Children's home SC485907

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 The staff and manager provide a child-centred service, set up specifically to meet the child’s unique needs in a purpose-designed environment.  There is consistency within the staff that contributes to good relationships between them and the child.  Feedback from external professionals is consistently very positive about the high quality of care provided in the home.  The child is making progress socially, academically and in his development of independence skills.  The staff and manager enable positive contact to take place between the child and his family. This helps him to maintain valued links with people who are significant to him.  The manager and staff approach challenging behaviour skilfully, without the use of restraint.  The staff and manager take a balanced view towards risk, enabling the child to experience appropriate socialisation and develop accordingly.  Most case records are of a high quality.

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

 There are strong and effective internal monitoring arrangements that lead to improvement in the care provided.  Staff training and supervision are thorough and consistent. This ensures that the child benefits from care given by skilled adults.  The leadership and management of the home are outstanding. There is a culture of high aspiration. The manager is highly ambitious for the child and leads the staff team by example.

p.3

Information about this children’s home

This home provides one placement for one child with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private organisation owns and operates this setting. 

p.4

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

p.4

Recent inspection history

24/11/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

p.4

Good

This is a good service with outstanding features. The staff and management team demonstrate clear commitment to the child. They invest in his well-being, emotionally and professionally. As a result, decisions are consistently child centred. The child is encouraged and supported to build good relationships with the staff. The staffing stability reinforces this, providing consistency and dependability. Consequently, the core staff know the child well, and vice versa. The child has just finished school. He has recently taken exams and he has a place in college in September. The staff have a good knowledge of his educational needs and understand the level he is working at. This understanding promotes effective liaison with external professionals to provide tailored support that enables the child to make significant progress, both academically and socially. The staff and management team are proactive in supporting the child to address

p.5

Good

his health needs. They ensure that he attends routine and specialist health appointments and assessments. This is enabling medical interventions to address his long-standing needs. The child spends time with staff on a daily basis. He has opportunities to comment on the care he receives and he has access to an advocate. He says that he knows how to comment or complain. He feels able to speak to the staff, the manager or the senior managers within the organisation. The independent visitor sees him regularly. Senior managers provide a visible presence in the home. As a result, the child has a number of ways to raise concerns, which give him additional safeguards. The child has access to a good range of leisure opportunities as well as a good range of internal resources. He has recently been on a holiday. This gave him the opportunity to pursue his interests, such as fishing and skating, as well as to experience new activities.

p.5

Good

Considerable work is taking place to support the child to develop his independence skills. He identifies this as an area of significant progress, stating: ‘I have made quite a bit of progress. I feel I am much more independent. I am more independent because of the help of the staff.’ Social workers also comment positively on this. There are plans to prepare him further for independence. These will give the child the opportunity to develop the skills he will need when he moves on from the home. The staff support the child’s contact with his family and they facilitate transport to enable this to take place. An independent reviewing officer commented: ‘I have found them to be very, very supportive in maintaining contact with his family.’ Consequently, the child is maintaining and developing important personal relationships with those people who are significant to him.

p.5

Good

The staff work hard to support the child to become increasingly safe. The efforts of the staff and the management team have lessened the challenges that the child experiences. A social work manager said: ‘Given the pattern of his behaviour, his trajectory in care would have been far worse in other placements. There would have been more moves and more criminalisation. He now has a degree of insight into his behaviour and that is because of the work they do with him.’ The child has strong relationships with the staff. He communicates well with them and has regular one-to-one sessions. These sessions include discussions around issues that worry the child. The staff invest time and emotion in supporting him and seek to understand why difficult behaviours occur, rather than simply reacting to them. This helps him to feel safe in the home. The child has a pathway plan in place that reflects his individual needs. A thorough

p.6

Good

risk assessment is also in place. The staff and management team have liaised with external professionals to complete this. The management team is clear about the need for the child to be able to take risks, and the potential negative impact of not enabling him to do so. They are realistic about the challenges that this approach brings. Staff review arrangements with multi-agency partners as the staff’s knowledge of the risks and behaviours grows. A social worker said: ‘They recognise the risks very well and they have worked really well with it. They know the risk he poses but try to manage this in such a way as to support his independence. I am involved.’ This approach gives the child the opportunity to develop his self- awareness and his ability to socialise. There has been an increase in the level of police involvement with the child since the last inspection, culminating in the child’s arrest and an overnight stay in a

p.6

Good

police station. The staff and managers do not take the decision lightly to involve the police. There are concerted efforts to avoid criminalisation. When the police are involved, this is proportionate and designed to support the child to understand the consequences of serious behaviours. Staff spend time with the child to make sure that he understands why the intervention is necessary. The child said: ‘They talk to me about this afterwards. They help me understand.’ The staff ensure that, even when there is a need to involve the police, they maintain strong relationships with the child. The staff use de-escalation techniques to manage behaviour. There have been no incidents of missing from care. There have been no incidents of restraint since the last inspection. This is a significant achievement. The manager has identified, through his internal monitoring, the need to understand some incidents more

p.6

Good

clearly and he has put recording systems in place to manage this.

p.7

Outstanding

A permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager manages the home effectively and efficiently. He has been in post since the home opened. He demonstrates a commitment to continuing professional development, maintaining an awareness of up-to-date research. He is highly ambitious for the child and leads the staff team by example. The staff report that he is supportive and committed to improving the quality of care that the home provides. He has ensured that the recommendation made at the last inspection has been fully met. The management team has a thorough understanding of its strengths and the areas for development within the home. Internal monitoring is robust, with routine managerial oversight and feedback in key reports, incident forms and documentation. Senior managers and the responsible individual are active in the day-to-day running of the home. They have an excellent understanding of the

p.7

Outstanding

child’s needs, experiences and progress. The result is highly effective bespoke care. The staff and the management team actively participate in reviews of the child’s care. They ensure that the child himself is involved. The child’s independent reviewing officer said: ‘They are very good to work with and they are forward planning. They really focus on him. They support and prepare him.’ The staff and manager write comprehensive reports in advance of reviews. This supports the wider professional network to monitor progress and ensure a high-quality service for the child. A staff team of four full-time carers support the child. They have all been in post since the service opened. This provides consistency and stability for the child. When necessary, the staff ratios are supplemented by those from the wider organisation. External professionals provide highly positive feedback. The independent reviewing officer, social worker and social work manager are all very pleased with the quality

p.7

Outstanding

of service that the staff and manager provide. One commented: ‘As an organisation we think highly of them. They are providing the service we want and need them to provide. He [the child] has done really well there, in large part due to the efforts they have made.’ When issues arise, the staff and the manager are proactive at addressing them. An independent reviewing officer said: ‘As far as the staff are concerned, they are straight on to the department to have planning meetings and to have the professionals involved. There is an open-door policy and the social worker can visit any time.’ The manager challenges professionals when he perceives that their practice is falling short of expectations, or when he feels that another approach may be necessary. As a result, the timings of significant medical interventions have changed, resulting in a timescale that is more suited to the child’s individual needs.

p.7

Outstanding

The staff receive regular, frequent supervision that is comprehensively recorded. In supervisions, the emotional well-being of the staff is considered as well as the needs and experiences of the child. Regular team meetings take place. These are comprehensive and clearly recorded. The staff access a wide range of training. Recent training includes information on child sexual exploitation, managing self- harm and bullying. All the staff have up-to-date first aid and medication training, fire safety and physical intervention training, and are appropriately qualified. In addition, the staff receive training in dyadic developmental psychotherapy. This thorough approach to training and staff development provides them with an excellent skills and knowledge base with which to work effectively with the child. The quality of records is high and individual case records are detailed. This provides a good overview of the day-to-day experiences of the child and he is

p.8

Outstanding

encouraged to add his views to the records. The quality of the records will assist the child to make sense of the care he receives, should he wish to access them now or in the future. The manager notifies Ofsted of serious incidents. These notifications are comprehensive and the manager supplements them with updates as necessary. This supports Ofsted to monitor and regulate the service.

p.8

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.

p.9

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

p.9

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.9

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

p.10

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 .

p.10

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,

p.11

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

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

p.11