Children's home in Hammersmith and Fulham

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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because:

 Younger children are now being admitted to the home. The home and staff were not prepared well enough to meet the needs of younger children.  Staff have failed to intervene in some significant incidents early enough. This has resulted in young people and staff being hurt.  Physical intervention has been used as a behaviour management strategy inappropriately.  The management in the home is not robust. Senior leaders are carefully scrutinising practice to ensure shortfalls are identified and addressed.  Not all poor practice is being challenged robustly by the management team.  Not all children are being cared for in line with their needs in an age appropriate way.  The use of sanctions is not always recognised as such by staff. This has led to a delay in items being retuned and a failure to review the effectiveness of sanctions.  The home does not embrace a culture that supports educational progress.

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because:

There is a lack of knowledge by staff in respect of attainment levels of children and young people in education.  Children and young people do not have their cultural or ethnic backgrounds considered in a meaningful way as part of the care they receive.

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The children's home strengths

Significant improvements have been made to the accommodation for children and young people since the previous inspection. Children in the home state that they feel safe and that they could identify an adult to talk to if they were worried or concerned. Children and young people enjoy a good range of onsite activities at home. The gardens are extensive and put to good use in terms of outdoor physical activities. Senior leaders demonstrate determination and commitment to improving the culture and practice at the home.

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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

Ensure that no measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child. in particular, the use of sanctions must be recorded and reviewed in a timely way

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, ensure staff understand children’s educational progress and targets and supports their learning at home

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Requirement Due date

The standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 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 and ensures that staff work as a team where appropriate and ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (2) (a) (b) (C)) 31//8/2005

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who— understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; staff use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff understand and apply the 31//8/2005 home's statement of purpose; protect and promote each child's welfare; provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background; help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect; and provide to children personal items that are appropriate for their age and understanding

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (2) (a), (2) (b) (i), (ii), (iv), (v), (viii))

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Requirement Due date

The children's views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children's care and welfare and their lives, in particular, review incidents and engage in meaningful discussions with children and young people to fully understand how they feel and use this information to improve the quality of care provided

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Requirement Due date

The standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff ascertain and consider each child's views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child's best interests when making decisions about the child's care and welfare and help each child to express views, wishes and feelings

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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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Information about this children's home

This children’s home is registered to care for up to 16 children and young people. The home is led by a large national private provider. The home’s statement of purpose determines that only children and young people of the same gender will be accommodated in the home. The home has an onsite school which some of the children and young people attend.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/03/2015 CH - Interim declined in effectiveness

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requires improvement

Significant improvements have been made since the previous inspection. As a result, children and young people live in well furnished, modern and comfortable homes. The extensive grounds are well maintained and are child focused. After school, the gardens come alive with activity. Football, trampolining and den making are among the current favourite activities among the children and young people.

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requires improvement

Determined senior leadership continues to tackle the institutionalised practices that have been cultural within the home. This has resulted in children and young people feeling more at home and they report that they are happy living here. During this inspection bedroom doors and children and young people’s kitchens were locked. Senior leaders have now dealt with this restrictive practice.

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requires improvement

Relationships between staff, children and young people are good. Most children and young people report feeling listened too. They say that their wishes and feelings are taken into account. There is some evidence that wishes and feelings are not always taken into account especially following incidents within the home. Staff do not always reflect on incidents to improve future experiences for children.

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requires improvement

Not all staff were aware of significant incidents that had occurred for the children they are caring for. This resulted in one young person having a sanction that was not reviewed in a timely way. There is evidence that other staff knew the children and young people they were caring for really well. Some staff were able to describe discreet behaviours, likes and dislikes and took time and care in carrying out their duties.

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requires improvement

Not all children are looked after and nurtured in an age appropriate way. The home has started to admit younger children but has failed to change approaches to care to meet their needs. This has resulted in expectations being placed on some children that would be expected of much older young people. Nurturing for some children has been lost and basic care effected.

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requires improvement

Children and young people are encouraged to attend school. Significant changes have been made in the home to ensure consistency of staff in the mornings. As a result, school attendance has improved and children as young people have their care staff preparing them from school. Children and young people really appreciate this change. Staff report that this has improved their relationships with children and young people. The relationship between the school and the home requires improvement. Staff need to have more information to ensure that individual learning is promoted at home. Staff are unsure of young people’s attainment levels. The home does not have a learning culture embedded within it. One child is being taught to tell the time at home, unfortunately this is not part of the care planning so is not consistently implemented by all staff. As a result, children and young people are not achieving as well as they could if education and care staff worked more

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requires improvement

Not all children and young people’s cultural backgrounds are promoted effectively within the home. Some individual staff have taken time to explore backgrounds to better support children and young people. This has not been part of care planning and as a result, not all children and young people are supported to celebrate and understand their background.

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requires improvement

Children and young people’s faith is not considered in a meaningful way. There is a lack of exploration with families by the home to fully understand if faith is practiced and if so, how best this can be supported. As a result not all children and young people have access to practices that have been part of their upbringing.

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requires improvement

Children and young people who live at the home state they feel safe. They do not go missing from home. Children and young people are able to identify adults who they can turn to should they have any worries or concerns about their safety. They were able to offer names of a number of staff and key adults in their life who they trust. One young person stated ‘I feel really safe and happy here’.

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requires improvement

Not all incidents are managed in a safe way. Delayed intervention from adults has led to children and young people being physically and emotionally harmed and their home being significantly damaged. The responsible individual recognised this poor practice and has taken steps to ensure that this approach to care is no longer adopted. As a result, the two most recent incidents have been responded to in a more appropriate and timely way.

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requires improvement

Staff have not always felt confident to report safeguarding concerns to their managers. One member of staff failed to report a concern for 13 days. As a result, the matter was left unchecked and action to protect children and young people could not be taken in a timely fashion. Once safeguarding concerns have been escalated to the senior leadership team they are managed in a timely way and in line with the local child protection procedures. There is regular contact with the Local Authority Designated Officer by the organisation.

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requires improvement

There is a current and required dependence upon the responsible individual to identify and correct poor areas of practice. Clear instruction given to staff by the registered manager during inspection was not followed. As a result, poor care identified for one child was not corrected in a timely way. The responsible individual swiftly dealt with this issue resulting in a member of staff being disciplined immediately.

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requires improvement

Not all requirements from the last inspection have been robustly tackled by the manager. There continues to be poor recording and management of incidents within the home. These records fail to provide key information. This prevents the document being scrutinised and used effectively by managers to improve practice and monitor progress and trends for young people.

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requires improvement

Some incidents have not been managed well by staff. The lack of scrutiny and oversight by the registered manager has resulted in poor practice has not being recognised or challenged. There is a failure by the management team to robustly manage practice issues. Effective senior leadership intervention is currently working towards improving this management weakness.

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requires improvement

The registered manager has failed to ensure that the staff received appropriate training to prepare them to care for a younger age group. There has been little recognition that practice needs to adapt to ensure children are cared for appropriately and receive the nurturing they require to support them in feeling safe and secure. As a result, some staff approach care for children as they would much older teenagers. This has resulted in basic care needs not being met at times. The statement of purpose is in need of updating as the service expands the age group of children and young people it cares for.

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requires improvement

The registered manager has failed to ensure that children and young people’s care files reflect their individual needs. This has resulted in one young person not being provided with personal care in line with a specific health need. The registered manager has failed to ensure that all of the children’s individual targets are age appropriate. While some good examples of age appropriate targets were seen this is not the case for all children.

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requires improvement

The registered manager has failed to ensure that communication in the home is good. This impacts directly on the quality of care that children and young people receive. Staff on duty are not always aware of significant events that have taken place for children and young people since they last worked with them. They are not always clear about individual care needs. This results in children and young people not receiving a consistent level of care that meets their needs. Recent incidents are not always known by the staff caring for children.

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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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