Children's Home run by Fairfield Residential Limited in Trafford

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:

 Young people are settled in the home, supported by a consistent staff team that knows the young people very well.  Young people are individually making good progress in all aspects of their lives. They are engaged in education and their individual health needs are well supported by the staff team.  Young people’s views are actively sought, in order to develop their individual placement plans. The staff team is committed to ensuring that young people’s views are promoted and that they have choices in their day-to-day care.  Parents and professionals commented on the staff team’s commitment to ensuring that young people are well protected and safe living at the home. Parents have confidence in the staff team and comment on the quality of relationships between the staff and their children.  Young people are encouraged and supported to engage in community activities, enabling them to have new experiences alongside enjoying

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The children's home provision is good because:

routine activities.  An experienced and suitably qualified manager leads the staff who are provided with good support, supervision and training, to ensure that they are equipped to meet the known and emerging needs of all young people.  The manager is committed to securing improvement in the home, using effective action plans to ensure that steady progress is made.  Areas for the home’s development include ensuring that: all staff have obtained the relevant qualification, managers’ monitoring considers the views of parents and professionals, the independent person’s report clearly identifies young people’s opinions as to whether they are effectively safeguarded and every member of staff has provided a full work history.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that full and satisfactory information is available in relation to individual staff members in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2, in relation to full work history (Regulation 32(3)(d)). 31 August

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that individuals who work in the home have the appropriate qualification by the relevant dates (Regulation 32(4)). 31 August

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report which sets out in particular the independent person’s opinions as to whether children are effectively safeguarded and whether the conduct of the home promotes children’s well=being (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b)). 31 August

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must establishes and maintain a system for reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children, which ascertains and considers the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff (Regulation 45(2)(b)(c)(5)). 31 August

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Information about this children's home

This home provides residential care, shared care and respite care for up to five young people with learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities. The home is run by a private company.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

2 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

4 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people benefit from a consistent, well-trained staff team that encourages and maintains positive and nurturing relationships with young people. Young people receive a good level of individualised care and support, which ensures that their specific needs are continually met. This enables them to make good progress in most aspects of their lives. One parent commented: ‘[Name] has definitely made progress. [Name] mixes better with other children. [Name] will tolerate being around people much more and work has definitely been put into [Name]’s language.’ Staff deliver good-quality care, in line with placement plans that specifically identify young people’s individual needs. These plans are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure that young people’s changing and emerging needs are met. The manager consults regularly with parents, and social workers are routinely encouraged to sign young people’s risk assessments and placement plans,

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Good

acknowledging their agreement with how their children’s care is being delivered. The manager and staff team work in partnership with parents and health professionals to ensure that young people access all their specific medical appointments and maintain regular health checks, to ensure consistency of routine for young people. For example, they work with the looked after children’s nurses to support young people being immunised at the home. All staff are trained in the administration of medication and in first aid, and they support young people effectively with their individual health needs. All the young people benefit from being in full-time education. They enjoy the routine of education. One professional commented: ‘there has definitely been some educational progress for [Name]. [Name] works really well with education staff.’ The manager and staff team develop working relationships with educational

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Good

professionals, effectively using the start and end of the day to hand over positively any issues that have occurred during the day. The staff team knows the individual young people very well. A parent commented: ’I think they are wonderful, particularly the staff who work with my son. They know him really well and he is happy when he goes to the home.’ Observations between staff and young people during the inspection highlighted how well the staff team knows the young people and has a clear understanding of their individual routines and preferred communication styles. Young people were observed during the inspection, smiling and positively interacting with individual staff members, singing and playing in the garden. The current group of young people lives close to their family homes. The majority of young people enjoy positive family time, in the home, local community and in their own family home. The manager has an open-door policy for parents, who

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Good

often drop in on an ad hoc basis to see their child. The manager and staff team are adept at using a variety of communication tools, such as verbal, symbols and gestures to ensure that their views are ascertained and listened to. Young people have become more confident in sharing their views, particularly in young people’s meetings and out shopping in the local community. During the inspection, young people were observed to be supported to make choices about activities that they wanted to do that evening. Young people are being supported in their individual transition plans into adulthood. The manager has supported the process for one young person to have a court-appointed person assigned. This will enable choices about plans for his future to be considered and approved, given his age and complex learning needs. More age-appropriate activities are starting to be introduced to the young people, for example enjoying a drink in a local beer garden rather than a fast food

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Good

restaurant. The senior staff have a clear plan to build on this activity to enable young people to enjoy a meal in a local restaurant. Young people enjoy individual and group activities in the local community, such as going to the local cinema or bowling. This builds on young people’s social interaction, and supports them to engage in the local area. Young people also enjoy regular weekend trips to the beach, where they have enjoyed spending their own money on individual items that they have chosen.

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Good

Young people are supported by a dedicated staff team that has a good understanding of safeguarding and the risks that individual young people present. They are supported by detailed risk management plans that enable the staff team to support young people to live safely in the home and to spend time in the community. Due to the specific needs of the young people, they do not go missing from home. They are supported at all times by individual staff. Sanctions are not used in the home. Young people are encouraged to behave in a manner that is safe for them and for others. Staff consistently implement the behaviour management plans that are in place, and they support young people to respond to their environment and feelings appropriately. Since the last inspection, there have been no incidents of physical restraint. However, the manager has ensured that the whole staff team continues to undertake relevant training.

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Good

The manager responds swiftly to any complaints or grumbles raised about the home. The manager has investigated and responded appropriately to a number of grumbles that have been raised since the last inspection period. She is transparent with parents and supporting agencies about the care provided in the home. One safeguarding concern has been investigated since the last inspection. All agencies have been notified, with the appropriate action taken to ensure that young people are safe in the home. Individual team members are confident in their understanding of the whistle-blowing procedure. There are clear recruitment procedures in place. However, the manager has not ensured that there is a full work history in place for each member of the team, with a clear explanation of any gaps of employment on their personnel file. A range of health and safety checks are routinely carried out to ensure that young

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Good

people and staff live in a physically safe environment. A recent visit to the premises by the fire service highlighted a small number of shortfalls. The manager has taken action to address these and has worked with an external agency and the fire service to ensure that the building meets the appropriate fire standards. During the inspection, an external consultant was updating the fire risk assessment, as requested by the fire service.

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Good

The home is managed by an experienced manager, who has previously been registered within the organisation. She has now established herself at this home as the registered manager, achieving registration in December 2015. She holds a social work qualification and is awaiting her certificate for the level 5 leadership and management qualification. She has a number of years’ experience working with young people with complex learning needs. Since taking on the role at this home, she has brought stability to the leadership team. Parents, individual team members, senior managers and professionals commented at the inspection on the confidence that they have in the manager, on a day-to-day basis, and in her ability to secure continued development in the home. There has been some change to the group of young people who access the home on a shared care and respite basis. However, all young people have continually

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Good

made progress from their individual starting points, which the manager and staff team proudly talk about. For one young person, this progress is an increase in their vocabulary, supporting them to make their views and choices clearly heard. The manager has ensured that individual team members receive support thorough detailed and regular supervision sessions and annual appraisals. Team meetings are held on a monthly basis. These are well attended by the staff. Individual team members commented that they are encouraged to contribute to these meetings and that they now feel confident that their views will be taken into account. The registered manager has started to develop staff who show potential to progress within the organisation, to ensure that succession planning is facilitated. The manager has also established an employee of the month award, voted for by the staff team. These small changes have increased staff morale and commitment to

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Good

the young people, resulting in significant improvements in staff attendance and staff retention. Consequently, young people are looked after by a consistent staff team that knows and understands their individual needs very well. One member of staff commented: ‘I just love my job. I’m very well supported.’ All team members receive a range of training that assists them to support the young people whom they look after. The manager ensures that any specific training required to meet the individual needs of young people is facilitated, in order for the staff team to be equipped to care for the young people. For example, the staff team has recently received specific training from the National Autistic Society. One member of staff commented about the training: ‘I now understand why [Name] acted in a certain way. The training was really good at helping me to understand their behaviour.’ Individual team members are enrolled on the

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Good

appropriate qualification course. However, a number of staff have not achieved this award within the required timescales. The manager is supporting staff to achieve the qualifications as quickly as possible. The individual staff members are long- serving staff members who have a significant amount of experience working with the young people currently living at the home, so there is no current impact on the quality of care that young people receive. The home is adequately resourced and delivers the services and support outlined in the statement of purpose. The manager ensures that there are sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet the young people’s individual needs. Shortfalls in the rota are covered by the existing staff team and a small number of in-house bank workers to ensure consistency for young people. Monitoring of the home is well established. The manager makes good use of monthly action plans that underpin the service’s development plan. The manager

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Good

uses monthly monitoring to identify area for improvements to support individual young people effectively. However, the manager is yet to include any consultation that she is undertaking as part of her six-monthly reports. There is little impact on the quality of care of the young people, given the level of consultation as part of her day-to-day practice. This requirement is re-stated. External monitoring continues to take place on a monthly basis. The manager has ensured that these reports are regularly received by HMCI. However, the external visitor does not comment on their opinion of whether the young people are effectively safeguarded in the home. The majority of the actions raised at the last inspection have now been met. The manager has now ensured that any significant events are notified to HMCI without delay and that regular updates are included in this process. A clear locality risk assessment has been produced, in partnership with supporting agencies. This

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Good

enables the manager to have a clear oversight of the local area, which supports her to keep young people safe in the home and locality. The manager has established positive relationships with professionals and parents, taking an active role in the team around the individual young people. Professionals and parents commented on the improvement in communication with the home. One parent commented: ‘I now get monthly newsletters about what my child has done. It helps us to know [Name] is doing, because [Name] can’t tell us.’ Professionals commented: ‘Whatever has been asked of them, I feel they have done. They provide a positive placement for [Name] as well as supporting the parents.’

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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 that 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 that 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 whom 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

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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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