Setting in Birmingham

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children with learning disabilities, autism and complex health needs enjoy extremely positive experiences in this very welcoming and supportive children’s home. The very high standard of care is making a considerable difference to their lives. They are making sustained and measureable improvements in their social and communication skills, forming positive relationships with important adults, emotional well-being, education, taking responsibility for their own personal care, and enjoyment of a wide range of cultural and leisure activities in the community.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children live and stay in a stable and consistent environment where they feel safe and have a sense of belonging. They develop strong and trusting relationships with their staff. The manager and staff are ambitious for every child, regardless of the complexity of their needs and disabilities, to fulfil their potential and enjoy the same opportunities and experiences as other children. They understand children extremely well and provide them with a very high quality of care tailored to meet their individual needs. They always treat the children with dignity and respect. They are sensitive and responsive to each children’s personal needs in relation to their age, disability, identity, sexuality, ethnicity, culture, and faith or belief. Including understanding how children’s disabilities and health conditions impact on their lives differently and ensuring that they receive care that is best to their unique needs. For example, adapting children’s bedtime routines as they get older

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

and allowing them to choose when to get up at the weekend as other children of their age do.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Two children have moved in since the last inspection. Their transition from their families to staying at the home was carefully and sensitively planned. For each child, the manager completed an in-depth assessment of their needs. She only agreed to provide them with a placement once she was confident that she had a proper understanding of their needs and she was able to meet them safely and effectively. This assessment involved the manager visiting children in their homes and at school and gathering information from their families and carers, social workers, teachers and health professionals. Children visit the home, often several times, as part of the assessment to enable the manager to assess how well they adapt to the environment, explore the space, and get on staff and other the children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Both children have coped very well with the challenge of being away from their families. Their care is individually and effectively planned and put into practice. The manager and staff are still getting to know them and continuously reflect on their plans and make changes to ensure they get the right help and guidance. One of the children did struggle to settle at first, but things have improved with each stay as he gets used to the staff and coming to the home. He has a picture of the home to help him understand when he is coming to stay. This appears to be helping him feel less anxious because he knows what is going to happen and where he is going. He is building a very positive rapport with the staff and they are becoming more familiar with his personality, interests and anxieties. They have found out that he loves it when they talk in silly voices or sing him nursery rhymes, and that listening to music helps him relax. As they are develop their understanding of him,

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

they are able to show him that they can meet their needs and keep them safe. This, in turn, is helping him to relax and enjoy their time in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff’s exceptionally strong safe care practices continue to ensure that children are protected from harm and neglect. They are able to identify when children are upset or something is wrong. They take prompt and decisive action when they are concerned about a children’s welfare and work collaboratively with social workers, schools, health workers and safeguarding services to protect children. They have a comprehensive understanding of individual children’s vulnerabilities. They use detailed and evolving written risk assessments to develop a clearer understanding of risks to individual young people’s safety and to guide them successfully to manage and reduce these risks.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff have strong working relationships with parents and carers, schools, health, and social workers. They work extremely well together to ensure that the children receive the best possible support to promote health and emotional well-being. They have an excellent understanding of young people’s specific health needs and have received relevant training and guidance in autism and epilepsy to ensure children needs are met. They are very knowledgeable about the signs of epilepsy for individual children and how to support them. They know what to do when a child has a seizure, when to administered rescue medication and when additional medical assistance is required. They closely monitor children to make sure they are healthy, supporting them to attend routine health checks. They also ensure the children get suitable medical advice and treatment when they are feeling unwell or they are concerned about their health. Following concerns

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

that a child was having increased number of seizures, the manager and staff have sought guidance from the specialist epilepsy nurse, and worked together to review his epilepsy management plan.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children’s communication skills are significantly improving. They express their wishes and feelings constructively and make meaningful choices and decisions. Better communication is reducing their anxieties and frustrations which often led to aggressive behaviour. Staff are able to anticipate when children are getting upset and offer them reassurance The effective use of communication symbols and pictures is helping children to understand what is happening and what is expected of them. The staff make every effort to develop children’s abilities and understanding of language. Children’s vocabulary and use of language are improving. Staff encourage them to put more words together to form sentences; for example, ‘crisps please’ is now ‘I want yellow crisps please’. The staff work sensitively to help children understand where it may not be possible to act on their wishes straightaway. The effective use phrases and symbols such as ‘now’ and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

‘next’ and ‘then…then…deal’ is helping children to be patient and understand the thing they want will take place but not just yet. For example, children asking to see their parents are helped to know when they will see them next.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager provides strong and effective leadership. She is dedicated to providing children and their families with a high quality support in a safe environment in ways that improve their lives. Her thorough review of the quality of care and children’s experiences helps accurately inform her understanding of the strengths of the home and set priorities for its development. The review clearly measures children’s progress from their starting points and the impact of the support they receive on their development. The analysis of patterns of children’s behaviour has provided important insights into helping them manage their anxieties. The manager is already taking action to improve the quality of staff’s knowledge about autism through in-depth training programmes, opportunities as a team to consider safeguarding issues and communication with the children.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

In addition, the quality of the written records continues to improve. Placement provide a comprehensive and organic picture of children’s lives. They clearly outline children’s assessed needs and how these have changed over time, as well as their experiences and progress. For example, the records carefully track children’s progress in taking responsibility for their own personal care, the things that they can do independently and where they still need support and guidance. The staff prepare and now sign informative reports for children’s review meetings. The quality of these reports is excellent and they provide a colourful picture of children’s progress and experiences, and are enhanced by photographs of the children taking part in their daily lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager is now carrying out fire practises regularly to ensure that all the children and everyone working at the home are familiar with the evacuation procedures and know what to do in case of fire. She has used the outcome of the practises to review the effectiveness of children’s individual evacuation plans and make any necessary changes.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children continue to come to stay in a home environment that is suitably designed and equipped to meet the full range of their individual needs. They stay in pleasant and comfortable accommodation. They have plenty of space to enjoy their time, including activity and soft plays rooms, and lots of appropriate toys, games, films and art and craft materials. Their bedrooms reflect their characters and meet their specific sensory needs. However, repairs to the walls in two bedrooms and a wardrobe door still have not been completed. The manager confirmed that the decoration of the house will start in the next few weeks, and new bedroom furniture has been ordered.

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Information about this children's home

This privately run children's home provides care and accommodation for three children and short breaks for a further two short breaks for children with learning disabilities, including autism and challenging behaviour.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

02/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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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

 Enhance the quality of the decoration of the physical surroundings and ensure children live in a well-maintained physical environment and repairs are always carried out promptly to meet children's basic day to day needs and physical necessities. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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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