Children's home run by London Borough of Waltham Forest in Waltham Forest

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:

 Children enjoy their short breaks. One said that the home is ‘safe, inclusive, personal’. Staff want to give children a good experience.  The home provides a vital resource for children with disabilities and their families.  The manager and staff received training and are making good progress in working to the regulations and quality standards.  Staff focus on meeting children’s individual needs.  A professional said that the manager and team leaders are ‘receptive to change, new ideas [and] open to suggestions’.  Staff keep children safe inside and out of the home. Staff recruitment is robust.  Staff receive training to meet children’s complex health needs. This enables some to keep using the service when their health needs become more complex.  Arrangements for medication are sound.

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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 guide is provided in an accessible format. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  Ensure that there is a workforce development plan that can fulfil the requirements of the statement of purpose. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  Ensure that staff continually assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. This is with specific reference to including further detail in risk assessments that address the specifics of each proposed activity. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  Support children to understand how to build friendships with other children. This is with specific reference to those children with more complex needs and communication difficulties. (The Guide to the Quality Standards, page 38, paragraph 8.7)

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Information about this children's home

This local authority-managed short-break home provides a service for up to eight children who have a learning and/or physical disability.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

06/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Children enjoy their short breaks. They appear comfortable and relaxed in the home, moving round with ease. As far as possible, they choose their bedrooms. For some children, gaining the confidence to stay away from their families overnight is significant progress. Some may not want to stay initially. However, in many cases this changes, until they are positively excited about attending. A parent said that their child ‘started with after-school visits, progressed to overnights [and] settled really well’. Some children’s behaviour is less challenging when they stay. They become familiar with the home, staff and routines. This, and firm boundaries, helps them to feel more secure. They respond well to praise and rewards. Children have opportunities to become more independent. They are encouraged to do things for themselves, for example fetching clothing and Oyster cards before travelling on public transport. They help staff with the usual household chores,

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Good

such as clearing tables and washing up after meals. It is positive that children assist staff in the kitchen and some parents are impressed with the skills they develop and then use when they are home. A suggestion from parents is that children with more complex needs have more opportunities to develop independence skills. Children experience a good range of activities on the premises. Equipment and facilities that suit their needs, such as sensory toys and a soft playroom, are available to them. They take part in creative and cultural activities, such as playing musical instruments and doing arts and crafts. They celebrate special religious and cultural events. Trips out are arranged in the local community or further afield. Staff are keen for children to try new things. A suggestion from a child is that trips and activities could be more diverse, for example linked to Black history month. Children have

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Good

opportunities to use public transport as well as using the home’s own bus to broaden their experience. Children eat together with staff. They benefit from meals prepared by cooks. Staff cater for specific dietary needs. One child said, ‘I eat Halal food only and that is provided for me.’ Staff receive training to manage children’s changing dietary and health needs to ensure that they can continue to experience the service. Judgement grade

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Good

Those children and parents who completed surveys say that children feel safe inside and outside of the home at all times. Incidents are low. Challenging behaviour is managed well and restraint used infrequently. There is good oversight of the use of restraint to make sure that it is appropriate, safe and used only to protect children or adults. Staff help to prepare children for their short break in the home. For example, staff visit them at school to learn how school staff manage their needs and their behaviour. This informs care planning when children are admitted. Matching for each overnight stay then helps to ensure that children with similar needs stay together. Some parents are pleased that their children can stay at the same time as their friends. Staff maintain the building safely. Regular checks and tests of fire equipment and systems help to promote fire safety. Children take part in fire drills so that they are

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Good

prepared to evacuate the premises safely in any emergency. A parent said, ‘The environment is safe for my child.’ Another commented, ‘Staff are well trained to deal with differing needs of children, ensuring health and safety.’ The recruitment of staff is thorough and helps ensure that only suitable adults work with vulnerable children. Management ensures that all checks required by regulation are made before new employees start to work in the home. Staff have a good understanding of safeguarding in relation to children with disabilities and they protect the children in their care. Staff receive supervision and appraisal and there are regular team meetings. This assists their professional development. One staff member said, ‘My supervision helps me to improve. It also helps me to better myself and through supervision I am able to support the children better.’ Monitoring is effective and helps the service develop. An independent person visits

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Good

the home each month to check what goes on. Reports of their visits are thorough. These include interviews with night staff and parents and observations of staff working with children to inform their views on children’s safety. They make useful recommendations to improve practice and children’s experiences. Similarly, the registered manager monitors what goes on in the home and writes six-monthly reviews. Staff complete risk assessments for each activity that children take part in to help reduce risk. However, these do not address each activity in sufficient detail. Due to close staff supervision, no children have gone missing while on outings, despite some being at high risk of doing so. Because staff keep the building secure, no children have gone missing from the home. The local authority arranges contact meetings in part of the building. During the inspection, some family members entered the home without the contact supervisor. Staff managed this

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Good

situation well and children were not at risk. The registered manager took immediate steps to prevent this from happening again. The local authority is reviewing the suitability of having contact inside the building.

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Requires improvement

Management has not fully met two recommendations from two previous inspections. This report repeats these recommendations. While children are now provided with a pictorial guide to the home, which includes details of how to contact the children’s commissioner and access advocacy support, this is quite complex in places. Staff say that progress in compiling a very simple guide in picture exchange communication system (PECS) has been hampered due to technical difficulties. Nevertheless, progress in providing a guide that the majority of children can understand is too slow. The registered manager has compiled a workforce development plan, but this does not include all parts of the quality standard. For example, staff training in other places of work is not included, so this makes it difficult to see when refresher training is due. Management met the two requirements made at the last inspection. Staff now

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Requires improvement

record children’s views following any incident of restraint. Children’s files show some improvement. Training given to staff has resulted in better order. An audit of each file gives key workers clear directions about what they need to obtain in order to have full information about each child. Most parents say that communication is good. One said, ‘The staff always update me on anything I need to know, whether my child is in their care or not.’ A few parents and professionals say that the consistency of communication from staff could improve, for example between staff on shift from one day to the next and in reporting to families verbally and in writing what children have done during their stay. The registered manager is aware of their concerns. Decoration and furnishing are reasonable although in need of brightening in some areas. Some staff feel frustrated that repairs and redecoration are not completed

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Requires improvement

more quickly, for example repair to the seated swing. Simply furnished bedrooms and bathrooms with adaptations are suitable for children with physical disabilities. Some communal areas are very busy in terms of wall decoration and consequently may be over stimulating for the needs of autistic children. There are plans for redecoration, but it is not possible at the moment, due to the busy summer period when the building is in constant use. The registered manager has been in post for over two years. He has appropriate experience and a suitable qualification and is working towards achieving a level 5 qualification. He and the staff fulfil the aims of the home’s statement of purpose. An established, diverse staff team provides steady support to children. Some staff have worked at the home for many years and there is low staff turnover. Use is made of regular agency staff to cover sickness and absence, which has been

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Requires improvement

relatively high lately. This helps to ensure that adults who know the children’s needs well care for them. Some of the staff show passion and commitment to the children in their care. They want the best for each child and want to make a positive difference to their lives. They work hard to help them to have new experiences and make progress. Some staff work effectively with parents to support them in their care of their children, often going over and above what is required. This helps to improve children’s outcomes and cements positive relationships with children and their families. A parent said that the staff are ‘generally friendly and look after the children well and they therefore enjoy the experience’. A few parents find that ‘some staff are more willing than others to take children out into the community’ and that some ‘are more active than others and are more willing to ensure that children are more active’.

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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 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 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 whom 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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