Children's home run by Ronanda Limited in Canterbury

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:

 A registered manager with a commitment to high standards leads the home. He manages a team of well-trained, permanent staff who know children well, understand their needs and effectively support their holistic progress.  Relationships between children and staff are excellent. One child said, ‘The staff are the best thing about living here.’ Staff value children and work to achieve the best results for them. The inspector observed warm, nurturing and caring relationships between staff and children throughout the inspection.  Staff are dedicated in their promotion of children’s education. Daily reading and the support of homework go alongside effective partnership working with children’s schools. In this environment, children attend well, enjoy school and make good educational progress.  Child-centred thinking and practice is central to care provided. Staff encourage, value, listen to and act upon children’s wishes and feelings.

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The children’s home provision is good because:

Children have a voice, and their views influence and shape their care.  Transition planning is thoughtful. Children understand their future plans, and transitions move at their pace. Careful planning enables children to have successful endings and positive future placements.  There are shortfalls: management monitoring does not consistently include the views of children, parents, staff and placing authorities: this limits the quality assurance of monitoring processes. Reporting errors led to a delay in reporting one safeguarding issue. While this did not compromise the safety or welfare of children, it was not in line with the safeguarding policy of the home. Maintenance contractor problems have resulted in some delays in the maintenance and decoration of the home. Action to address this is underway, but is not yet complete. Online safety of children inside the home is excellent. This is not matched by work to equip children to stay safe,

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The children’s home provision is good because:

should they access the internet unsupervised outside of the home.

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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

Establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating that provides for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 31 August

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Requirement Due date

Notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if a child protection enquiry involving a child is instigated. (Regulation 40 (4)(d)) 31 August

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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

 Ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of children, in particular that maintenance and decoration are completed without delay. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their safety, both inside and outside the home, to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm, particularly in respect of online safety outside of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four 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

4 February 2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

3 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Children build secure relationships with staff and feel at home. A local authority social worker said, ‘He is happy. He likes being there and has a good relationship with staff.’ A staff member said, ‘We keep children safe and give them everything they haven’t had in the past. They develop a family here, which is something a lot of them haven’t experienced.’

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Good

Children’s views are encouraged throughout daily life. They have formal and informal opportunities to express their wishes and feelings. Staff act upon children’s views, and their opinions influence their current and future care.

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Good

Children make holistic progress. A local authority social worker said, ‘He’s made amazing progress. When he went there he couldn’t concentrate at all, now he can sit with staff and play a game for an hour.’ Staff provide individualised care to children that meets their specific needs. Children make progress in their target areas, and their journey of progress and development is ongoing.

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Good

Children enjoy and engage with individualised reward schemes. Children and staff identify monthly goals together. Children are aware of the goals they are working towards and the rewards that they will achieve. Praise and reward reinforce positive behaviour change. Dedicated monthly monitoring tracks children’s progress and forms a child-friendly record of achievement.

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Good

There is a strong emphasis placed upon supporting children’s education. Staff are ambitious for children’s educational progress. Excellent partnership working with children’s schools goes alongside proactive support of children’s learning at home. Children’s educational attendance is excellent. They enjoy school, take part in after-school clubs and, from their starting points, make good educational progress.

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Good

Children are in good health and receive the health services that they require. Proactive monitoring of children’s health ensures that health service provision remains in line with their needs. One child was able to reduce his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication as he responded to the structure and daily routine of the home. Specialist therapeutic support is available to children without delay, via an in-house, qualified and registered therapist.

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Good

Children have many opportunities to have fun and take part in activities that they enjoy. They join after-school clubs and activities in the community, enabling them to develop new skills and to foster peer relationships. A caravan owned by the home enables children to enjoy regular breaks at the seaside, and enables staff to evaluate children’s progress outside of the home’s structured environment.

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Good

Careful and thoughtful transition planning means that children are placed only when the home can effectively meet their needs. Individualised plans mean that transitions move at each child’s pace, taking account of children’s views. Staff consider endings sensitively, supporting each child’s positive transition into their new family placement.

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Good

Staff treat children with dignity and respect, and value and support their heritage and background. The home works in partnership, wherever possible, with children’s families. Proactive contact facilitation includes the provision of supervision and transport as required.

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Good

All children have trusted relationships with staff. They speak openly with staff, share their concerns and receive the help and advice that they require.

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Good

Children’s risk assessments are comprehensive and up to date. They address children’s individual needs, with clear plans of action to keep children safe. There is a good balance between supervision and allowing children to step out and take age-appropriate risks. For example, children learn how to travel to school safely, with supervision reducing in line with their age and ability. Careful assessment of children’s progress guides risk management and ensures that supervision is in line with children’s needs.

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Good

Procedures to protect children from online risks in the home are good. Staff supervise all internet use well. While there is evidence of some ad hoc work to teach children to keep themselves safe using the internet, there is no consistent provision for all children. This does not proactively equip children for safe online use outside of the home.

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Good

Recent staff safeguarding training included child sexual exploitation, radicalisation and online safety. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of safeguarding and action required to protect children. Despite a strong safeguarding culture within the home, a reporting error led to a delay in the reporting of one safeguarding issue. While this did not compromise the safety or welfare of children, it was not in line with the safeguarding policy of the home.

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Good

A clear missing policy guides staff to take immediate action to keep children safe should they go missing. There have been no incidents of children going missing.

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Good

The home has effective links with the local safeguarding children board, and uses this resource to source safeguarding training and to guide safeguarding practice. Links with the safeguarding designated officer are as required, and there have been no allegations made.

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Good

Children receive help to manage their feelings and behaviour. A local authority social worker said, ‘He can communicate his emotions now. He wasn’t able to express his views in an appropriate way before.’ Children’s backgrounds and histories are intrinsic to the development of behaviour management plans. There is emphasis on the promotion of positive behaviour, which is consistently encouraged and praised.

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Good

Physical restraint use is according to regulation, and occurs only after unsuccessful de-escalation. Good restraint recording includes children’s views and effective management oversight.

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Good

Issues of conflict between children are dealt with swiftly and effectively. A reflective and restorative approach helps children to learn about and to practise positive relationships. A good quality bullying policy guides practice and means that bullying is always effectively addressed. Children report that they feel safe in the home.

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Good

Health and safety procedures in the home are up to date. The home provides a safe environment that protects children.

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Good

An effective registered manager leads this home. He is suitably qualified, having achieved the level 5 diploma in leadership and management of residential childcare. Alongside this, he has 17 years of childcare residential management experience. He demonstrates a commitment to providing high quality care and his child-centred ethos shapes the practice of staff.

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Good

A full, permanent staff team is trained and equipped to meet the needs of children living in the home. Training provision is proactive, and in line with children’s needs, including recent autism training. All staff have achieved, or are in the process of completing, their level 3 diploma in residential childcare.

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Good

A strong, clear statement of purpose sets out the home’s ethos and objectives. Staff know and understand the statement of purpose, and it underpins the care provided. Alongside this, a purposeful children’s guide, designed in conjunction with children, provides helpful information, including a well-explained complaints procedure. Children know how to complain. They have made no complaints.

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Good

Clear, user-friendly systems guide management monitoring. The registered manager has good oversight of the functioning of the home. Current quality of care monitoring is effective. However, it lacks feedback from children, their parents, staff and placing authorities. This limits the registered manager’s ability to use feedback to develop the home.

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Good

Care plans reflect children’s lives and backgrounds. They are comprehensive and effectively direct care. Child-centred monthly reports map children’s progress, accompanied by a photographic record of their achievements. Children engage with this monthly review, view reports and give their comments. This process enables children to understand and take ownership of their progress as well as their targets for ongoing development.

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Good

Where children are not making the expected progress, plans undergo review and modification. Managers advocate and challenge where care plans are not in children’s best interests or do not represent their wishes and feelings.

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Good

Work with partnership agencies is proactive. A local authority social worker said, ‘We are holding regular network meetings with myself, the home, mum and school. The level of communication and consistency of working is excellent.’ Effective partnership working ensures that children gain the services and support that they need to facilitate their progress.

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Good

The recruitment of new staff aligns to regulatory safeguarding practice, and this protects children. A thorough programme of staff induction ensures that staff have a proficient knowledge of the home’s procedures and children’s needs. All staff receive effective monthly supervision and feel supported in their roles. Staff describe a friendly working environment where they are able to ask questions and receive the support and advice that they need.

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Good

Staff appraisal reviews the effectiveness of practice and includes plans for ongoing staff development. Managers have high expectations of staff, in children’s best interests. Deficient staff practice is challenged robustly using, where appropriate, staff disciplinary procedures.

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Good

The home is well equipped and homely. However, recent maintenance staffing difficulties have led to delays in some maintenance and decoration. Required work is now underway but is not yet complete.

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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 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 children looked after 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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