Children's Home, Residential special school run by Wandsworth Borough Council in Wandsworth

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness. Young people benefit from highly individualised care delivered by caring staff who display a very good understanding of their communication needs. Staff are gentle and calm in their interaction with young people. Young people use a community council to express their collective views and take part in influencing and steering the home. At the meeting attended by the inspectors, young people confirmed that they had looked at the new building and knew their bedrooms, prepared time capsules, helped friends, arranged skating, discussed what being a healthy school could mean and put forward newsletter contributions. Young people, including those with more complex communication needs, have a heard and effective voice. This ensures that no young person is limited by their ability to communicate in

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

expressing their views and wishes. Half of the young people are about to move from dated accommodation in the manor house into new, purpose-built units of a very high quality. This transition is being managed in a thoughtful, proactive and sensitive manner. This has included an official celebratory opening, with parents and carers included. Young people have been well prepared and are excited about this transition. The new accommodation will provide a more understandable and accessible living environment for young people. Monitoring and supervision will be easier and there will also be increased opportunity to develop independent living skills in the spacious kitchens.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Safeguarding is comprehensive, and includes every staff member being responsible and accountable. Staff’s health and well-being are very well promoted. Staff and managers have built effective partnerships with placing authorities and the designated safeguarding officer. This promotes effective safeguarding. Staff closely supervise young people so that they do not go missing. Staff are able to demonstrate sound knowledge of the missing from home policy, as well as their roles and responsibilities. Training, on occasion, falls below the standard that is

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

good practice. Some staff’s safeguarding refresher training is overdue, although they have completed training on specific areas including sexual exploitation, radicalisation and e-safety. Also, there is no standalone safeguarding course on the particular vulnerabilities of children with disabilities. These shortfalls mean that staff may not have a full range of opportunities to reflect on young people’s safety. The home has a very clear and refined policy and approach to all levels of restrictive practice within the home, including restraint, as described in the children’s homes regulations. While practice is sound and generally within requirements, this is not the case with records. Current recording practice is incomplete and unclear, and makes effective monitoring difficult. There is no clear record of what is regarded as the agreed and planned restrictive measures that are required for the day-to-day routines of each child/young person as a consequence

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

of their impairment or disability. The recording of these interventions does not consistently comply with regulatory requirements and this was being addressed by managers at the time of the visit. New and more effective ways of gathering and analysing behavioural data to improve practice and to measure outcomes are being developed. There is an ongoing commitment by leaders and managers to reduce restrictive practices in the home to allow young people the maximum freedom to experience their environment. The leadership at the home is visionary and ambitious to improve the quality of care and the standards of practice, also to lead and innovate in the field, and to share developments with other stakeholders. Leaders and managers place a high priority on effective partnership working with external agencies and have recently created a position of external liaison coordinator to deal specifically with professionals for young people looked after. This has resulted in improved

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

communication and the further development of positive relationships. No requirements or recommendations were made at the last inspection visit. One requirement and three recommendations have been made as a result of this inspection. The independent visitor works closely and exceptionally productively with the manager. As a result, areas for development are objectively identified, and development plans and actions are promptly put in place by the manager. This ensures a rigorous and robust approach to quality assurance to improve the home and services provided.

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Information about this children's home

This service is a residential special school, registered as a children's home to care for up to 52 children on a weekly, termly or 52-week basis. It is operated by a local authority. The home is registered to accommodate children with a learning disability, including those on the autistic spectrum and with communication and interaction difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/03/2016 Interim Sustained Effectiveness

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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 manager must ensure that incidents of restraint are properly and fully recorded. (Regulation 35(3)) 14/10/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  That the planned and agreed restraints that are necessary for the day-to-day routines of a child/young person's and that arise from their impairment or disability are recorded in their relevant plans. (’Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.43)

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Recommendations

 That the home’s behaviour management policy and statement of purpose be reviewed and amended where necessary to address the above practice. (’Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 47, paragraph 9.44)

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Recommendations

 Staff need the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. The registered person should ensure that skills in safeguarding are gained, refreshed and recorded in the home’s workforce plan.

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Recommendations

This should include refresher training, as well as specific training covering the vulnerabilities of children with disabilities. (’Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and ’Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’ .

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Information about this inspection

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, 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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