Children's home run by Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council in Sefton

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 sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Children with disabilities and complex health needs continue to enjoy very positive short breaks that improve the quality of their lives. They love coming to stay in this safe, friendly and stimulating place. They have fun and take part in a wide variety of activities indoors and in the community, including doing things they may not be able to do with their family. They have fun and enjoy a wide variety of new experiences that otherwise may not be available to them; including learning to cook, going to the park, attending youth clubs, activity centres, the cinema, ten pin bowling, swimming, going to museums and going out for meals. They enjoy their best-loved activities, such as listening to music and watching their favourite DVDs. But they also have opportunities to trying new things and to explore the world they live in, build confidence in the community, and enjoy life to their potential. The children respond positively to the challenges that staff provide them with to

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

promote their personal growth. Consequently, they are developing their social and communication skills, develop skills and confidence to manage their own personal care. Also, their emotional well-being is improving; they are more able to express their wishes and feelings constructively. The children clearly enjoy warm and trusting relationships with their staff. They came in from school with big smiles on their faces and excited to see the staff. A parented commented in a review meeting that her son enjoys staying, ‘he runs up the path (when he arrives) and he misses it when he doesn’t attend.’ The staff have vast experienced and expertise in supporting disabled children. They are resourceful and creative in providing an excellent quality of personalised care. They work together effectively as a coherent team to provide children with consistency and stability. They know the children very well and understand their

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

individual sensory needs, how they communicate, experience the world and process information. They encourage all of the children to express their wishes and feelings and make choices. They communicate effectively with the children and help them manage their feelings, anxieties and frustrations constructively. This approach has successfully reduced incidents of distress and difficult behaviour. They use a non-confrontational approach to encourage children to do things they may not be too keen to do. They are skilled at helping children move from one activity to another, such as from watching their favourite television programme to having their tea, without becoming upset. For example, they use picture and symbols sequences to help children understand that it soon will be time for tea and prepare them for the end of the activity they are enjoying. Children’s personal health and well-being are consistently promoted when they

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

come to stay. The staff have the understanding, relevant skills, training and competence to support and meet each child’s personal health needs. They encourage the children to take an active role in looking after their own health, including choosing a healthy diet, getting plenty of exercise, and understanding the importance of good personal care. Children with complex needs, including epilepsy, autism, and rare conditions, such as hyperinsulinism, have proper and immediate access to the support they need. The staff have a detailed understanding of each child’s specific health needs and how to monitor their welfare. For example, staff regularly check a child’s sugar levels in line with her health plan, know what action to take when her levels are outside the normal range, understand the signs and symptoms of hypoglycaemia, and the action to take when they are concerned about her health. The arrangements for managing children’s medication are safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff take great care that children receive the medicines they need in line with their prescription and agreed method of administration. The staff are resourceful in developing their practice and improving the quality of care. They creatively use sensory profiling to better understand children, tailor support to manage children’s emotions and measure their progress. For example, recently they have successfully helped a boy to reduce his distress around his hair being touched to enable him to feel comfortable enough to brush and wash it himself. This approach is helping children’s to improve their own personal care and feel more able to manage the environment around them. Children’s stays are carefully and sensitively planned with their families. The manager and staff skilfully and carefully match the groups and children usually stay with the same groups. This provides them a chance to develop friendships. The

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

staff consistently follow children’s individual short breaks plan and help them to achieve their personal goals; including feeling settled and safe staying overnight away from their family, trying a new activity, carrying out personal care tasks, or learning new life skills, such as baking. Children have opportunities to become more independent appropriate to their age, level of understanding and disability in preparation for adult life. For example, children are becoming more confident cooking, helping around the house, shopping and handling money. Older children have dedicated independence plans which show how they are been supported to develop life skills and the progress they are making. Unfortunately, these plans do not include a detailed assessment of the child’s existing skills and abilities to help inform their plan, the focus of the work, and to measure their progress over time from their starting point.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff have strong partnerships with parents, social workers, schools and health workers to ensure children get the right support to meet their needs. Parents enjoy excellent communication with the staff and are fully involved in the support their children receive. They are comfortable about leaving their children in the staff’s care and are confident that they receive a high quality of care and support. The linking of dedicated staff to children’s schools is helping to share information about children effectively and strengthened the working relationship between schools and the home. The staff’s strong safe care practices protect children from harm, bullying, exploitation and from going missing. They have a thorough understanding of the risks to individual children’s safety, including the risks associated with their disability, level of understanding and communication and health conditions. They

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

are well trained in safeguarding, able to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect. They are aware of the children’s vulnerability to sexual exploitation resulting from their disabilities and take action when they have concerns about children’s safety. They have taken suitable steps to protect a child at risk of exploitation through social media. However, the staff have not been provided with all the relevant information about these safeguarding concerns to enable them to continually and actively assess the risks to each child and to further strengthen the arrangements to support and protect the child. The leadership and management effectively and efficiently provide disabled children and their families with a high quality service where they can make progress and become more independent. The manager and staff are never complacent and strive to continue to improve the standard of their work and be

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

responsive to the needs of the children. They have secured improvements in assessing children’s sensory needs, planning their care, measuring their progress and reviewing their placements. The manager and staff now have access to the local authority’s electronic information system, which has improved the sharing of information between them and children’s social workers, and they have easier access to, up-to-date information about children’s lives and the outcomes of their review meetings. The culture and ethos of home meets its aims to provide a warm, welcoming, stimulating environment that assists children to develop their personal, social, and life skills and independence. The home’s statement of purpose provides important information about how children will be supported. However, it does not include the name and details of the new responsible individual for the home, or up-to-date information about the Children’s Commissioner and the sections about complaints

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

and behaviour management refer to the previous children’s homes regulations. An independent person provides monthly scrutiny of the home. This is assisting the leaders and managers to understand the effectiveness of the home’s approaches or to secure improvements and better outcomes for children. In addition, the manager routinely carries out a thorough review of the quality of care children received. She has also introduced a more systematic approach for seeking the children’s views about the support they receive and observations of how they experience the quality of care provided.

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Information about this children's home

This local authority children’s home provides a short break service for up to seven children at any one time with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or complex health needs.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17/03/2015 Interim sustained effectiveness

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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

The registered person must keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it and notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of its revision. In particular, make sure the statement includes the name of the new responsible individual, information about the Children's Commissioner, and the arrangements for complaints and control, restraint and discipline of children make reference to the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. (Regulation 16(3)(a)&(b)) 30/04/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that the staff have all the relevant information about any safeguarding concerns about children to enable them to continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that the home's records on each child represent a significant contribution to understanding their needs, skills, abilities, and support requirements. In particular, children's plans for independence includes an assessment of their skills, competences, and abilities that informs the arrangements for preparing them for their transition to adult life. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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

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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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