Children's Home, Residential special school run by Acorn Norfolk Limited in Norfolk

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 Risk assessments do not fully consider known risks to children. This does not provide strong enough guidance to staff to support consistent safe care.  Debriefs are not consistently happening after physical interventions take place. This does not ensure a robust enough reflection of incidents.  Monitoring checks do not identify gaps in records, such as supervision, restraint and health and safety checks. Where monitoring does identify an issue, managers do not consistently take appropriate action to address it.  The manager has failed to notify Ofsted of a significant incident. This does not enable Ofsted to have an informed overview of the service provided or to ensure robust oversight of children‟s safety.  Not all eligible staff hold a level 3 qualification relevant to their role as required in regulation.  The staff do not routinely receive training in safeguarding children with disabilities, despite the home providing care and accommodation for

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

children with disabilities. This does not provide staff with a full knowledge and understanding of safeguarding concerns pertinent to these children.  The location risk assessment does not fully consider the risks that the location poses, nor does it identify the benefits. This does not enable full consideration of risk reduction strategies or maximising of opportunities.  Supervision records are not always clear on the actions taken to address issues that the staff raise. There is a failure to demonstrate how action leads to improvement.

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The children's home strengths

 Since the last inspection, the staff and managers have made considerable progress, in a short space of time, towards meeting the identified shortfalls.  Feedback from families is good. They value the service and feel involved.  The staff support the children to understand what is happening in a personalised and child-centred way when they move on from 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

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular regard to risk management, the registered provider must ensure that staff:

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Requirement Due date

2 (a) (i) assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child's relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. 04/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the protection of children standard, with particular regard to the premises, the registered provider must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (d) the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child‟s health. This is with particular regard to ensuring that food is stored safely and that when checks reveal issues appropriate action quickly follows. 04/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

13. The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, with particular regard to ensuring all necessary action has been taken following physical interventions, the registered provider must:

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Requirement Due date

(2) (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 04/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification, the level 3 diploma in residential childcare (England) ("the level 3 31/12/2016 Diploma"), or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma by the relevant date, which in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1 April 2014, is 1 April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4) (a) (b) (5) (b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform. This is with particular regard to ensuring that staff receive training on the safeguarding of children with disabilities. (Regulation 32 (3) (b)) 31/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 48 hours of the use of the measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”) has spoken to the user about the measure and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate, and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3) (b) (i) (ii) (c)) 04/08/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4) (e)) 04/08/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure that the outcomes of supervision sessions are clearly recorded in supervision records. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.4)  Ensure that the location risk assessment review includes the identification of opportunities as well as risks presented by the home's location and strategies for managing these. ('Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards', page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Information about this children's home

The children‟s home and school is owned by a private organisation and is registered to provide accommodation for up to 40 children with learning disabilities. There is a school on site that is registered with the Department of Education to cater for children and young people aged from four to 19 years. Children live at the home for either 38 or 52 weeks a year. There are currently 18 children living at the home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

17/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Requires improvement

This home requires improvement to be good. Risk assessments, monitoring arrangements, restraint records and the training that staff receive need to improve in order to provide a good level of care for children.

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Requires improvement

While there remains much work to do, in the short period of time since the since the last inspection there has been considerable progress in the quality of care that children receive. Parents report progress, with one stating: „There has been a dramatic improvement in the last two months.‟ There is better managerial organisation and monitoring of the care that the staff provide. The staff recognise the commitment of the management team. They say that this supports them to provide effective care. One member of staff commented: „There is a much better awareness of what needs to be done to achieve the expected standards.‟

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Requires improvement

Interactions between the staff and the children are positive. The children are comfortable in the presence of staff and vice versa. During the inspection, the children were excited to tell the staff about their experiences and the staff were keen to listen. The staff seek the views of the children who use the service. The children have access to people independent of the staff team, and they also seek the children‟s views. During a recent visit by an independent person, a child said: „You get listened to.‟ These positive interactions convey the message to the children that their experiences are important, and increase the likelihood that they will share concerns or worries with staff or independent people should they arise.

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Requires improvement

The communication needs of the children vary. The staff adapt information to make it more accessible. For example, the last Ofsted inspection report is available in symbol format. The children‟s guide is also available in symbol and photographic form. This reflects the children‟s needs and enables them to understand the information about their home.

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Requires improvement

Children make progress in their health because the staff help them to attend routine and specialist appointments, with the staff helping one child to give up smoking. The managers access specialist help for children, such as liaising with mental health professionals. Other children make progress with their social skills and their behaviour. External professionals and parents recognise this social and emotional progress. A parent said: „Before, he was a boy you could not take out on an activity. Now he wants to go out, he plays outside. He has made friends for the first time.‟ Another said: „His behaviour has improved and he is more relaxed.‟ The action taken by the management team has resulted in improvements to the quality of the residential environment for children. The rooms are consistently clean and tidy. A deep clean has taken place of ovens and all of these are clean. The stained carpet has been replaced. The stairwells have had the damage and

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Requires improvement

cracks plastered and have been repainted. The overall impression is much more homely and welcoming, which helps children to feel valued.

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Requires improvement

The children say that they participate in a range of activities on a day-to-day basis. The staff encourage them to broaden their leisure horizons. One child said: „I got to try something new and really enjoyed it.‟ He now participates in this activity regularly. This reduces the risk of social isolation and develops skills and interests.

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Requires improvement

When children move on from the home, the staff work with them to prepare them for the transition. The staff created a pictorial social story for one child. This explained very clearly the move that would be taking place. This approach supports children to understand what is happening to them during these significant changes. It reduces the level of anxiety and distress that children feel. The potential for such moves to be a success increases.

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Requires improvement

Children from across the country live in the home. Families report that communication is generally effective, and comment on recent improvement in the availability of staff. One parent said: „They have worked very hard on pushing parental contact. This is particularly important for a child who is feeling rejected. He has been here for nine months and the contact is on such a good trajectory. It is amazing compared to where he was four months ago.‟ The staff inform families of the children‟s experiences in the home. Another parent said: „I get a weekly update with everything in it.‟ Parents are welcome to visit the home when they want. The ongoing communication and contact between the home and parents provides additional safeguards for children who are living away from their family homes.

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Requires improvement

The children all receive education at the on-site school, and all attend full-time. There is improvement in the dialogue between the staff in the home and the staff in the school. There is a greater understanding of one another‟s roles. Meetings now take place between the children‟s keyworkers and those working with the children in the school. As a result, there is a greater knowledge of the children‟s educational needs. A member of staff said: „He has just completed some GCSEs. He loves maths and science. He is a hard worker. He is very determined and self- motivated to get things done.‟ The staff are now in a better position to support the children to make educational progress because of the improved communication with school. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

Children‟s risk assessments are significantly better than they were at the last inspection. They are clear, easy-to-read and easy-to-use documents. They identify risks and actions required to help reduce the risks. The staff are reading and signing the assessments in a timely way. However, while much better, some risk assessments do not include full information on some areas of risk and this prevents the identification of effective action to reduce these risks. For example, one risk assessment notes that a child has a history of fire starting but does not outline any context to this history or any risk mitigation. Another does not include information concerning known risks relating to travelling in a car. Following a recent incident when a child cycled away from staff while off the school site, staff updated his individual risk assessment but they did not update the generic risk assessment for children using their cycles. While the action proposed reduces the risks for the

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Requires improvement

individual child, an opportunity has been missed to increase the safeguards for all children who the staff take cycling away from the site.

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Requires improvement

The location risk assessment is now more thorough. However, it does not take into account all issues relating to the location of the home. It does not consider how the location of the home may increase social isolation, nor does it detail the benefits of the location and accessibility of local services. This means that staff do not have a comprehensive overview of the risks and opportunities for children.

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Requires improvement

There are occasions when the staff need to use physical interventions to manage the children‟s behaviour. For significant restraints, there are in depth debriefs that enable staff to reflect upon practice and managers to understand the incident. For other interventions, this is not happening and managers do not reflect fully with staff concerned. The benefits that these discussions bring are not being realised in all incidents. In one instance, a front ground recovery hold was used with a child. When a child experiences this kind of hold, checks should take place at set intervals to ensure that they are well. While the child‟s breathing was monitored throughout the restraint, the child was not monitored afterwards, as this method of restraint requires. This is a potentially dangerous hold and internal management monitoring did not identify the gap.

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Requires improvement

There is greater precision in risk assessments in relation to e-safety. When internet usage checks are necessary, the staff now keep records to show that they take place. These checks enable staff to identify issues and address them, so reducing the risk to children of inappropriate internet use.

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Requires improvement

Processes for the management of medication are better. Following a review, there is more frequent monitoring, and clearer records. The management team makes appropriate referrals to meet children‟s individual needs, including reducing smoking and drug use, and managing suicide ideation and risk-taking behaviours. In one case, the management team has been proactive in supporting a child to access a specialist service which provides counselling, advice, information and support relating to substance abuse.

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Requires improvement

Some of the children who live in the home do go missing. Behaviour management plans provide appropriate guidance for staff. One child has gone missing from care since the last inspection. The staff and managers responded appropriately to this incident. The staff liaised with external professionals to agree a child-centred response. As a result, an in-depth discussion took place with the child without causing additional distress.

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Requires improvement

The staff are able to articulate what to do if they have a safeguarding concern. They know who to contact and are clear that they will escalate any concerns that they have. When children raise concerns, the staff react appropriately. This includes making contact with designated officers and treating concerns as complaints and responding accordingly.

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Requires improvement

A suitably experienced manager has been in post since April 2016 and she is registered with Ofsted. She holds a level 4 qualification in residential child care and a postgraduate diploma in management. She has considerable experience as both a registered manager and a senior manager overseeing a range of residential children‟s homes. She receives support from two deputy managers. They are relatively new in post and the manager now provides them with coaching. Since the last inspection, a consultant also provides additional support to the management team.

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Requires improvement

The management team has responded positively to the last inspection and the compliance notices. Significant improvements have taken place over a relatively short period. However, not all of the previous requirements are met. Requirements relating to decor, education, the use of the gates, recruitment, care planning, updating the statement of purpose and key policies, medication, the appointment of a manager, and the induction and supervision of staff are met. Those relating to risk assessments, staff training, monitoring and behaviour management records are not met. However, there is considerable progress in each of these areas in comparison to the last inspection. This has had a positive impact on the quality of care that children receive.

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Requires improvement

The management team generally notifies Ofsted when a serious incident occurs in the home. However, they did not make a notification following one recent incident. This impacts on Ofsted‟s ability to monitor the quality of the service and the safety of the children.

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Requires improvement

The staff now receive regular supervision. However, supervision records do not consistently capture what supervisors are going to do or what direction they give when staff raise issues. As a result, the records are not always clear on subsequent actions or any outcome of the discussion.

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Requires improvement

Research shows that children with a disability are particularly vulnerable to abuse. Despite this, the staff have yet to receive specific training in safeguarding children with disabilities. Some staff were able to outline some factors that contribute to increased vulnerability. However, the absence of this training within the existing induction process means that there is an increased risk that children will not benefit from new staff who have a current understanding and working knowledge of the heightened safeguarding concerns for children with disabilities.

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Requires improvement

Due to the number of new staff, not all eligible staff hold a level 3 qualification relevant to their role in accordance with regulation.

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Requires improvement

Monitoring arrangements are much better. However, there are shortfalls in identifying issues and taking the required action to improve. In one example, fridge temperatures have been consistently high with insufficient action taken to address this. A high temperature increases the risk of food poisoning.

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Requires improvement

The manager has updated the statement of purpose. The staff and the management team have a good understanding of the children. Monthly reports provide a good snapshot of how children are progressing each month. The staff report that the new management structure is providing the support to make the necessary improvements. One member of staff said: „I am now getting supervision, guidance and support. We were never going to improve until we had the right person in place. There was no-one with the underpinning knowledge. We have that now.‟ A child said: „Within the last six weeks it has definitely improved a lot. The whole management team has improved a lot.‟

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Requires improvement

Since the last inspection, 10 new staff have commenced in post. As a result, the use of agency staff, while still high, is reducing. Staff and children see this in practice. A child said: „The use of agency staff has dropped very quickly and very significantly.‟ Staff report improvement in morale after a difficult period. Existing staff say that the new staff integrate well. A new induction programme is in place to support new staff. This two-week training programme covers key elements such as first aid, fire safety and physical intervention training. It also considers generic safeguarding and behaviour management. As well as the training programme, new staff shadow shifts prior to managers deeming them competent. This promotes better care for children because managers can identify practice strengths and concerns at the outset. Feedback from families is very positive. Feedback from professionals is also mainly

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Requires improvement

positive. There are effective working relationships between the staff, the managers and the wider professional network supporting the children. This supports inter- agency working to promote children‟s well-being.

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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 that 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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