Children's home run by Courtyard Care Limited in Tameside

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Children and young people achieve excellent outcomes given their complex and diverse health needs and their individual starting points.  Children and young people are safe in this home as staff are dedicated to making a positive difference to children’s and young people’s lives. The manager and leaders support staff to provide an exceptional standard of safe care as they ensure that staff are highly trained and regularly supported.  Staff ensure that children and young people have access to a wide range of stimulating and exciting opportunities to broaden and strengthen their childhood experiences, both in and around their local community. As a result of this, and the strong and effective relationships that the manager and staff have developed with families and their partner agencies, children and young people have been introduced to new and exhilarating activities.  Parents and professionals are extremely complimentary about the care and

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

support that their children and young people receive from the dedicated and committed staff. One parent said, ‘I am really happy with the care (name) gets here. The staff know (name) really well, they look after them well and I can sleep at night knowing that they are well cared for.’  The staff demonstrate a good understanding of children’s and young people’s complex and changing needs. They work well with children, young people, their families and other agencies to ensure that children’s and young people’s emerging health needs are addressed consistently and swiftly.  The home benefits from a committed and dedicated manager and leadership team that strive to ensure that children and young people fulfil and reach their full potential in a safe and managed way.  Two shortfalls have been identified. These relate to ensuring that the statement of purpose includes all the details of all the staff who are working

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

within the home and strengthening the external processes for supporting the manager in the continued development 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

The registered person must compile in relation to the children's home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. This is with particular reference to ensuring that the experience and qualifications of all staff, including all the bank staff and agency staff, are included within this document. (Regulation 16 (1)) 5 August 2016

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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 must ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5).

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Information about this children's home

 The home is managed by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children and young people with physical and learning disabilities and complex health needs.  The home enlists the support of a clinical nurse three days a week in their development and implementation for care planning.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

15 March 2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

18 March 2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Outstanding

Children and young people maintain positive relationships with the stable and committed staff team. The staff team provides a high level of individual care and support to each child and young person. The staff team understands implicitly each child’s and young person’s individual characteristics and mannerisms and responds to these needs with affection and warmth. The staff encourage and support each child and young person to communicate their choices, likes and dislikes to ensure that their views and wishes are sought and acted upon in their everyday routines. This, and the happy, comfortable and homely environment where children and young people appear happy, relaxed and at ease, ensures that children’s and young people’s individual personalities continue to shine and flourish. The manager and staff are committed to working collaboratively with parents and the placing local authorities in their care planning for children and young people.

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Outstanding

Their positive and effective working relationships with parents and a wide range of other professionals, such as health and education colleagues, ensure that children and young people receive a high level of consistent care which particularly greatly improves their health and social development. One health professional wrote, ‘Children always appear well-kempt and happy whenever I visit. Despite their chronic illness, they have very few hospitalisations. This will be due to the high- quality care they receive.’ Children’s and young people’s complex health needs are understood and managed well. The provision of an in-house clinical nurse and effective links with extensive community services, such as occupational therapists, speech and language therapist and doctors to name a few, ensures that children’s and young people’s emerging and changing health needs are identified and addressed immediately. Family members are welcomed into the home warmly. Parents are supported well

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Outstanding

by the staff team to maintain a good level of involvement in their child’s life and some family members have developed extremely close and nurturing relationships with other children within the home. Parents confirm that the staff always make them and their families feel welcome, and keep them promptly abreast of any developments in their children’s needs. As such, family members can be assured that their children are systematically kept safe and well cared for. One parent said, ‘I can sleep easier at night knowing that the staff are looking after (Name) very well. I know that (Name) really likes it here and that makes me happy.’ Children and young people are supported sensitively to enjoy a range of in-house and community activities to broaden their experiences and develop positive childhood memories. Some children and young people have enjoyed trips to the theatre, aquariums and zoos, while others have enjoyed hydrotherapy swimming

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Outstanding

sessions for the first time. These experiences are captured, as entrance tickets and other memorabilia are kept in memory boxes so that these can be shared with family members and the children and young people at later dates. Furthermore, children and young people were observed singing to each other and enjoying sensory stories as a group before sitting down for their evening meal, which is shared and enjoyed collectively. Most children and young people benefit from attending a full-time education provision and are making excellent progress with their individual targets and goals. Children and young people receive additional help and support from the staff team in school, which provides continuity of care and routines. Furthermore, the provider’s medical staff team offers additional training for escorts and taxi drivers to ensure that children’s and young people’s health needs are consistently met as

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Outstanding

and when this is required. In addition, the manager is proactive in seeking out suitable early year’s education for all young children. While the manager has spent a great deal of time and effort in identifying suitable local community resources and a suitable transition plan to facilitate this, unfortunately due to constraints outside of her control no firm plans have yet to be finalised in regards to this.

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Outstanding

Children and young people are protected as staff have a good understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. All staff complete safeguarding training and receive regular refresher training as and when this is required. Staff are clear about the home’s whistleblowing policy and speak assertively about this. As a result, staff have an excellent level of awareness and understanding of the processes that they must implement when disclosures are made or any safeguarding concerns are identified and they respond to these suitably and quickly. Staff are highly committed and have an intrinsic understanding of each child’s and young person’s specific and complex health needs, as staff fully understand and systematically follow the detailed and comprehensive care plans and risk assessments. Children’s and young people’s care planning is meticulous and is highly personalised. Their risks and vulnerabilities are continuously assessed and

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Outstanding

fully recorded in their risk management plans. Information in these plans is routinely shared during daily handovers, supervisions and team meetings to ensure that staff are fully equipped to promote children’s and young people’s safety. The procedures for managing any complaints or allegations are robust. The manager deals with any allegations and complaints made against the home quickly and thoroughly. Any issues which are brought to her attention are taken seriously and are investigated methodically and effectively by the manager. The designated officer said, ‘The manager always follows the procedures. They really are appropriate in the way that they respond to any concerns. The manager always waits for me before she responds to anything. She runs everything past us. This is a really good service.’ The recruitment, selection, training and monitoring process for new staff is thorough and effective in keeping children and young people safe. The manager

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Outstanding

and leaders have attended training in regards to safer recruitment practice. This practice ensures that only those staff who are safe and suitable to work alongside vulnerable children and young people do so. Furthermore, the management team carefully and routinely scrutinises the skills and competencies of all the staff to ensure that they can safely and systematically meet the individual and complex and diverse needs of all the children and young people. As such, children’s and young people’s safety and well-being are promoted. Children, young people and staff are kept safe as regular health and safety checks of the premises are carried out by the manager and staff. This, alongside the annual gas, electrical and fire safety checks and the annual reviews of the specialist equipment within the home and motor vehicles, aids in keeping everybody safe and protected.

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Outstanding

The home is managed remarkably well by a suitably qualified and experienced manager who has been registered with Ofsted since November 2013. The registered manager and her team consistently demonstrate a very strong child- centred approach in their delivery of care. They are all committed in their delivery of exceptional care practice tailored to meet the individual and complex needs to all children and young people. The effectiveness of this highly-specialised care, support and dedication is evident in the excellent progress that children and young people are making. Children and young people are cared for by a suitable number of staff who are trained and compassionate about improving the life chances and experiences for all children and young people. Staff provide children and young people with a high level of specialist care and support and work effectively as a team to ensure that children and young people are happy, make progress and are kept safe. The

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Outstanding

manager and leaders support the staff team well as they ensure that the staff are suitably trained, supported and experienced to deliver a highly individualised standard of care. Most staff have the required qualifications and suitable plans are in place to ensure that newer members of the team achieve this within the required time frame. Children’s and young people’s records are of a high quality and provide a good insight into their individual and diverse needs. Information is stored securely and shared appropriately with children, young people, their families and stakeholders to ensure that individual confidentially is maintained. The one requirement in regards to the statement of purpose being shared with Ofsted following any revisions has now been addressed suitably. The two recommendations in relation to the supervision of new staff being completed in line with the commitments identified with the statement of purpose and ensuring that

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Outstanding

suitable supervision arrangements are in place for the clinical staff have now been suitably addressed. This ensures that vulnerable children and young people are kept safe, as all staff are appropriately supported and monitored to deliver a high standard of safe care and support. The statement of purpose gives a good account of the aims and objectives of the home. This document is shared with children’s and young people’s families and their placing authorities so that they are aware of the care and support that their children and young people will receive. However, this document has not been updated to include the staffing details of those staff who are presently being used from the other children’s homes that the provider owns. Sufficient internal and external quality assurance process ensures that the manager is aware of the children’s and young people’s progress and focuses her on areas for continued developed. Independent visits are routinely carried out by an

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Outstanding

independent person. However, these visits do not systematically support the manager in identifying further areas for continued improvement. Even so, the manager does take the time to consider and reflect upon these visits and reports and has identified her own action plans from these to ensure that they can continue to improve the home and experiences and lives of all children and young people.

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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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