Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today in Stockport

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

The continued good standard of care at this home is making an important difference to young people’s lives. They are making sustained and measureable improvements in their social and emotional development, education, and are increasingly taking responsibility for their own personal care. For example, two young people are making important progress with their education especially as one is approaching their GCSE’s. This is assisted greatly by the productive working relationships between the schools and the home, meaning both young people have high attendance levels and are progressing well. Young people report they enjoy school and say they receive help and encouragement from staff to complete homework and coursework.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people live in a stable and consistent environment where they feel safe and have a sense of belonging. They develop trusting relationships with their staff. The manager and staff are ambitious for each young person with staff commenting that ‘they enjoy seeing young people succeeding, whether that is in their education or building relationships with family.’ They understand young people well and provide a good quality of care structured to meet their individual needs. Young people recognise this and say they ‘Get on well with all staff,’ and that ‘They (staff) are always there to help.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

One young person has moved in since the last inspection. Although early days, the home has worked productively with other agencies to ensure the move has been as smooth as possible. The registered manager works hard to ensure that each young person’s care is effectively planned and put into practice. The manager and staff are still getting to know the young person to ensure they get the right help and guidance. This means staff are building a rapport and increasingly becoming more familiar with his personality, interests and anxieties. As they develop their understanding of the young person, they are able to show him that they can meet their needs and keep him safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Effective safe care practice by staff at the home continues to ensure that young people 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 young person’s welfare and work collaboratively with social workers, schools, health workers and safeguarding services to protect them. They have a thorough understanding of individual young people’s vulnerabilities. They use well set out information recorded in individual records called ‘My Progress Plan’. These are detailed and include risk assessments that set out the relevant risks to individual young people’s safety. This then helps staff to guide young people successfully to manage and reduce these risks such as missing from care.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff have good working relationships with families’ parents and carers, schools, health, and social workers. They work very well together to ensure that the young people receive good support to promote health and emotional well- being. They have a very good understanding of young people’s specific physical and emotional health needs and receive relevant training, for example, regarding attachment theory. This helps to ensure that they have a sound understanding of the issues that are associated with attachments and loss for young people. This is especially useful, as young people have experienced significant losses due to bereavement, as well as breakdowns in important relationships. The work that staff are doing is going some way to supporting young people to manage their feelings and emotions with regard to this, which in turn has resulted in improved relationships with important people in their lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff are knowledgeable about young people’s needs and how to support them. They closely monitor young people to make sure they are healthy, supporting them to attend routine health checks. They also ensure they get suitable medical advice and treatment when they are feeling unwell or they are concerned about their health. For example, working with agencies on substance misuse issues so they have a greater awareness and understanding of the risks and dangers of some choices they may make.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager provides clear and effective leadership. She is dedicated to providing young people with effective support in a safe environment in ways that improve their lives. She is undertaking a degree in Social Work, which demonstrates her commitment to continued professional development. She leads a stable, suitably qualified and supported staff team and works hard to ensure that the home continues to improve and develop. This means that young people receive care from a consistent staff team who know them well and who themselves are well led.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

An independent visitor monitors the quality of care within the home. These reports provide the manager with independent feedback so that she can continue to develop the home. The manager completes her own quality assurance report on a monthly basis and consults with a wide range of professionals and with the young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the last inspection, a requirement was made to improve a number of issues regarding the furniture and building. Good progress has seen the sofa and some bedroom furniture replaced alongside a programme of ongoing redecoration. Overall, this has made it a more homely and comfortable environment for young people. A structural survey has been undertaken and the home is awaiting the final report to assess what, if any, further work is needed.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The Statement of Purpose has been revised and a programme of training has been undertaken including specific sessions on autistic spectrum disorder, attachments and missing from care protocols. This now means staff are now more prepared to respond to the full range of needs set out in the home's Statement of Purpose.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A further recommendation was made about ensuring that when a young person is found after being missing from care, they must be offered an independent return interview. Although there is an agreement that young people’s social workers undertake these interviews, there have been no incidents of young people going missing since the last inspection. Staff are aware of their roles and responsibilities in the event of a young person going missing.

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Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private company and is registered to accommodate up to four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

11/09/2014 CH - 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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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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