Children's Home run by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in Tameside

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:

 Young people are happy in the home. They are helped and supported by a close bond with proactive key staff. This ensures that young people remain settled, they make progress and their behaviour is managed well.  The quality of relationships between young people and staff is significantly strong. Young people benefit from focused key working sessions, which enable them to reflect and build on their resilience.  Young people are supported well and their physical health needs are met. Staff maintain links with external professionals, ensuring that relevant support services are in place to address young people’s emotional, social and psychological well-being.  Most young people attend and engage in education. All young people make progress within their individual capabilities. Staff have good relationships with schools, colleges and local businesses. This ensures that all young people have education provision in place for the start of the new term.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The introduction of new placement plans encourages young people to share their views, wishes and feelings. This positive initiative encourages young people to participate in their care and keeps them at the centre of staff’s practice.  Young people are taking on more responsibility for themselves and learning to be more independent. They are involved in their plans for the future and know they will only move on once all necessary suitable arrangements are in place.  Risk-taking behaviours are well managed and have significantly reduced. There are clear risk management plans, which are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect changes in young people’s needs. Young people feel safe in the home.  The management team and staff demonstrate a good knowledge of safeguarding practice. Regular training, research and reflective practice on local and national protocols support staff to feel confident in protecting

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The children's home provision is good because:

young people.  The home is evolving during a period of change, with a permanent new manager and practice manager now in place. Staff have responded to this change positively and are working hard to embed new systems and consistent practice. The management team is strong and committed to ensuring that practice remains focused on the needs and outcomes of individual young people.

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Statutory requirement

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 with 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:

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to— (i) meet the needs of each child; and (ii) enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home; (Regulation 6(2)(C)) 30/09/2016

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Recommendation

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Records must be kept detailing all individual incidents when children go missing from the home (regulation 36 (schedule 3(14)). This information should be shared with the placing authority and, where appropriate, with the child's parents. Evaluation of missing incidents should be undertaken to identify any gaps in training, skills or knowledge for staff or to record and retain evidence of what worked well. This evaluation should inform the review of the quality of care. (‘Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, pages 45-46, paragraph 9.31).

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Information about this children's home

 The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for three young people who have emotional and/or learning difficulties.  The home is operated by the local authority.  As outlined in the home’s ‘statement of purpose’ document, the home aims to offer a secure and safe environment where young people may live and be assisted to reach their full potential until they are either ready to live independently, return home, live within an alternative family or move to an alternative placement in line with their assessed needs.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

29/02/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

26/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

Young people are happy in the home and they have excellent strong and secure attachments with staff. Over time, this has allowed young people to make significant progress in all areas of their development. Young people are comfortable and settled, have lived in the home for some considerable time and have a good sense of belonging. They are positive about their experiences and progress in the home. They said, ‘It’s good here, all I need or want to do I can, and they (staff) help me all of the time’, and ‘Being here has helped me change my ways.’

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Good

Young people benefit from supportive and caring relationships with staff. Staff continually ask for young people’s feedback through keyworker sessions and residential meetings. This ensures that young people are able to express how they feel, knowing they will be listened to. Young people are confident that staff will listen to them and act on their concerns. Consultation and feedback about the services that the home provides are regularly obtained from professionals and families.

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Good

An independent reviewing officer said, ‘I think the staff team work very well together to support the young people and are very responsive to their needs. The young people always seem to have very positive relationships with staff. The home is very welcoming to visitors and encourage the young people's family members to be fully involved and fully informed and consulted.’

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Good

Young people lead healthy lifestyles. They do not engage in habits that may lead to poor health in the future. They have a healthy, balanced diet and staff make a note of what they eat so that they have a clear sense of the nutritional value of their overall diet. This allows them to have the odd unhealthy treat and still be healthy. Young people’s physical health is catered for by local services and staff are prompt at ensuring that young people have the necessary appointments to address any minor ailments. Staff accompany young people to their appointments and follow robust procedures to ensure that any medication prescribed for them is safely stored, administered and recorded.

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Good

Young people’s social, psychological and emotional health needs are met through partnership working between staff and specialist agencies. Access to counselling, cognitive behavioural therapy, child and adolescent mental health services and local support groups provide young people with an understanding and strategy to deal with any of their identified issues. Staff are persistent and supportive, encouraging young people to engage in education and individualised daily plans. They source varied, purposeful activities and alternative provision for those not engaging in full-time education. They make requests for review when young people are not progressing with their education. Staff have good and effective relationships with education providers and the virtual school head. These arrangements support staff when working with those young people who have lacked the motivation to engage in education. Overseen by the

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Good

management team, young people are receiving the services and support as outlined in their education, health and care plans. All young people have education provision in place for the start of the new term in September 2016.

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Good

Care planning is specific to individual young people and the staff team knows them well. The management team has introduced new placement care plans. These are now embedded in practice. This initiative places the focus on the young person at the centre of planning, setting goals and monitoring outcomes. Young people are encouraged to contribute to their plans. This allows them to think about risks, behaviours and their day-to-day arrangements, and they can express what they feel is important to them.

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Good

Young people are able to develop and sustain friendships with their peers. They take part in activities together inside and outside the home. They have enjoyed holidays abroad and are looking forward to a holiday in Salou over the summer holidays. They are afforded the same opportunities as those of their peers.

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Good

Contact with families and friends is promoted in each young person’s plan and risk assessment. Staff request reviews of these arrangements as and when required. Staff maintain positive working relationships with families and involve them in many aspects of the services that the home provides. Staff know young people’s families well. Young people are able to enjoy Staying overnight with family and friends.

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Good

Support is available for young people to learn skills in preparation for living independently. One young person said he is able to manage a budget, prepare menus, go shopping and cook his own meals. He feels he can manage this. Young people also have help to do their own laundry and keep their rooms tidy. Learning life skills helps prepare young people for leaving the home and helps them to feel a sense of achievement and self-worth. Considered transition planning ensures that the support is there for young people and they will only move on to their next placement once all necessary arrangements have been made and agreed. These agreements also include outreach packages so that young people, for a time, can continue to be supported by the staff in this home.

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Good

The home is situated within a local community and provides young people with an experience as close to family living as possible. Most of the decor and furnishings are in a good condition and there are plenty of pictures showing how young people have experienced and enjoyed their time in the home. The kitchen and upstairs bathroom are looking worn. These areas need to be brought up to a better standard. The manager and staff confirm that funding has been agreed to carry out this work.

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Good

Young people’s risk assessments have been updated and provide detailed information on the risks present and the actions that staff should take to protect young people. The home’s approach focuses on risk reduction while ensuring that young people are able to take age-related risks and develop their independence. Staff take their responsibility to safeguard young people extremely seriously.

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Good

There is a good understanding of safeguarding, and staff undergo relevant training in a wide range of topics. Training deepens their awareness of online grooming and bullying, child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. The attendance of leaders and managers at the missing from home and safeguarding panels increase their awareness of pertinent issues known in the local area. This information is shared among the staff team, and staff demonstrate a sound knowledge of the procedures they will follow should young people need to be safeguarded.

p.8

Good

Young people feel safe. Trusting relationships with the staff help young people to talk about issues they are worried about. Young people know how to make a complaint and they share their worries and anxieties with key trusted adults. Any concerns or complaints raised by them or from anyone in the local community are robustly investigated, reported, recorded and recorded, and complainants are told of the outcomes and action taken in response. Young people report that they do not feel intimidated or bullied in the home, and that some occasional name-calling is quickly responded to by staff.

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Good

When conflict happens between young people, staff intervene quickly and use restorative practices appropriately to improve relationships within the home. This increases young people’s sense of personal responsibility and allows them to manage their behaviour better, reducing any impact it may have on others. The home is settled and restraint has never been used. Staff respond to young people through negotiation, agree incentives and meet them halfway, allowing suitable arrangements to be in place, which in turn, has significantly reduced their missing from home incidents.

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Good

When young people have been absent or missing from home, staff actively look for them. They contact known addresses and work closely with the local police liaison officer responsible for protecting young people. Such incidents have significantly reduced as young people take on the message to ‘keep in touch’ and are given some degree of flexibility in their return times to the home. This is agreed through the incentive schemes, which young people respond well to. The records completed when young people are absent or missing are in a change process are not consistently completed by staff. As a result, records are not always kept detailing all individual incidents when young people go missing from the home.

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Good

The incentive scheme of rewards and praise for positive behaviour is effective. Young people learn to manage their behaviour, promoting their self-esteem and a sense of progress. When staff respond to negative behaviour, for example with a consequence for a repair to damaged property or young people misspending money, these are proportionate, fair and agreed by the young people.

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Good

Staff are given designated responsibilities and complete and record regular health and safety checks. This means that any identified hazard is rectified, promoting a safe environment for all. Young people participate in fire evacuations, further enhancing their safety. All visitors to the home are required to show their identity, sign in and are not left unsupervised with young people.

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Good

The management team ensures that appropriate recruitment practices are in place. Staff recruitment files include all the necessary checks to assess the suitability of staff to work with young people. This prevents unsuitable people from having contact with the young people.

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Good

The management team and staff continue to be vigilant even though there are no concerns about the young people currently placed. They educate and discuss potential situations which could arise while young people are away from the home. They act as any reasonable parent would to minimise the risk to young people and ensure that they remain safe.

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Good

On 19 October2015, the practice manager resumed his full-time responsibilities in this home. He was joined on 19 April 2016 by a permanent manager who had been a registered manager previously. She successfully passed her interview with Ofsted to be the registered manager of this home on 14 June 2016. The home has evolved during this period of change and together they have implemented new systems and processes to improve how practice remains focused on the needs and outcomes of individual young people.

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Good

The management team has a wealth of experience of working with young people and in managing and supporting staff. Both managers are qualified. Staff have responded to this change positively and are working hard to embed new and consistent practice.

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Good

As a result, the needs of all the young people continue to be prioritised and they are continuing to make very good progress in all areas of their development. These new systems clearly evidence the positive journey young people have made from their starting point in the home. Information, which young people contribute to, has been pulled together, and is more concise and easily accessible to all staff in the home. These systems are fully understood by staff who use young people’s care plans and other records in the home on a daily basis. Staff confirm that they welcome these changes and that these have had a positive outcome on how they keep and record information about young people.

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Good

The management team fully understands the strengths of the home and are tackling any areas of weakness through clear and detailed development plans. Although this work is ongoing, there has been no impact on the quality of care and support provided to young people.

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Good

The requirement made at the last inspection has been met now that the home has a permanent registered manager in post. The recommendation from the last inspection has also been met. The office has now been relocated and fitted with new furniture downstairs. This now means that appropriate facilities are provided to staff members who sleep in the home overnight, because what used to be the office upstairs is now a staff sleep-in room.

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Good

There are sufficient staff in the home and they are qualified and have worked in the home for some considerable time. This provides young people with consistency and stability in their lives. Collectively, staff say that they feel supported in the work they undertake with young people. Staff receive regular and effective supervision and also attend a reflective team meeting, where they feel comfortable to express themselves and feel listened to by the management team. Staff practice is appraised, and objectives, key responsibilities and future training needs are identified and met.

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Good

The statement of purpose document and children’s booklet have been updated and reviewed to reflect the recent changes in the management of the home. All staff fully understand, and demonstrate well how they understand, the ethos of the home and what it is they do to ensure that young people’s needs are met.

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Good

The management team sets high standards for the staff team. It drives forward the progress of young people through oversight of all areas of their development. Young people’s records are well maintained. The registered manager reviews and audits the young people’s care and placement plans. She identifies shortfalls in areas of practice and makes sure that these are rectified. This ensures that young people’s welfare needs are constantly being met.

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Good

External monitoring visits by an independent person provide a good insight into the quality of care, the conduct of the home and how young people are safeguarded. Those visiting are challenging and value the views of young people, their families, staff and external professionals. They help the registered manager and her staff team to continually strive for improvement to the service provided for young people.

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Good

Communication between the management team, staff and professionals is prioritised in the home. Staff have access to the local authority’s information recording system. One professional commented ‘We are fully informed of the welfare and progress of all of the young people; this home provides a stable and supportive service to our 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’. 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

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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 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

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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