Children's home run by The Governing Body of Woodlands School in Plymouth

Inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and their care and experiences are poor.

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

 Insufficient action has been taken by leaders and managers to remedy weaknesses in the quality of care. Some of the poor practice identified during the previous two inspections remains. Progress is not being made quickly enough to improve the quality of care that children and young people receive.  Arrangements to lead and manage the home are not effective enough to drive forward necessary improvements quickly enough. Interim management arrangements are currently in place and working well but these arrangements are temporary.  Staff continue to lack the skills to identify potential concerns about children and young people. Staff were not aware of an unusual mark/injury on a young person, despite this information being shared with them by the family. As a result, staff did not amend the young person’s care plan to reduce the risk of these marks continuing or seek to identify how they had happened.  Leaders and managers have not challenged or prevented inappropriate

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The children's home provision is inadequate because:

sanctions being given to one young person. The sanctions are excessive and resulted in the young person’s liberty being deprived. These concerns have now been referred to the local authority designated officer.  Ineffective partnership working between health and care practitioners in the home impacts negatively on the care that children and young people receive. Parallel recording systems are not shared thereby preventing collaborative working. Key information about children and young people is not always shared. As a result, children and young people do not receive the best care available to them.

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The children's home strengths

The registered individual has recently secured an interim manager for three days a week in the short term, to support the home to improve. This appointment has had a noticeable positive impact. The interim manager is keen to make positive change, this has resulted in an improvement in staff morale and an increased determination by staff to improve the service. The registered individual has substantially invested in training and support for staff. Consultants have been used to audit the safeguarding practices and policies and to provide some of the training that has taken place. Staff members state that this provision has been beneficial and they see this as the start of a journey to improve further.

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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 ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure

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Requirement Due date

(12)(2) (b) that the home's day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm 31/03/2016 *

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure that staff

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Requirement Due date

(12)(2)(a) (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; (iii) have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm 31/03/2016 *

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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 the registered person must

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Requirement Due date

(13)(2) (a) lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose; (b) ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; (c) ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; 31/03/2016 (e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child; (f) understand 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; (g)(i) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and (g)(ii)feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the care planning standard the registered person must ensure that

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Requirement Due date

(14)(1)(2) (c) children receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home; and that each child's relevant plans are followed 31/03/2016

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Requirement Due date

No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child (Regulation 19 (1)) 31/03/2016 *

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children's home (Regulation 23 (1)) 31/03/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which – include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; Are kept up to date; and Are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 31/03/2016 * These requirements are subject to statutory requirement notice.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning. (The Guide to the Quality Standards page 29, paragraph 5.19)

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Information about this children's home

The home has recently changed its registration and is now registered as a children’s home. The home is registered to look after up to eight children and/or young people at any one time. The home may provide care and accommodation for children with sensory impairment, learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

02 February2015 CH - Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

15 October2013 CH - Interim Good progress

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Inadequate

Staff members have not taken sufficient action to ensure that the accommodation provided to all children and young people is homely. Not all children and young people have their bedrooms prepared well for their arrival. Some young people do not have personal items and their clothing is not unpacked promptly to ensure that their bedroom feels more like their own. Some improvements to the accommodation have been made and further ones are planned.

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Inadequate

Not all care plans for children and young people identify all of their needs. The interim manager has started to remedy this weakness. Staff members have been provided with training and time to ensure that care plans are updated and are child-focused. Not all of these documents are yet updated. As a result, staff continue to rely on how well they know some of the young people, rather than implementing planned care for them.

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Inadequate

Not all children and young people have behaviour management plans in place. The ones that are in place do not provide sufficient guidance for staff to effectively manage challenging behaviours. This has resulted in the inappropriate use of sanctions and inconsistent responses to low level poor behaviours. As a result, the expectations for children and young people can be confusing as different staff apply different strategies.

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Inadequate

Not all parents feel that their input is always listened to and acted upon. Information provided by one parent about their child’s individual care needs had not been shared effectively with the staff team or recorded on the child’s file. As a result, the young person’s care needs were not being met.

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Inadequate

Children and young people do not have access to the internet. As a result, they have limited opportunities to access information and resources the same as other young people.

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Inadequate

Children and young people attend school regularly and benefit greatly from doing so. They are making good progress. Some of the staff who work in school also spend time in the home, and children and young people were observed to like this arrangement. This support helps the children and young people to feel secure when they are away from their families. Judgement grade

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Inadequate

There is a failure to ensure that systems are in place to enable the manager to have effective oversight of any concerns for young people. Staff did not take effective action when they were provided with information about an unusual mark/injury on one young person. No written records were kept on the young person’s file and the information was not shared with colleagues or managers. As a result, the young person’s care plan was not changed and staff did not seek to understand the origins of the injury. In addition, key information about young people is still not being shared with the staff caring for them. This approach to care fails to safeguard children and young people.

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Inadequate

Generally the use of sanctions in the home is rare. However, sanctions have been given that have deprived one young person of their liberty. Incidents have occurred where one young person has been removed from their peers and, on occasion, taken out of their wheelchair and placed on their bed. Managers and staff have not challenged or prevented these incidents or sought more constructive ways to help children to develop positive behaviour. Parents are not always informed when a sanction is given to their child.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers have taken steps to remedy the previous weaknesses in the handling, recording, safe-keeping and administration of medication. New systems have been put in place to make the process easier for staff to follow. However, these systems are not yet effective as during this inspection a staff member was asked to administer medication that they had not been responsible for checking or dispensing.

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Inadequate

The responsible individual has undertaken a robust audit of the fire evacuation policies. As a result, some significant improvements have been made. Children and young people’s personal evacuation plans have been updated and consideration has been given to what should happen if the building cannot be re-entered. These changes will support safer and quicker evacuation of the building, should the need arise.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers have failed to ensure that all of the requirements from the previous inspection have been met. While some improvements have been made, leaders and managers are realistic that the institutional culture of the home is going to take time to change. As a result, some poor practice remains.

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Inadequate

There has been no permanent manager at the home since the previous inspection. The deputy managers leading the home do not yet demonstrate sufficient capacity to support positive change. The interim manager has the skills and experience to support staff to make the required changes. However, the interim management arrangement is temporary and part-time. As a result, progress is not happening fast enough to impact positively on the quality of care that the children and young people receive.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers fail to ensure that effective systems are in place to monitor concerns and worries about children and young people. Despite considerable training and support since the previous inspection, managers and staff are unable to identify all concerns.

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Inadequate

Leaders and managers have not ensured that the nursing staff are provided with challenging and reflective one-to-one supervision. As a result, they do not always see themselves as part of the wider care team or responsible for the holistic care needs of the children and young people.

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Inadequate

The responsible individual has invested heavily in care staff training and support since the previous full inspection. Further training is to be provided to staff. In addition, a full audit of safeguarding practice has taken place and changes have been made to processes within the home. This learning has not yet been embedded into practice. Staff state that they feel more informed to carry out their roles. They state that they feel that they are learning all of the time but they also recognise that they still have some way to go.

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Inadequate

The responsible individual has secured an effective independent visitor to assist in monitoring the quality of care. These systems are now stronger, providing more challenge and scrutiny.

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Inadequate

The responsible individual has worked tirelessly since the previous inspection to secure a permanent manager for this home. She recognises the importance of this role to drive forward improvements. The current arrangement with the interim manager has had a positive impact on the service and staff are being provided with a good role model. She is not afraid to challenge poor performance. However, a permanent arrangement needs to be sought to ensure all weaknesses are remedied quickly.

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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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