Children's Home run by Esland North Limited in Rotherham

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:

 Staff keep children and young people safe, and their lives stabilise while living in this home.  From their starting points, children and young people make good progress in all aspects of their development.  Children and young people enjoy positive relationships with staff who know them well, and who provide them with high levels of praise and encouragement to succeed.  Well planned transitions into the home help children and young people to settle quickly.  Managers and staff work in close partnership with placing authorities, parents, educational providers and specialist health services. This helps to ensure that children and young people have bespoke packages of help and support that meet their individual needs.  An enthusiastic and committed manager drives the staff team. Staff feel valued and share the manager’s vision to improve the life chances of children and young people significantly.  Two areas for improvement are identified as a result of this inspection. One

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The children’s home provision is good because:

in respect of consultation with children and young people, specifically in relation to their placement plan and another in respect of case recording. Although these have not had a negative impact on the quality of the service, or the outcomes and progress of children and young people, they have the potential to do so if not rectified.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person 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 must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the children’s views, wishes and feelings standard, the registered person must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

1(c) 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, with specific reference to consulting with children in relation to their placement plans. 11 July 2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Case records must be kept up to date, with particular reference to placement plans being updated and key work sessions being recorded and filed in a timely manner (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3).

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording, with particular reference to recordings in daily logs, ensuring that there are no gaps in that recording (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4).

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Information about this children’s home

This registered children’s home is privately owned and can accommodate up to three children and young people. The home may provide care and accommodation for children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.5

Good

Children and young people make good progress and have positive experiences. They are happy and settled and enjoy positive relationships with the staff. A young person said: ‘I am happy here, I have lots of fun and do lots of activities. The staff are cool. They make jokes, they are kind and fair and they listen to me.’ The positive relationships that children and young people have with a committed staff team provide them with a sense of stability and security.

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Good

Professionals and parents also speak favourably about the home and the progress that children and young people make. A parent said: ‘My son is happy and so I am happy. Staff give him the help and attention he needs to address his difficulties.’ A social worker commented: ‘This is the right placement. This young person has made good progress across the board. His complex needs will always be a barrier and a risk to progress, but here he is being helped to reach his full potential.’

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Good

Staff support children and young people well to make good educational progress. A social worker said: ‘The young person is now attending every day, whereas before it was intermittent, as he was always running away.’ A teacher was also particularly impressed with the proactive approach that staff take. He said: ‘Staff come into school regularly and show a real interest in supporting the young person educationally. He is making good progress, academically, socially and emotionally.’ As a result of such progress, children’s and young people’s choices and opportunities in adulthood are enhanced.

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Good

Children and young people are healthy. They are encouraged to eat a healthy diet, they take very regular exercise, they are discouraged from smoking and they attend all routine core health appointments. For one young person who has a specific and complex health condition, staff have undertaken specialist training. A social worker commented: ‘The specialist training has really helped the staff to understand his condition.’ Consequently, his complex health needs are met to a good standard.

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Good

Well planned transitions into the home for children and young people help them to settle quickly. Prior to their arrival, the manager carefully considers all information available to her, their specific needs and the needs of the children and young people already living in the home. Adventure camps are regularly used as a starting point, to enable children and young people to develop an understanding of the regime of the home and to get to know some of the staff before being introduced fully into the home. A young person who recently moved in said: ‘When I came I was made to feel really welcome. I was given the young people’s guide and was told what it would be like.’ Careful planning and a warm welcome help children and young people to feel more secure in their new environment.

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Good

Staff prepare older young people for transitions into adult life well, resulting in improved life and independence skills and increased emotional resilience. In respect of a young person who has recently moved on from the home, his social worker said: ‘The staff were very proactive in supporting this young person towards semi-independence. As a result, when he moved he was calm and prepared for the move, resulting in a positive transition.’

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Good

Children and young people feel listened to. They are consulted about their day-to- day care, and feel staff are genuinely interested in their well-being. A young person said: ‘The staff spend time with me and are good listeners. They give me lots of choices of activities.’ Children and young people are not, however, fully involved in the preparation of their placement plans. Involving children and young people in setting the aims and goals of their placements is empowering and motivating. It helps them to feel valued, and provides them with a sense of control over their lives.

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Good

Children and young people feel safe and they become safer as a consequence of the positive relationships they have with staff, high staffing ratios and the implementation of comprehensive behaviour and risk-management plans. For example, a young person who displayed self-harming and aggressive behaviours was well supported. His risk management plan was clear, supervision levels were high and work undertaken with him by staff, whom he trusted, enabled him to develop insight into his risky behaviours. As a consequence, he was protected, and incidents of self-harm and aggressive behaviour significantly reduced.

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Good

A zero tolerance approach to bullying is effective. In response to an allegation of bullying since the last inspection, a thorough investigation was undertaken. Although this investigation established that no bullying had actually occurred, lessons were learned and actions were taken to ensure that the potential for bullying was further reduced.

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Good

Staff are well trained in respect of safeguarding practices, and work in accordance with the home’s safeguarding policies. They know how to respond should a child or young person make a disclosure to them. In order to meet a requirement set at the last inspection, all staff have been reminded of the home’s whistle-blowing procedures, and now fully understand what action to take should they identify practices in the home which could potentially place a child or young person at risk of harm.

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Good

Despite some children and young people having a significant history of going missing, incidents of this have become rare. Since the last inspection, there has only been one incident involving one young person. On this occasion, he was swiftly located and welcomed back home. The positive relationships that children and young people have with staff, the high levels of supervision, the work undertaken in respect of personal safety and detailed individualised missing from care risk assessments provide children and young people with a high level of protection. A social worker said: ‘This young person moved here to reduce risk. This has happened as he no longer goes missing.’

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Good

Proactive behaviour management strategies and systems impact positively on children and young people. Positive relationships, high levels of praise, reward systems, consistency and restorative practices have led to a reduction in challenging behaviours. A social worker said: ‘This young person’s behaviours have really improved. He is starting to think about consequences.’ Physical intervention has become rare and since the last inspection has only been necessary on three occasions. On each of these, debriefs followed. This enables good management analysis, and ensures that staff have the opportunity to reflect positively on their practice.

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Good

The registered manager is experienced and is on target to complete the required management qualification within the timescales stipulated in the ‘Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015’. She is held in high regard by members of her staff team, who are child-focused and share her commitment to improve the lives of children and young people. As a result, five requirements set at the last inspection have been met, and a cohesive staff team ensures that children and young people are consistently well supported.

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Good

All staff who are not in their probationary period are either suitably qualified or are working towards the required qualifications within agreed timescales. In addition, the mandatory and additional training that staff undertake equips them to meet the individual needs of all children and young people living in the home. Staff knowledge and insight will be further enhanced by training that is scheduled to take place in the very near future. This is in relation to emerging issues within residential care, such as radicalisation and gang culture, which have the potential to affect children and young people living in the home.

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Good

Staff knowledge and development are also promoted through attending regular team meetings and as a result of receiving regular formal supervision. These provide staff members with opportunities to reflect on their practice and on the needs of the children and young people they are caring for. They also ensure that practice in the home is closely monitored, and provide scope for staff development and for further improvements in the delivery of care.

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Good

Good partnership working, between the manager and staff, parents and other professionals, helps to ensure consistency of care. A social worker commented: ‘There is excellent communication between the staff, the school and myself. Good partnership working ensures that the young person’s needs are met.’

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Good

The home’s statement of purpose is up to date. That, and the children’s guide, are readily available in the home for anyone who wishes to see them, in order to understand what services are provided. The documents provide an accurate reflection of the home, and the staff and managers are working in line with its stated aims and objectives.

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Good

Managers and leaders effectively monitor the progress that children and young people make. Data collected in respect of all significant incidents and aspects of care enables the managers to analyse progress and patterns and trends in behaviours. This ensures that care plans and risk management plans remain effective and that changes are instigated to ensure that changing needs are continually met. Through this monitoring system, the manager is able to demonstrate how much progress children and young people are making, and what impact living in the home is having on their lives.

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Good

Quality assurance monitoring, both internally and externally, is effective in identifying strengths in the home as well as development points. Both systems provide for regular consultation with children and young people, family members and professionals. As a result, the quality of the service continues to be assessed and analysed in order to drive improvements.

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Good

Although case files and records demonstrate some excellent work undertaken with children and young people, the quality of case recording is variable. For example, in some instances there have been delays in placement plans being updated and in key work sessions being recorded and placed on files. There are also recording gaps in the daily logs. As a consequence, it is difficult for the manager to monitor effectively what is happening in the home on a day-to-day basis from the paperwork completed.

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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 children looked after 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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