Social care · Social care interim inspection
Children's home run by Surrey County Council
Summary
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- Inspection datesingle source
6 Jun 2016
- Inspectors verified
Jennie Christopher
- URN verified
SC045408
Deep dive
What this report says
In plain English
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Tone of the report
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In line with other reports of this type.
How the report reads, start to finish
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Strengths
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- They have incredibly strong relationships with staff, who have an excellent understanding of their individual needs. p.2
- The staff work effectively as a team to provide a warm and nurturing environment, where young people are able to express themselves without fear of recriminations. p.2
- The requirement and recommendation set at the last inspection were both met, and the senior team continue to champion the importance of a homely environment for young people to thrive in. p.3
Concerns
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- Staff recognise that they are not always effectively recording these discussions and the decisions reached though. p.3
- Staff promote a genuinely restorative approach to behaviour management, and despite the police being called to the home, it has only been in extreme circumstances where both the young person’s and staff’s lives were potentially at risk. p.2
Next steps
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No next steps set out.
What the report dwells on
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Anatomy of the report
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- Pages
- 6
- Words of findings
- 690
- shorter than usual (typical 904)
- Reading level
- Hard
- Flesch 49, typical 48
- Average sentence
- 19 words
- Next steps
- 0
- typical 4
- Hedged sentences
- 8%
- “some”, “not always”, “most”…
Where the words go
Full report text
The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of
children and young people since the most recent full inspection. This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness . Young people continue to make good progress as a result of living in the home. They have incredibly strong relationships with staff, who have an excellent understanding of their individual needs. The staff work effectively as a team to provide a warm and nurturing environment, where young people are able to express themselves without fear of recriminations. Staff promote a genuinely restorative approach to behaviour management, and despite the police being called to the home, it has only been in extreme circumstances where both the young person’s and staff’s lives were potentially at risk. Even in these extreme circumstances, young people have not been charged with any offences. Staff have worked to rebuild relationships and ensure that
p.2
The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of
young people receive the emotional well-being support that they required in order to prevent recurrences of such extreme behaviour in the future. The staff work as a cohesive unit so that young people know what the boundaries are and what is expected of them. Restraint is used, but only when other de-escalation techniques have been exhausted. Young people and staff benefit from reflective debriefs to consider future actions, but also to ensure that they do not carry the heightened emotions of the incident into their future practice. There is currently one young person living in the home, and he is progressing well. He is now able to tolerate some changes in his routine and will often go out with key staff who he feels can keep him safe in the community. He is currently not in education, which was causing him extreme anxiety and distress. Close working relationships with the specialist service for young people out of education that also
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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of
have significant emotional well-being concerns is ensuring that he will start to engage in education at a pace that he can manage. In the meantime, staff are accessing educational activities with him with a focus on social skills and interactions. For example, on the day of inspection, the thought of education was so distressing that he damaged the lounge curtain pole. However, staff weaved educational experiences into an activity, which meant that he left the home and engaged in a meaningful way. Since the last inspection, one young person has moved on to semi-independence with great success. This was a planned moved, where she was involved throughout. During the inspection, she popped in to see staff and let them know how she was getting on. Another young person who moved from another home in the organisation really struggled with the change and it was quickly identified that she required a much more specialised provision with more space and education on-
p.2
The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of
site. She successfully transitioned to this placement and is progressing there. Young people’s views are held central to the running of the home. Staff are continuously seeking young people’s ideas about activities, menus, holidays and the decor of the building. Staff recognise that they are not always effectively recording these discussions and the decisions reached though. Staff feel that they are able to approach managers, or other members of the team, with any ideas, worries or concerns and say that their ideas are heard and, when appropriate, acted upon. They have benefited from a recent training event for residential staff which included various workshops, such as training around child sexual exploitation. Staff said that they valued this event and it gave them an opportunity to spend time with colleagues from other homes. The registered manager continues to effectively run and monitor the home. He
p.3
The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of
evaluates the service in the light of regular reports and liaison with the independent visitor in line with Regulation 44. Six-monthly quality reviews of the home and service also helps to inform the annual development plan. The requirement and recommendation set at the last inspection were both met, and the senior team continue to champion the importance of a homely environment for young people to thrive in. There are no new requirements or recommendations as a result of this inspection.
p.3
Information about this children's home
The home is owned and run by the local authority. It provides care and accommodation for up to two young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.
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Recent inspection history
Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement
p.4
Recent inspection history
02/09/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness
p.4
Recent inspection history
29/07/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness
p.4
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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