Children's Home run by Esland South Limited in Hertfordshire

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:

 Children in this home are settled. They feel well cared for by a staff team that supports them to achieve good outcomes.  Children enjoy a trusting relationship with staff who reliably work in the children’s best interests.  A newly formed staff team, share common goals and hold children’s interests at the centre of their practice.  Children are safer because of living in this home.  Staff work closely with the wider professional team and family members to deliver the child’s care plan.  Through meaningful key work sessions, children are supported to talk out their difficulties and find positive ways forward.  Staff work particularly closely with health professionals to ensure that they meet the individual health needs of children.  Creative independence working practices engage children and better prepare them for adult life.  This inspection identified some shortfalls to practice. The home presented

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The children's home provision is good because:

poorly. There was a significant lack of cleaning, particularly on the first floor. There was a poor standard of decoration throughout this level and broken or ill-fitting fixtures did not offer children a valued, homely living environment.  Managers have not sought the views of significant others to help inform the continuous improvement to the quality of care provided in the home.  Bank staff have not received supervision in line with the organisation’s policy.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for reviewing and evaluating the quality of care provided for children. This system must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children's parents, placing authorities and staff (Regulation 45 (2)((5)). 27 June 2016

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard the registered person must ensure: (2)(c)(i) that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. 27 June 2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including bank staff, receive supervision of their practice which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care in line with organisational policy (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2).

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Information about this children's home

The home provides care and accommodation for up to four children with emotional and behavioural difficulties. A private organisation owns and operates this setting.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17 March 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

29 July 2014 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

The home currently offers long-term care to three children. They are cared for by a committed staff team that hold the children’s welfare at the centre of their practice. Children speak positively about the care that they receive, one commented, ‘Staff really look after me, I am settled and I never want to leave.’ Children have experienced a settled time as no other child has entered or left the home for the past six months. While the home has robust procedures in place for the admission of children, its current focus is independence work as children placed are near adulthood. A particular strength of the home is the creative way it has individualised independence programmes. Staff work from a nationally recognised independence programme. However, it is staff’s expert knowledge of the child’s strengths and areas of limitation that helps them to tweak the programme to fit each child’s individual needs. Where a child declares that they

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Good

know how to do a particular activity, staff will ask them to demonstrate this. Where a child has disengaged, for example, from a cooking activity, staff will creatively use cooking for a friend as an opportunity to re-engage their interests. Staff’s persistence in completing independence work and their creative engagement of children assists children greatly to attain the skills necessary for a smooth transition into the adult world. Managers and staff work with educational providers to support children in their learning and development. For one child, this means working with home tuition and staff, further supporting learning by offering extra-curricular activity. Plans are in place to support this individual to sit GCSEs. For other children, they attend full- time school. Staff have worked particularly closely with one provider. This positive working together has stabilised a very troubled period and resulted in the child

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Good

remaining in the school. The child is settled and progressing well. A positive change in behaviour also saw him attend his first school trip. Staff are supporting older children to consider their future careers by applying to appropriate colleges to help maximise potential adult employment. Children in placement present with a range of health needs. Staff receive training in first aid and medication administration. This ensures that children’s immediate health needs are met and all medication, including controlled drugs, is stored and administered safely. Staff have worked particularly closely with the children in care nurse to gain better understanding of children’s specific health conditions. The training delivered supports staff in considering appropriate strategies to improve children’s health. A healthy diet is particularly encouraged. A recommendation made at last inspection was to keep a record of food consumed. This food diary is

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Good

used to review the child’s nutritional intake of food and its impact on both managing the health condition and ensuring a healthy diet. The children in care nurse commented, ‘Staff are very proactive in asking for my support and they act as a good parent would. They really care about the children and genuinely want to do their best.’ The team supports and meets the children’s contact plans. Where appropriate, the team works closely with parents establishing open and inclusive relationships. A parent commented, ‘Communication is good, they keep me informed.’ Staff have successfully advocated for direct family contact on a child’s behalf. Staff willingly give up their own time to facilitate and support the child in the contact session. This ensures that children feel supported by a caring staff team that listens to their wishes and values their family members. Children are fully involved in their placement planning. Information shared offers

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Good

them insight as to reasons for their journey into care and their plans while in care. The skilled staff group establishes positive relationships with children. This has been a key factor in helping children become more able to manage their own behaviour and feelings. One parent commented, ‘Staff cope admirably well, they have reined in his behaviour and have stuck by him. This is a good home.’ Staff work with children to complete life story work. This creative, artful activity records significant and fun events and provides them with a book of positive childhood memories. In summary, each of the children in placement have progressed because of living at the home.

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Good

Children living in this home are safe and protected, they become increasingly safe as their stay extends. Children have demonstrated a range of complex and harmful behaviours, which have significantly diminished over time. A key factor in producing such good results is the trusting relationship formed between children and staff, which is central to the organisation’s ethos. Children report that they have good relationships with staff; they can identify those who they are particularly close to and who they would choose to share their worries or concerns. One child comments, ‘The reason I like her is because she listens to me.’ Staff demonstrate particular skill in working with children, helping them to consider how situations and incidents may affect them. Staff also support children to reflect and find their answers where appropriate. This has resulted in children experiencing long periods of good mental health. Furthermore, it has also

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Good

supported them in recognising their need for professional input where categorical refusal of this intervention had been their past stance. Following a previous episode of bullying within the home and a requirement raised at the previous inspection, the manager ensured that all staff undertook comprehensive training in this area. Staff’s knowledge and understanding of this topic contributes to improved safeguarding and protecting children from this form of abuse. Episodes of young people going missing from the home have ceased. Although risk assessments and protocols with local police are in place, there has been one occasion of a child going missing from school; the home acted appropriately and in accordance with protocols. Children are safeguarded and their welfare protected. Staff consistently promote positive behaviour, the use of behaviour management tools such as incentive charts effectively promote desired behaviours. Staff receive

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Good

training in de-escalation and positive handling techniques. The good relationships between staff and children have significantly contributed to a cessation in the need for staff to physically intervene in a potentially challenging situation.

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Requires improvement

There is currently no registered manager in the home. Satisfactory interim measures are in place. The interim manager has been in post for three months and a registration application is in progress. The interim manager has worked within children’s residential care for the past four years and is currently completing the level 5 diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare. The inspection found some shortfalls that require improvement. The home presented in a poor state of cleanliness and decoration, this was particularly prevalent on the first floor. Careless and unskilled decoration, poor repair and broken or ill-fitting furnishing did not present as a valued environment for children to live. A significant build-up of dust, dramatic cobwebs and stained walls also evidenced poor levels of cleanliness. This too, does not provide children with good role modelling, as standards set are poor. It is also unlikely to provide them with

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Requires improvement

an environment where they feel that their home is valued. At the last inspection, a significant quantity of rubbish was stored alongside the property. A statutory requirement for the home to continually maintain the property to a good standard and protect children from avoidable hazards was set. Whilst this rubbish was removed, the internal presentation means a second statutory requirement set for the conditions in which children live.

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Requires improvement

The manager is aware of the home’s strengths and some of the areas for development and improvement. His six monthly monitoring review of service delivery is comprehensive. However, it does not consider the opinions of children's parents, placing authorities and staff. These significant individuals have first-hand experience of both working with the home and the care that the children receive. Their opinions are not considered nor do they contribute to informing a clear rationale for the ongoing development and improvement of the delivery of care to children.

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Requires improvement

While all employees now receive regular supervision, there is a shortfall in the supervision practices for bank staff. Managers have not delivered supervision to these staff members in line with their organisation’s policy. Bank staff are not offered the time and space to discuss children’s particular needs, nor are managers addressing performance issues should they arise. The staff team has a number of new recruits. The organisation has robust recruitment and selection processes in place. This includes rigorous checks and referencing to ensure the employment of only suitable people. The newly recruited individuals have a range of previous family and childcare experience; this further assists the formation of a skilled staff team. A robust induction programme offers a good grounding for staff to become familiar with working practices and organisational policies and procedures. A comprehensive training programme

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Requires improvement

assists staff to gain further knowledge and understanding of general childcare practices. It also offers courses specifically aimed at understanding and meeting the presenting needs of children placed. Staff feel positive about working in the home, one member of staff reported, ‘I enjoy coming to work.’ While another member of staff added, ‘I came to work with the children, but it now feels like a big family.’ Staff genuinely care about the children. This is proven, for example when staff come into work outside of their allotted shift time to undertake specific activities, such as contact. Staff are keen to support children and want the best for them. The permanent staff receive regular supervision. Formal supervision is effective and robust. It offers dedicated time for staff to consider the needs of children and their own professional development. Staff regularly attend team meetings where a large proportion of time is given to discussion around meeting the needs of

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Requires improvement

children. Informal supervision is a regular occurrence where discussion takes place as situations arise. Eligible staff also have their performance appraised annually. Staff feel valued and supported by the management team. This further adds to the team cohesion and staff retention. Children benefit as they experience a stable and consistent staff team delivering their care. Staff work very much as part of the team around the child. They have good working relationships with the wider professional team and family members. Fellow professionals report, ‘It is clear that the child’s welfare is at the forefront of everything the staff do for him. There is a great deal of communication each day between the staff and us.’ This ensures a well-informed team delivers consistent care and work in the best interest of the child.

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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 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. 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 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, 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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