Children's home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Rossendale

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:

 This children’s home has made good progress since the last inspection. A new registered manager is in place, who is providing effective leadership and a clear vision for the future of the home. The staff team feel well supported and are highly motivated.  The ethos of the home is child-centred and inclusive. The manager and staff are committed to improving the quality of the home and ensuring that young people really benefit from living here.  Young people are positively engaged in their placement. They enjoy good relationships with staff and are doing well in many areas of their lives. They say they feel safe do not participate in risk taking behaviours.  Some shortfalls were identified as a result of this inspection. Staffing arrangements do not consistently provide young people with carers who know them well. Also, agency staff do not receive practice-related supervision or appraisal. These shortfalls compromise the likelihood of

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The children's home provision is good because:

young people receiving consistently effective care and support. Further requirements were made in respect of helping young people to improve their diet and for staff to respond to unacceptable behaviour by supporting young people to reflect and become more socially aware of the impact of their behaviour.

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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 staffing arrangements and the use of agency staff the registered provider must (2)(d) ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child; (e) ensure that the home's workforce provides continuity of care to each child. 15/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. In particular this must include agency staff who work regular shifts in the home. ((Regulation 33(4)(b)) 15/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the health and well-being standard with particular reference to the daily diet of young people and the routine of having a weekly takeaway the registered provider must (1)(c) ensure that young people are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. 15/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the positive relationship standard with particular reference to the use of sanctions, the registered provider must ensure that staff (2)(a)(ii) help each child to develop socially aware behaviour. 15/11/2015

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Requirement Due date

45: Review of quality of care 31/12/2015 The registered person must complete a quality review that details any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for young people. In particular this should reflect the findings of this review and how it relates to the home's development plan. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(c))

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Information about this children's home

The home is operated by a private national provider of education and social care for children and young people. It provides care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is situated in a very rural location and one car is provided. Young people can attend education within the company school or via external provision.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

29/01/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

15/01/2014 CH - Interim Satisfactory Progress

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Good

Young people enjoy personalised and nurturing care. They benefit from being able to establish trusting and secure relationships with their carers. The staff team establish appropriate boundaries and are open with young people about what is expected of them. There is good attention given to working with other professionals to ensure young people remain safe and make good progress.

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Good

It is clear that young people feel listened to and know that their views and feelings are important. They actively participate in day-to-day routines and are encouraged to make a range of decisions. The staff team supports them in their interests as well as helping them to achieve personal goals. For example, while the home has traditionally not allowed pets, one young person has a rabbit. This arrangement has been achieved by careful negotiation and agreement. This has demonstrated to young people that their feelings matter and that they themselves can bring about positive change. Young people know how to complain, should they need to and confirm they have a range of people they can speak to. Their concerns are responded to appropriately and they are guided to be mature and considered in their comments.

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Good

Education is given good attention. Young people feel well supported to do well at school and enjoy the fact that staff recognise their achievements. Good attention is given to helping young people enjoy a range of social and recreational activities outside of school and to spend time with family and friends.

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Good

The young people benefit from having their health needs identified and addressed. If specialist help is needed, the manager is swift to liaise with the placing authority to ensure a timely outcome. Healthy lifestyles are promoted well at the home and young people enjoy a range of outdoor pursuits such as horse riding and walking. Mealtimes are sociable occasions with staff and young people sitting together and enjoying each other’s company. However, better attention should be given to helping young people eat balanced and healthy meals and the routine of a weekly takeaway should be reviewed in consultation with the young people. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people live in a safe environment and the manager and staff give good individual attention to what is needed to keep each young person safe. There is effective engagement with other services. The young people are guided and supported to make their own positive choices. This consistent approach helps the young people to become increasingly safe. Young people confirm that they feel safe and well cared for. They can identify trusted adults that they can talk to within the home and also have direct access to their social worker and other professionals. If they complain they feel confident that they will be listened to and responded to appropriately.

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Good

The staff team support young people well to meet the objectives of their placement plan. As a result, the young people grow in confidence and are supported to understand the purpose of their placement and how they can improve their life chances as they prepare to become young adults.

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Good

Behaviour is well managed. All staff provide reasonable boundaries and guidance to young people so that they know what is expected of them. The use of physical restraints has been reviewed and has reduced. The staff team provide incentives and rewards which are meaningful to young people. Some sanctions are used; mostly these are appropriate but occasionally they do not relate to the young person’s unacceptable behaviour. Better consideration needs to be given to how staff can encourage young people to reflect more on their behaviour and the impact it has on others, rather than merely imposing a nominal sanction.

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Good

There are excellent links with the local ‘missing from care’ team. Regular meetings are held and protocols put in place for every young person. The staff team demonstrate a really good awareness of the risks young people face while missing from the home. They also understand the risks associated with the use of the internet and social networking. Any child protection concerns are immediately shared and the manager responds robustly to any internal safeguarding issues, such as allegations against staff.

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Good

Staff are carefully selected and vetted and subsequently monitored through regular supervision and appraisal. Agency staff are currently not supervised or appraised in the same way as permanent members of the team, which compromises the likelihood of the home consistently supporting young people effectively. Judgement grade

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Good

The newly registered manager of this home has appropriate qualifications and extensive experience. He has worked in the home as deputy for several years. Now as the manager, he has fully embraced the challenge this presents and is committed to providing a good quality children’s home. He has worked hard to promote good team working and a sense of shared responsibility. As a result, the staff team feel supported, valued and motivated.

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Good

There has been a positive response to the shortfalls identified at the previous inspection. The physical environment is more homely and comfortable. The provision of staff training and records has also improved.

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Good

The manager and staff work proactively with other professionals in education, social services and the police. The manager is confident in his role. He escalates matters in the best interests of young people, as a good parent would. He understands his responsibilities as a registered manager and the importance of thorough pre-admission assessment and risk assessment.

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Good

The home has a small staff team. Most of the team are suitably qualified; the remaining staff have commenced the Level 3 Diploma. Senior staff members have the opportunity to undertake a Level 5 qualification which will help them to progress in their careers in the future. The staff team has been functioning with a full-time vacancy recently. Cover has been provided by core staff completing extra shifts, by utilising staff from other homes and if necessary, using agency staff. When agency staff are needed the manager tries to secure a familiar person for this, who has previously covered shifts in the home. Usually, agency staff are on duty with a core member of staff from the home. The inspector noted that this was not the case on one planned shift and brought it to the attention of the manager, who agreed to take action to provide better arrangements so the young person would know at least one of the staff on duty well. It was also established that

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Good

agency staff are not provided with practice-related supervision or annual appraisals. It was agreed that this would be raised and discussed by senior staff within the company. The inspector was told that a new appointment had now been made to fill the vacancy and references and checks were being gathered prior to this person starting work.

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Good

The physical environment is maintained to a good standard. It is spacious and homely and young people are encouraged to have a say and personalise their bedrooms. A location risk assessment is in place. The home is rurally located and a car is needed to access local facilities. There is currently only one car which may not be sufficient as additional new young people are admitted. This will need to be addressed according to the future needs of the young people concerned. Quality monitoring processes are well established. Independent visits to the home take place every month and these contribute to improving standards. The manager’s review of quality of care is also thorough. A recent improvement has been to join these reports with the home’s development plan. This approach makes sense so long as there are clear links between the findings of the review and what the manager identifies as important areas to improve and develop.

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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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