Children's home run by Pathway Care Solutions Ltd in Nottingham

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:

 Care planning is good and as a result children’s and young people’s educational, emotional, health and social needs are met. Overall, children and young people make good progress at this home.  Children and young people enjoy stable placements. This offers them the chance to experience positive attachments to adults that they can trust. Children and young people are safe here.  The manager provides clear leadership to a committed, caring and skilled staff team. Effective partnership working keeps children’s and young people’s needs focused in everyone’s minds. This helps children and young people to get the best out of their time at the home.  Requirements and recommendations from the last inspection have been met in full.

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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

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff (Regulation 45 (5)). 15 September

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of the care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact that the care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 64, paragraph 15.2).

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Information about this children's home

This is a privately owned children's home. It is registered to provide care for three children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24 February 2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

26 February 2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Children and young people have often had several placement breakdowns before coming to the home. Here, they experience good periods of stability, enabling them to make very favourable progress and take advantage of the opportunities offered to them. An educational professional commented that, for her pupil, this was, 'This home is the most stable placement this young person has ever had. The impact of this is reflected in his education.' Children and young people receive effective help from staff, particularly to improve their health, manage their emotions and persevere with their education. These are commitments in the home's statement of purpose that are more than fulfilled. Children and young people come to the home with generally poor educational experiences. Staff work hard to get them to successfully re-engage with their education. As a result, all children and young people are in full-time mainstream or

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Good

alternative educational provision. Their rates of attendance have increased and they are all making good progress from often low starting points. An educational professional said, ‘Staff have been really instrumental in getting his attendance rate and engagement up.’ Progress is not always straightforward; for example, there are dips in children’s and young people’s emotions and attitudes. These setbacks are well managed and staff work hard to get children and young people back on track. As a result, children’s and young people’s behaviour, health and education continue to change for the better and in some cases are significantly improved. One professional felt that their young person 'has really come on' during her time at the home. Children and young people are encouraged to do as much as they can for themselves, within the boundaries of their age and capabilities. As they get closer to independence, more specific work is undertaken to ensure that they have the

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Good

skills to function on their own in the community. There is always a range of activities for children and young people to take part in, both inside and outside of the home. These include playing snooker, going horse- riding, dog walking and taking karate classes. This helps children and young people to learn how to use their spare time creatively. Judgement grade

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Good

Children and young people are safe at the home. They say that they feel safe and that bullying is not a feature of their relationships with others. Family members and professionals also feel that this is a safe place for children and young people to live. Due to the focused support and vigilance of staff, children and young people are keeping themselves safer in the community. They are clearly absorbing the messages about the risks of running away from home as these incidents have reduced. The manager ensures that other agencies fulfil their duties to protect children and young people, particularly when they go missing from the home and from child sexual exploitation. One professional felt that staff work hard to reduce these risks and to assist others to do so stating, 'They are very open and quickly share information with us.' This helps to limit exposure to these particular types of danger. As a result, children and young people are safer.

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Good

Older young people are helped to understand the dangers of unsuitable and abusive relationships. They are offered support from domestic violence organisations and provided with useful information to consider, such as the 'My Dangerous Lover Boy' video. Developing strong relationships with children and young people is a key element to behaviour management in the home. Staff are extremely tenacious in exploring and finding what works best for each individual. The highly complex needs of children and young people means that they can present with extremely challenging behaviour at times. The 'restorative' approach to such incidents is effective in the majority of cases and prevents children and young people from being unnecessarily criminalised. The building is well maintained. It provides a safe environment for children and young people because environmental, fire and, health and safety checks are regularly undertaken. The home is spacious and adequately furnished. A

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Good

recommendation to replace the curtains in a young person's bedroom has been met.

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Good

The registered manager has managed this home since 2011. She has a level 4 management qualification and considerable experience in residential childcare. She provides very effective leadership to the staff team and demonstrates a strong commitment to driving forward improvements in the home. The manager is a strong advocate for children and young people, ensuring that during their time here they 'live, learn and develop' as outlined in the statement of purpose. Staff say that they feel very well supported and are given plenty of opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills. This includes the chance to undertake responsibilities for some management tasks as well as a wide range of training. The majority of staff have the recognised or equivalent qualifications for residential care. New members of staff will complete theirs by the end of this year. This investment in staff helps to maintain very low staff turnover. This provides greater

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Good

stability and consistency for children and young people. The manager makes sure that care planning is effective. She closely monitors children’s and young people's progress towards their individual achievements, as well as the development of safe, secure and permanent plans for their futures. The manager recognises when the home can no longer meet a child's or young person’s needs. In these situations, she ensures that the transitions to new placements are managed effectively. Partnership working with families and other agencies is a positive and productive feature of this home. Staff know that this is not a job that they can do on their own, and that children and young people need resources and support from other professionals in order to do well. The independent visitor’s scrutiny of the home makes a valuable contribution to identifying areas for further improvement. The manager's assessment of the home

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Good

would benefit from a clearer focus on the experiences of children and young people. The report itself needs to include and evaluate the views of others. These are procedural shortfalls that do not have a negative impact on children and young people. Effective action has been taken to address requirements made at the last inspection. This was to improve the health and safety of children and young people and to amend the statement of purpose and independent visitor's report. This demonstrates that the manager learns from inspection activity and improves the service accordingly.

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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, 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. 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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