Children's Home run by Anna House Limited in Havering

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 staying or living in a homely, relaxed family atmosphere.  Safeguarding is strong. Risks to children are minimised.  Children’s health outcomes improve with good attendance at routine and more specialist health services.  Staff manage some very challenging behaviour well. This, and regular routines, helps children feel secure.  Staff recruitment is thorough. This helps ensure that adults are suitable to work with vulnerable children.  Children have warm relationships with staff, who provide them with positive role models.  Education is highly regarded. Attendance is generally good so children can make the most of their time in school.  Social workers and families report positive outcomes for children’s health, education and well-being.

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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

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, (2) in particular the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to: (g) demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on: (i) research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met. 01/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, (2) in particular the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to: (c) ensure that staff have the skills to meet the needs of each child. This relates to specific disabilities and needs such as autism. 01/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that at all times at least one person on duty at the home has a suitable first aid qualification. (Regulation 31 (2)(a)(b)) 01/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that as part of reviewing and revising where appropriate the statement of purpose (regulation 16(3)(a)) the registered person should review and update the children’s guide as necessary, and make sure children are given an explanation of any changes. With specific reference to ensuring the statement of purpose contains information on arrangements for children staying for short breaks and those staying long term and of arrangements to accommodate young adults of 18-plus. Also that the children’s guide includes the relevant phone number and address for Ofsted, and removes an irrelevant reference to whistleblowing. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.23)  Ensure that the registered person is responsible for deciding what each

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Recommendations

review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the quality standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be

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Recommendations

used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)  Make sure that the registered person has a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should: - detail the necessary management and staffing structure (including any staff commissioned to provide health and education), the experience and qualifications of staff currently working within the staffing structure and any further training required for those staff, to enable the delivery of the home’s statement of purpose  - detail the processes and agreed timescales for staff to achieve induction, probation and any core training (such as safeguarding, health and safety and mandatory qualifications) - detail the process for managing and improving poor performance - detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice (see

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Recommendations

regulation 33 (4) (b)) and keep appropriate records for staff in the home.  The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home, and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. With specific reference to ensuring that all refresher training is planned and provided when due and that staff receive training in sexualised behaviour. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated children’s home provides short breaks and long-term care for up to six children with learning and physical disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

03/03/2016 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

26/01/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Good

All children are in school placements, apart from one who lost their school placement and has been out of education for a while. However, they have a place in a new school for September. Attendance is encouraged unless children are unwell or have medical appointments. A social worker describes attendance as: ‘Very good and has improved enormously,’ since a child was placed in this home. Staff help children to make as much progress as possible, for example by helping them with homework.

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Good

Children benefit from warm relationships with staff. One staff member says, ‘I love the job.’ Some children regard staff as parent figures. Having both female and male members of staff provides children with positive role models. Established relationships with members of staff help in the management of children’s behaviour. Staff understand possible triggers to challenging behaviour and take appropriate action. They help children feel secure, with firm boundaries to guide them when their behaviour becomes challenging.

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Good

Some children have complex health needs, which staff manage very well. A social worker says the health of some children has ‘improved enormously’ as staff ensure that they attend all their specialist health appointments and receive consistent care in the home. Staff accompany children during hospital stays so that they have the reassurance of someone familiar to them who knows their needs while they are in a strange environment. Children maintain good general health. Staff register them with the required health services and ensure that they attend appointments. They also monitor their weight and height to ensure that growth is appropriate.

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Good

Children stay in touch with their families. Parents and other family members feel welcome when they visit. They are encouraged to assist in their children’s care, take part in activities and so on. This helps children keep close connections to the people they love.

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Good

There is considerable progress in how some children are reducing incidents of challenging behaviour. Staff help children to feel secure in their routines. They are encouraged to have good manners and behave well with others.

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Good

Children have choices. Staff ask them to make decisions about all aspects of daily life and respect these. Staff have an inclusive approach. They inform children about everything that is happening to them, for example the administration of medicine, so that they feel involved. Staff arrange activities to suit children’s needs based on their choices. For example, some like to go to a park for fresh air and exercise but some like just to go along for the ride. An additional minibus means that children can have even more choice about where and when they go. Activities include trips to restaurants, bowling, the cinema and zoo. A parent loves the fact that their child goes out so much during their short break.

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Good

Those who are religious attend places of worship. For example, a group of Christian children attend church on Sundays and enjoy mixing with other parishioners. Children will go on a week’s holiday at the end of August so that they can experience staying somewhere new.

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Good

Some children want to remain in the home when they become 18. They feel happy, safe and settled there and not all have liked alternative placements found for them, preferring to return to Anna House. Two young people aged 19 are living in the home until an appropriate adult provision is sourced for them.

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Good

Children are encouraged to be as independent as possible, for example taking their dishes to the sink and washing up after meals and fetching their shoes when going out. Some make considerable progress in their independence skills, for example in relation to managing their own personal care.

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Good

Staff keep children safe. None have gone missing from the home or while out on activities. Staff supervise children closely, with at least one adult allocated to each child. However, they respect children’s right to have some time alone when they wish. Careful risk assessment ensures that staff consider risks before taking children out on various activities to support children’s safety.

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Good

The building is generally well maintained and clean. Children’s rooms are personal to them and their needs. There are suitable adaptations for disabled children, for example ramps on the exits and a hoist for wheelchair users. Communal space is limited. A social worker says it’s, ‘not as large as other residential homes but is ”normal” as our own homes aren’t large.’ Regular checks and testing ensure that the premises are as safe as possible, for example against the risk of fire. One child said they: ‘like Anna House’ and, ‘I like my room.’

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Good

A robust system of staff recruitment helps protect children. Management conducts al the checks required by regulation to find out if people are suitable to work with vulnerable children.

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Good

There is an improvement to information sharing with Ofsted. Management has notified the regulator of incidents which they consider to be serious. Social workers and families say the staff and management work in partnership with them, sharing information openly. This helps everyone involved in children’s lives to work together for their benefit. A social worker describes ‘very good communication’ between the staff, management and the local authority.

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Good

A parent states that staff, ‘manage behaviour very well.’ Staff praise children’s efforts and positive behaviour. They are starting to link this with rewards for the children, such as a special trip out. Sanctions are appropriate and mostly consist of allowing children to calm their behaviour in their room for a short time. It has been necessary to restrain one child fairly frequently to protect them and staff.

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Good

The level of restraints has significantly decreased. The recording of restraints has generally improved but occasionally staff do not include sufficient detail about how they have restrained children. This limits management oversight of restraint to make sure that all methods used are appropriate.

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Requires improvement

Leadership and management requires improvement because management monitoring is not sufficient. Also, management has not yet met two requirements made at the last inspection, limiting progress in meeting regulations.

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Requires improvement

The registered manager has met one requirement to review the service. However, this is not in line with current regulation and not shared with the regulator as required. The review has not identified that a workforce development plan is not in place. As a result, management has not planned refresher training for staff and some training is overdue. Therefore, staff do not maintain skills to help them support children, such as in first aid and restraint. Management are taking urgent action to arrange refresher training.

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Requires improvement

In addition, management has not provided training in the range of disabilities children have, for example in autism. This limits staff development. The last inspection made a requirement relating to staff training. This report repeats the requirement.

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Requires improvement

Some discussion took place in a team meeting about current issues including female genital mutilation, e-safety and child sexual exploitation. However, the service is still not using a wide range of resources to enhance care practices. Management has not fully used research, training and development to develop staff confidence and competence in meeting children’s diverse needs. This report repeats the requirement to do so.

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Requires improvement

A very experienced registered manager, who has a level 4 qualification, leads this service. The staff team is relatively stable so children do experience consistency in those caring for them. Eight of the staff have the recommended minimum level 3 qualification, with three more working towards achieving this.

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Requires improvement

Staff do get other training, such as in safeguarding, medication and fire safety. This helps them to keep children safe. Management also provides more specialist training, for example in epilepsy and feeding pumps, which enables children with more complex needs to stay in the home.

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Requires improvement

Staff do receive supervision and appraisal but only some records were available at this inspection. Review of all records will take place at the interim inspection.

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Requires improvement

Monitoring by an independent visitor is reasonable. The visitor supplies Ofsted with reports of their monitoring, as required. These include making suggestions for how the home may improve.

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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 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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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