency work that takes place, when they go missing.

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good

Young people report that they feel secure living at the home. Members of staff are clear in their boundary setting with young people. Young people understand and conform to the house rules because of the help and support provided for them.

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good

The use of new technology by young people is risk assessed and access is limited and supervised accordingly. Young people are protected from harm as a result of the electronic and physical safeguards the staff team have in place.

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good

Room searches are appropriately recorded and the searches that have been carried out have proved to be justified, because of the items of concern that have been removed. Such checks and confiscations reduce the risks to the safety and well- being of young people and staff.

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good

Staff members listen to, take seriously and act on, what young people say. The manager’s strict adherence to allegation procedures provides protection for staff members as well as young people. Judgement grade

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good

Although improvements to the home’s decorative state and equipment have been made in response to the recommendation from the previous inspection, there are still too many examples of damage or decay to the property that require attention. One of the shared bathrooms and the upstairs toilet are shabby, poorly maintained and not clean. The remedial tasks are not listed in the maintenance log as requiring attention.

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good

The provider supports young people’s safety, well-being and personal development in line with the ethos and objectives laid out in the statement of purpose. The quality of care and leadership is good. The experienced registered manager, in post since 2011, is qualified and ensures that young people are well cared for by a capable and efficient team.

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good

The staff team benefit from regular supervision sessions and well-attended team meetings. The content of these are appropriately split between discussing the needs of young people and the support required for staff members to be able to work effectively. A particular strength of this provider is the way in which it develops staff and assists them to progress through to supervisor and manager levels. The organisation is skilled in identifying those staff who are competent and ready to fulfil the requirements of a management role.

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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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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