Children's home run by Ownlife Residential Limited in Kingston upon Thames

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 thrive and thoroughly enjoy living in their home. They feel safe and have a strong sense of personal safety.  They enjoy good relationships with the staff, with whom they have positive attachments.  Young people make improvements from their starting points. They express themselves openly and effectively because staff promote a collective voice and actively listen to views and opinions on decisions that affect their lives and the running of the home.  Young people benefit from well-planned and individualised care plans because staff promote their needs by maintaining effective partnerships with families, social workers, education and relevant professionals.  Staff access a broad spectrum of training which equips them to meet young people’s needs in the best way possible.  Young people benefit from a home that is manged efficiently and effectively. Leaders and managers are consistently ambitious and energetic for

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The children's home provision is good because:

continuing improvement. They can demonstrate the positive difference that the home has made to the lives of young people.  External monitoring of the service is effective and of an exceptionally high standard. Reports are used to complement and develop internal quality assurance practice, to ensure continuous high standards of care.  The home provides young people with a warm, safe, comfortable and homely environment.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

The registered person should have a workforce plan that can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should:  Detail the necessary management and staffing structure, (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staff structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose;  Detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training, such as safeguarding and health and safety and mandatory qualifications;  Detail the process for managing and improving poor performance;  Detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see regulation 33 (4) (b) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed

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Recommendations

by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8).

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children, irrespective of gender, with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

20 January 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people enjoy and develop warm and trusting relationships with staff. They invest in their care, and this maximises their opportunities to grow and develop into independence. From the young people’s admission, staff understand the importance of gaining trust and finding innovative and positive ways to work with them. They are highly nurturing and work to a model of positive parenting that gets to the heart of young people’s need for secure and lasting relationships. One young person commented, ‘The manager and staff have helped me to show a mature attitude to social workers. This means that my wishes and feelings are listened to and respected.’ Individualised placement plans focus on young people’s greatest areas of need. Care planning arrangements encourage young people, with the assistance of staff, to plan their own care collaboratively. A social worker said, ‘From the onset of the placement, staff have worked well in engaging with the young person and have

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Good

worked with me to achieve good outcomes.’ Staff are supportive of young people’s education and have consistently high aspirations for them. When young people lack appropriate educational plans or refuse schooling, effective staff liaison with schools and placing authorities, results in clear strategies for a return. A virtual head said, ‘This is a home [who] consistently challenge us and are robust in advocating on behalf of young people.’ Respect for young people’s views is good. They engage in regular discussions and meetings on issues important to them, such as gangs, drugs, child sexual exploitation and staying safe and, as a result, they feel nurtured and develop a positive self-view. A young person said, ‘This is the first home where staff have taken the time to listen and understand what is important to me.’ Young people benefit from the services that they need to promote their physical, emotional and psychological well-being. They are registered with and have access

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Good

to all health services, including specific healthcare. Staff work well with young people, enabling them to understand the impact of lifestyle choices on their physical and emotional day-to-day health. This enables young people to make positive decisions and take responsibility for their own health. Young people benefit from a range of activities, such as building kites, trips to art galleries and visiting the houses of parliament. This gives young people opportunities to engage in positive fun activities and in the development of social skills. As a result, young people speak of living in a good home with staff who are caring and fun to be with.

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Good

This is a safe and stable home. Skilled staff prioritise the welfare and safety of young people extremely well. There is thoughtful and good decision making and planning for admissions. Staff help young people to move into the home and move on, with considerable insight, sensitivity and respect. Consequently, placement breakdowns are rare, and young people develop and maintain good respectful relationships with their peers. A young person said, ‘They always have discussions with us about any new people moving in. We are given some information about them and our views are listened to.’ Detailed and comprehensive risk assessments make clear the exact nature of the risks and types of behaviour that can increase or reduce the risks of harm. Risk assessments are integral to all aspects of young people’s day-to-day care. This practice ensures that keeping young people safe is prioritised in their care and in

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Good

the support delivered by staff. Young people are supported to understand the impact of their behaviour on others and to take responsibility for this. Their behaviour is generally positive, and they respond well to clear boundaries and expectations. Staff are skilled at implementing rules and boundaries as any good parent would be, helping young people to feel safe and secure in the home. Strong relationships between staff and young people help to promote a positive atmosphere in which incidents of negative behaviour are infrequent. Young people occasionally fall out. However, bullying is not reported as an issue for them. The home has a ‘no physical intervention’ policy. Should behaviour escalate, staff generally implement behaviour management plans, which help young people to gain control of their behaviour. Managers support the positive use of rewards, as opposed to sanctions, as methods of control. This means that young people work

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Good

towards their behaviour goals to achieve weekly rewards. Systems such as this promote positive behaviour. Effective safeguarding policies and procedures, approved by the local authority safeguarding board and the police, ensure that staff are knowledgeable about and confidently implement strategies when young people display risk-taking behaviour. The home has an impressive and wide-ranging training programme, on areas that include child sexual exploitation, trafficking, female genital mutilation, extremism and gangs. This training ensures that staff have appropriate awareness and knowledge of issues that may affect young people living in care. This means that staff identify and respond appropriately to young people at risk. The home maintains a policy of only recruiting staff who have a minimum of the national vocational qualification at level three. Robust vetting procedures ensure that only safe and experienced people are employed to work with young people.

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Good

Young people benefit from a warm, homely, physically safe and appropriately secure environment. Effective management of health and safety matters promotes a safe home for young people.

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Good

The registered manager has a social work qualification and a certificate in management studies. He is an experienced manager with over 20 years’ experience of social care. He leads by example and promotes a culture of learning for staff together with safe, nurturing care for young people. Young people and staff are extremely complimentary about the knowledge and support that they receive from the manager. This creates a culture of high aspirations for young people, leading to positive outcomes for them. The manager maintains effective partnerships with social workers, educational professionals, police, parents and other agencies to promote the safety of young people. The home is particularly robust in challenging other professionals when shortfalls in practice are identified. This results in better outcomes for young people, for example, when assessments identify the need for specialist care. Staff recognise and appreciate the value of supervision that they receive, which is

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Good

regular and recorded. Available support enables them to reflect on their individual approach to each young person. Regular one-to-one meetings are held between the young people and the registered manager. Such practice demonstrates the value that he places on the young people’s views and opinions. One young person used this to gain help to put together a plan of family contact for negotiation with the local authority. Managers have good systems in place for assessment and analysis of young people’s progress, which supports the placing authority plan and delivers the aims of the placement. Effective monitoring systems are in place, and the registered manager uses these to inform practice and to improve organisational and practical home-related issues. Monthly monitoring of the home is of an exceptionally high standard and reflects the views of young people, parents and the staff team. There is not a specific and focused workforce development plan in place.

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Good

The home meets the aims and objectives, as set out in its statement of purpose. The home understands and is able to demonstrate the positive difference that it has made to young people’s lives.

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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 adults that 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

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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