Children's home run by Ethelbert Specialist Homes Limited in Thanet

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 and young people demonstrate their happiness in the home with their ready smiles, relaxed posture and confidence. They make good progress in each area of their development. This includes improved attendance and engagement at school, improvements in behaviour and significantly reduced episodes of going missing. As a result, they are safer.  Effective multi-agency working is a key factor in keeping children and young people safe. The home works successfully with other agencies such as private therapists, schools, the police, specialised police units, voluntary agencies and health workers. Staff are proactive in making contact with them to ensure that children and young people receive the help or experience that they need.  Staff use their knowledge and understanding of positive and proactive behaviour support to enable children to manage their anxieties and frustration. This approach has been fruitful in reducing episodes of self-

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The children's home provision is good because:

injurious behaviour, and minimises the need for restraints and sanctions.  The children and young people are readily engaging with their education. They are making real progress from their starting points and exceeding previous expectations. Older young people are actively revising for upcoming exams and expect to do well.  Staff offer children a range of experiences and activities that increase their knowledge and understanding of the world. They enable children and young people to participate in activities such as discos and youth clubs that they might not otherwise be able to access.  An effective manager drives for the continuous improvement and development of the home. She uses comprehensive and qualitative systems to identify the strengths and development needs of the home. She enthuses and assists staff to provide high-quality care and support to children and young people.  All social workers spoken with had high praise for the home, saying ‘The

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The children's home provision is good because:

home is very well run and the care for my young person is excellent. The staff are attentive and caring, and the house is warm and well-maintained’, and ‘One of the major strengths of this home is that they work proactively.’

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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 ‘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

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must ensure that all foodstuffs and their storage are monitored and correct, in order to— (2) (ii) protect and promote each child’s welfare. 20 July 2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Maintain good employment practice by ensuring that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them.

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Recommendations

In particular, by seeking clarification regarding voluntary work as well as by recording the details of such work. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1.)

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Information about this children's home

This children’s home provides care for up to five children with emotional and behavioural needs. It is run by a private organisation.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

8 February 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

19 March 2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

Staff provide children and young people with good-quality, individualised care. As staff are genuinely interested in the children and young people’s life’s and experiences, they develop useful relationships. Staff engage closely with them and show appropriate levels of affection and concern for them. The manager also has effective relationships with the young people and children. Staff speak warmly of the children and young people, acknowledging their progress and continually looking for strategies to support them to achieve positive outcomes. Staff closely supervise children and young people, engaging them in meaningful dialogue and activities, protecting them and promoting their welfare. One social worker commented that staff ‘most definitely’ have the skills to manage her young person’s high-risk behaviours: ‘They are able to offer her calm, boundaried, reflective care which takes into account her particular needs and are vigilant about

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Good

her safety.’ Staff place children’s and young people’s well-being at the centre of their practice. Education outcomes are very good. All young people attend regularly and make progress in reaching educational goals, despite previously having been out of school or having had extremely low attendance. Staff have been successful at supporting young people through exam periods, and ensuring that revision material is available and being used. Staff have also supported a young person to apply for and gain a place for a vocational college course. Those young people attending mainstream school have full attendance, have integrated successfully and are making exceptional progress. Staff provide opportunities for children and young people to experience improved socialisation, independence and fun. Young people and children access a wide range of recreational and social activities at the home and in the wider community,

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Good

according to their individual interests. They report positively on playing with the other children, ‘having fun’, going out on trips and taking holidays. They attend clubs in the community such as roller discos and dance, and participate in youth clubs and group activities such as horse riding and trampolining, according to their particular interests. As one social worker said, ‘she is well cared for. She has expressed on a number of occasions that she enjoys living at the home, particularly all of the activities!’ This fosters their sense of belonging in the local community. Health staff used by the home are well liked by the young people. They help young people look at areas such as self-care, sexual identity and sexual health, as well as smoking cessation. Staff creatively support young people. For example, one young person needed to have a blood test. Her social worker commented, ‘I have tried, unsuccessfully, for years to persuade her to have the test, but she has recently

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Good

done so. I have the staff at this home to thank for this.’ The children and young people like their bedrooms, which they are encouraged to personalise according to their taste. They are given support and encouragement, linked to rewards, to take responsibility for keeping their own room clean and changing their bed linen, so they learn useful skills as well as maintaining a reasonable environment. One social worker enthusiastically praises the young person’s independence skills: ‘She arrived at the home as a young woman who could do almost nothing for herself (had only recently started washing her own hair, for example). She is now able to plan and cook simple meals.’

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Good

All staff receive training in safeguarding young people and children, and are knowledgeable about how to apply this in practice. Staff and managers challenge each other and outside agencies in order to promote children and young people’s safety and well-being. Young people receive appropriate support within the home and from other professionals to assist them in addressing behaviours such as the risk of sexual exploitation. Staff have a sound knowledge of how to respond to high-risk behaviours and in responding to the sharing of information or disclosures to keep young people safe and ensure that appropriate supports are provided. The home provides a safe environment for children and young people who have experienced unpredictable and unsafe situations in their past. Through close supervision from thoughtful and consistent staff, young people and children develop a sense of safety, protection and trust in the adults who care for them.

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Good

The staff also provide assistance to help the young people to understand how to keep themselves safe while using social media. The manager and staff manage critical incidents well and provide safe care to the children and young people during their times of distress. The staff rarely use sanctions, and have only used five since the last full inspection. Staff seldom use physical interventions and this has improved the relationships between staff and the children and young people. Staff and young people confirmed that these were used to keep them safe from harm and that the manager always spoke to them about any use of a restraint. The staff have a good understanding of the children’s and young people’s needs. They can recognise when they are in distress and upset. This helps staff to provide early interventions, and to reduce challenging behaviours and, for one young person, the level of self-harm. Staff have increasing confidence to encourage opportunities for children and young

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Good

people to make independent choices. They can safely explore new experiences, and learn from their successes and errors. This enhances children’s and young people’s opportunities for growth and development. Staff are becoming more proficient in analysing children’s and young people’s behaviour and any incidents, and use this learning to good effect. The manager has led improvements in staff’s recording of these episodes, and is developing a stronger culture of reflective practice. This has enabled staff to become more confident in supporting children and young people to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. This has empowered children and young people to participate in making amends to repair their friendships, both within the home and outside, or to find alternative means of expressing their upset. Young people do very occasionally go missing. The incidents have significantly

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Good

decreased since residing at this home. A social worker stated, ‘my young person had run off on several occasions (as a result of Internet access) in her previous placement, but she has never done this during her time at the home.’ Young people know that staff will actively search for them and are aware of the dangers when they go missing. Missing from care risk assessments are in place. These provide sufficient information as to where a young person may be or how high the perceived risk is for the young person. Staff demonstrate that they have a secure understanding of the individual risks associated with each young person and the action they are taking to reduce this. All staff appointments are subject to safer recruitment guidelines, ensuring that appropriate measures are taken to appoint appropriately qualified and suitable staff. One application did not have a voluntary position clearly identified as an

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Good

employment, and therefore no references or verification of this had been sourced. The area manager contacted the human resources team immediately to resolve this. The manager involves young people in staff recruitment, which reinforces their sense of responsibility and ownership of their home. The manager ensures that the necessary physical and environmental checks of the premises are carried out at the appropriate intervals. These now include fire drills and records. However, the home’s freezer required defrosting and was found to house out-of-date food. Additionally, food had been stored without its ‘use by’ dates or cooking instructions. The manager and staff immediately began rectifying this to ensure that young people’s and children’s welfare was safeguarded.

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Good

The manager has been managing this children’s home since February 2015. She is now registered with Ofsted and is currently undertaking her level 5 diploma in leadership and management. The management of the home is described as ‘always having a very structured plan to achieve good outcomes. Always making sure I am OK. The manager is fair. For example, she always listens to what I have to say and really considers it. She provides very good quality direction.’ The manger carefully considers admissions to the home to ensure that the child’s needs can be fully met and are compatible with the existing group. Transition planning, both for new residents and for children and young people leaving the home, is well managed to promote stability within the home and to ensure that children and young people experience positive placement moves. The manager provides all young people new to the home with a children’s guide. This is clear

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Good

and generally informative. However, the children and young people have asked for it to contain more pictures and local information, including clubs that they regularly attend. Staff enjoy working at the home, and said: ‘I love working here.’ Staff undertake comprehensive training. New staff undertake a thorough induction programme to prepare them for their role. One staff member stated, ‘Training gave me a clear insight into what to look out for and how to work with other professionals. I feel confident in the world of safeguarding and ensuring that young people are kept safe.’ Ongoing staff development to extend their knowledge takes place in child- focus meetings, as well as in whole-team group supervision. The manager promotes a reflective approach through these, as well as team meetings, after incident discussions and individual supervision. Independent monitoring takes place at the required intervals. The manager uses

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Good

the recommended actions from the improved independent visits to review systems to upgrade the quality of care provided. The manager also employs a regular, wide-ranging and comprehensive monitoring system to assess the effectiveness of the care provided at the home. This includes child-focused visits from independent visitors, and effective partnership with parents, the local social work team and senior managers. She shares her evaluation as well as training workshops with staff to help them to be clear about her expectations for improvement. All requirements and recommendations from the last inspection have been met. The registered manager is proactively involved in monitoring individual care arrangements, which supports the good progress made by the young people. For example, she consults with professionals and adjusts challenges, when required. The manager works well with other agencies and the professionals involved in the

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Good

children’s and young people’s care. She can demonstrate the difference that living at the home has made to the children’s and young peoples’ 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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 harmed or at risk of harm or 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 ‘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 0300 123 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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