Children's home in Gloucester

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceeds the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 The young person has made significant progress in her all areas of her development. This is down to staff’s exceptional care, support and effective individualised care plans.  The young person appears safe and happy, living in her home. A dedicated and committed team, which receives effective training in safeguarding, protects her.  Staff know and understand the young person completely. Staff are warm, nurturing and extremely caring. The young person therefore benefits from strong attachments and meaningful relationships with staff.  The staff’s excellent communication is highly effective in ensuring that they know, understand and can meet the young person’s wishes and feelings.  Highly effective care planning and partnership working ensures that the young person continues to improve in all areas of her life.  Interagency working is exceptionally successful in ensuring that the young person is cared for exceedingly well. The registered manager actively

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

challenges other agencies and professionals, and accepts challenge from them as a useful tool to improve practice.  The registered manager demonstrates strong leadership skills and has a detailed overview of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He continues to develop the home by consulting staff, the young person and professionals. Regular and thorough monitoring of the quality of care is in place.  Leadership and management are inspirational and ambitious, both for young people and the development of the service.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that all children's case records are kept up to date and stored securely. Case records must be signed and dated by the author of each entry (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62 paragraph 14.3).

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

15 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

15 September 2014 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Outstanding

The children's home is making a measureable difference to the lives of young people with autism and complex needs. Staff use their enthusiasm and knowledge of specialist childcare practice to provide highly personalised, well-planned and effectively reviewed care. High levels of consistent staff interact well with the young person and, as a result, she has grown in confidence. All professionals involved in the life of the young person compliment the excellent work of the staff and their ongoing commitment. One education professional said, ‘The difference that the home has made in (name)’s life is exceptional. They always go the extra mile and clearly want the best outcomes for her.’

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Outstanding

Staff have high aspirations for the young person. This is regardless of the complexity of her needs, her disabilities and the challenges that she may present. Staff always ensure that the welfare and well-being of the young person is at the forefront of their practice. Consequently, they place a real emphasis on the positive management of her behaviours by giving constant reassurance and consistent praise. This further develops the young person’s self-esteem and confidence.

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Outstanding

Staff clearly respect the young person’s dignity and are very sensitive to her need for privacy when delivering personal care. Prior to this taking place, staff explain to the young person, using simple language and picture cards, what is happening next. This ensures that the young person is fully informed. Staff actively support the young person to contribute her views and opinions in a variety of ways, specific to her unique communication style and ability. For example, they provide pictures of different activities, foods and items of clothing to ensure that the young person has choices in her daily life. Staff are very thoughtful and creative about ensuring that the young person has the same access to choice and self-determination as those who are able to communicate verbally.

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Outstanding

There are excellent links to the school that the young person attends. An example of this is the excellent use of ‘two-way diaries’ to ensure that the relevant information regarding the young person’s individual needs are met in both school and the home. Joint training for both the care staff and education staff ensures that the same methods of communication are used to support the young person. This is very successful, and staff report that it was ‘helpful’ and ‘detailed’, and improved their knowledge base. Staff attend all planned meetings, including parent’s evenings, sport days and any other events that support the education and learning of the young person. Staff use a variety of picture symbols, activity-planning boards, and warm and affectionate relationships to assist the young person to understand and participate in daily routines. More recently, the young person has started to use simple words

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Outstanding

to ask for food items, like ‘tea’, ‘biscuit’ and ‘cake’, and has also attempted to call out the names of the staff who work with her. This approach encourages the young person to be as independent as possible and to make effective choices about her everyday life, such as what she may like to drink or eat, or what activities she may like to be involved in, such as going in the garden or for a walk to the park. This is significant progress for the young person.

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Outstanding

Staff have recently introduced new activities into the young person’s life to increase her confidence and skills within community settings. All trips are planned, assessed and photographed to evidence clearly the progress that the young person has made in many areas of her life, for example trips to the local cinema, swimming lessons, meals out at restaurants and attending after-school clubs. Staff have taken the time to gather the photographs carefully into memory boxes and albums, and included the dates of all events. These are memories that the young person can take with her when she moves into an adult provision. Additional copies were given to her parents to show the progress that their daughter has made. One parent said, ‘I love to see her smiling face and she has achieved so much, I am so proud of her.’

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Outstanding

The young person also had the opportunity to attend and receive an award at an event arranged by the local authority to celebrate the achievements of children looked after. Both the manager and staff said, ‘we were so proud of her and this was a well-deserved award for the continued improvements that she is making in her life.’ Due to the success of the planned activities, staff are now planning a holiday in the summer for one week. Staff are including the young person in preparations for her holiday and show her pictures of the holiday home, encouraging a choice of varied and fun activities. This will ensure that she is fully involved and included.

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Outstanding

Care planning is a key strength of this service. The home’s placement plans, individualised pen pictures and pictorial daily events journal provide a detailed and comprehensive picture of the young person’s life and journey through care. The young person is encouraged to contribute to her plan. This ranges from her influencing outcomes of planning through direct picture choices, having her views interpreted by independent advocates, or communicating directly through a variety of electronic media. This approach values and celebrates the right to independence and choice.

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Outstanding

Staff fully promote and support contact with family members. Arrangements are reflective of the local authority’s care plan. When contact takes place within the home, staff ensure that the time is planned to meet the needs of all involved. This includes arranging opportunities to go out for walks in the community and baking activities, including preparing and cooking Sunday lunch together, and spending time in the garden area. This ensures that the young person maintains a sense of connection with the significant people in her life. One parent said, ‘The staff are excellent. They are all very calm and welcoming, and I can see that they clearly care for (name). I can spend time with (name) and the staff are around to support us, but do not get in the way. The difference in my daughter is so noticeable, she is saying small words and is always happy and smiling. I cannot thank them enough.’

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Outstanding

The young person receives care that supports her complex health needs. She has access to a range of specialist health providers who visit her, such as specialist nurses and language support, or whom she meets at clinics and hospitals, according to her individual and highly detailed healthcare plan. Staff closely monitor the young person and ensure that she always receives suitable medical advice and treatment when she is feeling unwell or showing signs of distress. Staff are working with language and speech therapists to develop the young person’s picture support system to include pictures to explain if the young person is in pain or suffering any discomfort. This will ensure that she is able to seek medical assistance, if required. The registered manager has developed an excellent communication health passport, which provides detailed information about the young person, her needs and how her behaviours may present if she becomes

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Outstanding

anxious or upset. This ensures that all medical professionals have up-to-date and accurate information, and that the young person’s health needs are met.

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Outstanding

The young person is clearly happy, comfortable and relaxed in the home. Parents and social workers were all highly complementary about the home, and the commitment and dedication of the staff team. They all identified improvements that the young person has made. For example, there has been a significant reduction in medication, improved sleep routines, calmer behaviour, more access to community activities and improved communication. One parent said, ‘The home really has made a big difference to mine and (name)’s life. It is amazing.’

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Outstanding

The young person appears safe and happy living in her home. Professionals involved in the young person’s life were all very complimentary about the care and attention that the staff give to her in ensuring her safety and well-being. Parents confirmed that they receive regular updates about the welfare of their child through direct discussions with staff and weekly update reports. They have every confidence that staff do their best to ensure their daughter’s safety at all times.

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Outstanding

All staff attend regular and up-to-date training in safeguarding. This includes the particular vulnerabilities of disabled young people. Although there have not been any missing from care incidents or concerns around child sexual exploitation, staff regularly attend training to ensure that they fully understand their responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. Staff demonstrated a clear knowledge and understanding of the need to highlight any physical or emotional changes in the young person, which may indicate they have suffered harm. They were also clear about any actions that they would take, if necessary. This ensures that the young person’s safety is a priority. Staff said ‘I am here to keep (name) safe and, if I was concerned, I would report it to my manager, social worker or any other professional. I have attended lots of training about keeping children safe. Afterwards, I discuss what I have learnt in both supervision and as a team, in team

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Outstanding

meetings. This makes sure that we are all clear on our roles, responsibilities and, if we have, to we can also use the whistle-blowing procedures.’

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Outstanding

The home’s care planning process includes arrangements to identify and address any potential individualised risks posed to the young person in her day-to-day care and activities. This includes an individual emergency evacuation plan from the home and detailed risk assessments on outings. This ensures that the young person is safe and protected from any potential harm, both in the home and in the community.

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Outstanding

Creative behaviour management strategies are based on a good understanding of the factors that can trigger and calm an outburst. There are no sanctions. Staff work to help the young person to shape positive behaviour through reward and better communication, due to her level of understanding. Staff have all attended training in physical intervention, but they have never needed to use this. Instead, staff re-direct the young person and allow her time on her own in safe spaces to calm. Staff have liaised effectively with the young person’s education setting to ensure that the same language is used to get the young person to focus and to calm during any incidents. There are ongoing meetings and daily communication to share ideas, decisions and effective working practices. This ensures that the young person receives a consistent safe and calm approach. Education professionals report that ‘the approach used by us all has helped (name) to understand what

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Outstanding

acceptable and unacceptable behaviours are. She is certainly a lot calmer and also appears so much happier.’

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Outstanding

The manager has introduced a rigorous recruitment and selection process for any new staff coming to work in the home. This will prevent unsuitable people having access to vulnerable young people. Thorough induction programmes ensure that staff are equipped to care safely for the young person in a manner that protects her rights and dignity. One staff member said, ‘I was surprised that I received such a lengthy induction programme. I had the opportunity to shadow staff for several shifts and had ongoing discussions throughout with the manager. It was a gradual introduction to (name), as the manager was aware of how any changes can cause her upset. This really helped me in my new role and helped (name) in getting to know me. I have never had that before in any other homes that I have worked in.’

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Outstanding

The home is physically safe and appropriately secure. Staff provide discrete but effective supervision of the young person, in accordance with her individually detailed risk assessments. Staff help the young person to have opportunities to experience independent movement, such as playing in the garden area or independently relaxing in one of the lounge areas of the home. There are safety alarms on both of the main doors to ensure the young person’s safety at all times.

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Outstanding

The registered manager has worked at the home since 2014. He is suitably qualified and has a national qualification in leadership and management and residential childcare. He offers strong, decisive and inspirational direction, and leads through example. This enables staff to grow and develop, and to offer exceptionally high-quality care to a young person with complex needs. All staff have worked towards and successfully gained a national qualification in caring for children and young people. The young person is at the centre of practice, and the manager and staff are all clearly proud of all her achievements and have high aspirations for her future. The team balances the needs and risks of the young person with her potential, and her right to experience pleasure and positive regard from others.

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Outstanding

Both the manager and staff members understand the plans for the young person, and actively drive the achievement of important milestones, goals and permanence for her future. The manager monitors the progress and experience of the young person effectively, and can demonstrate the positive impact that living at the home has had on her, including her life chances.

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Outstanding

The registered manager ensures that staff have appropriate training and reflective supervision opportunities that stretch and challenge their care practice. He has also introduced practice-based observations and reflective journals that continually improve staff practices and identify any areas of development. This provides further opportunities to highlight training needs or to develop direct peer mentoring on shifts. These promote the continued development and improvement of practice. New initiatives, such as improved risk management, communication with young people with learning difficulties and researched-based development around autism, mean that the young person receives care from highly knowledgeable staff who are skilled in meeting her individual care needs.

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Outstanding

There is a clear, accessible and comprehensive statement of purpose. This sets out clearly the help and support provided to young people, which keeps the placing authority, families and other agencies informed. The young person’s guide is individualised for each young person, using pictures and symbols that they understand. This ensures that young people also have a clear understanding of the support that they will receive. The manager is confident in the approach used by the staff team to meet the needs of the young person. He has strong views about how the young person should be provided with meaningful opportunities to integrate into society, while remaining aware of the risks to them and to the community. He has successfully challenged other professionals to plan effectively for the young person’s future, to ensure the best possible outcomes for her. If he believes that young people’s liberty is being unnecessarily restricted, he will challenge and discuss any areas of

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Outstanding

concern he may have. For example, when a local health resource advised the home that the young person’s dental needs could not be addressed locally but required a more specialist approach, he requested a direct discussion and, through negotiation, agreed a high-level support plan. This ensured that the young person had the same opportunities as her peer group. He has used the clear data and information that he has gathered about what works well in the daily operation of the home to underpin the efficacy of the approach.

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Outstanding

Overall, staff maintain excellent-quality records which capture the young person’s life vividly and in detail. They include the views of the young person and family. However, some care planning documents do not include the exact date of entries. This does not have a direct impact on the care provided to the young person and, when brought to their attention, the manager took immediate action to rectify this.

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Outstanding

Staff share information appropriately with relevant stakeholders. This ensures that all parties have an understanding of the young person’s life, experiences and plans for the future. The highly effective partnership working that the home promotes underpins the excellent progress that the young person is making.

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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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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.

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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.

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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 ‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’. 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 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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 looked after children and child protection.

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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