Children's home in Cherwell

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has declined in effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people live in a nurturing and supportive environment, which provides them with consistency, structure and routine. This enables them to make good progress. As a result, young people have made improvements in their health, education and social relationships, including those with their family. Young people are developing an understanding of their own needs and are taking responsibility for themselves. This includes engaging with professionals they had not previously. There has also been a reduction in self-harming and missing behaviour for some young people. The ethos of the service focuses on supporting young people to develop their independence skills. This is reflected in practice as young people regularly carry out chores, cooking and access the community independently. As a result, young people are becoming more confident in caring for themselves and are learning valuable life skills for the future.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff encourage young people to pursue their interests and take part in variety of activities. These include sailing, rock climbing and basketball. This ensures young people are able to experience positive enriching activities as well as expanding their social experience. Young people are supported to develop their social skills and as a result have been able to establish supportive friendships with their peers.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A recommendation made at the previous inspection regarding exploring gaps in employee’s histories has also been met. This ensures that suitable adults care for young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

However, young people’s risk assessments do not advise of all their associated risks. This includes young people’s fire setting behaviour or propensity to approach strangers. This means staff are not informed on how to proactively minimise risks and effectively safeguard young people. A recommendation was made at the previous inspection to ensure risk assessments are put in place for young people after an incident. As a result of this recommendation not being met, a requirement has been made.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There have been incidents of young people leaving the service without permission. However, the service does not have individual protocols for young people to advise staff on what to do when they go missing or who to inform and when. This has led to conflicting guidance within young people’s files and inconsistent responses from staff. On return to the service, young people are not offered 'return' interviews with an independent person. This could result in the reasons for the young people absenting themselves from the service not being established and could make strategies to reduce incidents ineffective.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff and managers take their responsibility to safeguard young people extremely seriously. They monitor young people closely and react promptly to refer any safeguarding concerns to the local authority’s designated officer. However, it is not clear from the service’s records the outcome of concerns raised or the action staff have taken as a result. The service’s E-safety policy does not describe the actions staff need to take when they are concerned young people may be accessing inappropriate material on the internet or could be perpetrating cyber bullying. As a result, staff may not take the actions necessary to adequately protect and safeguard young people. The independent visitor completes regulation 44 visits monthly and submits them to Ofsted. However, the independent visitor was unable to access the service’s complaints and safeguarding information at their most recent visit. As a result, they were unable to form an opinion as to whether young

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

people are adequately safeguarded, as required by regulation.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff members are trained in the method of restraint used by the organisation, which runs the service. Emphasis is placed on de-escalation techniques and the development of positive relationships. As a result, there have been a low number of restraints since the previous inspection. All records of physical intervention contain details of the behaviour leading to a physical intervention meeting a recommendation from the previous inspection. However not all records demonstrate that young people had been consulted after a restraint taking place. This could affect the managers monitoring of physical interventions within the service.

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Information about this children's home

The setting is a residential special school that accommodates young people for up to 52 weeks per year. The home provides education and residential care for up to 45 young people on the autistic spectrum, aged from 11 to 19 years old. The provider is a registered charity.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard, in particular reference to children and young people’s risk assessments the registered manager must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

(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. 23/11/2015

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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

 any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home's care (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, page 65 paragraph 15.5)  any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, page 49 paragraph 9.60)  the registered person must specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from care or away from the

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Recommendations

home without permission and how staff should support the child on return to the home (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, page 45 paragraph 9.28)  when a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, page 45 paragraph 9.30)  the policy on protection of children from abuse and neglect should include arrangements in relation to safety. In particular, to provide guidance on staff on what to do if they suspect young people have been accessing inappropriate material on the internet or a perpetrator of cyber bullying (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, page

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Recommendations

44 paragraph 9.19)  the home's record of the event must include a description of the action taken and the outcome of any resulting investigation this is in regards to any safeguarding concerns (Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, page 63 paragraph 14.14)

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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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