Children's home SC055357

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

 Young people experience nurturing and warmth from very good relationships with staff. They are individually supported but feel part of a cohesive group. A young person described it as, ‘like family’.  Young people are aware that staff care about them and want them to be safe and do well.  Young people have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of activities, which provide them with lots of positive experiences that improve their confidence and self-esteem.  Young people’s sense of achievement is nurtured within the home.  The animals and allotment contribute to a sense of belonging and develop a sense of empathy in the young people.  Young people develop a wide range of skills and knowledge to benefit them when they move on from the home.  Staff have excellent working relationships with other professionals and agencies, which enable young people to access a good range of opportunities and resources. In addition, this reduces their anxieties about

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

other professionals and helps them to see them as supportive.  The staff are qualified, knowledgeable professionals who understand the needs of young people who are looked after. They are highly motivated and have a strong sense of aspiration for young people. This enables young people to develop this within themselves.  There is a strong management team that monitors the work of the service effectively and uses this knowledge to adopt a proactive response when looking after young people.  Staff advocate strongly for young people in all areas of their life.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4) (b). In particular, the record should note the timescales of the supervision and include all discussions relating to young people. ('Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.3).  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc.). However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than 'institutional' impression. In particular, bathrooms that have been water damaged need to be

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Recommendations

decorated. ('Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9).  Staff must help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. Where the child is moving to live independently, this includes practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. In particular extend the range of skills in financial areas. ('Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards', page 17, paragraph 3.27).

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to look after six children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a local authority.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

15/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

04/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Outstanding

Young people living at this home are cared for and protected by a strong, knowledgeable staff team. They experience positive, effective relationships with staff characterised by warmth and a sense of humour. One young person described the staff team as ‘spot on’. Young people who have moved on from the home come back regularly and echo the experiences of the current young people. One young person commented, ‘Staff are lovely and can’t do enough for you. I had a great time growing up in Monument View.’ The result is a strong foundation for developing resilience. Young people benefit from excellent levels of individual care, support and guidance. Overall, from their starting points, they make sustained progress in all areas while living at the home. A professional stated, ‘This is the finest example of young people’s residential care I have seen.’ Irrespective of their experiences before moving into the home, all young people’s incidents of going missing and

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Outstanding

incidents of concern reduce. In addition, educational attendance and achievement improve. The result is that all young people gain some sense of achievement that helps improve their self-esteem. Education and work placements are valued. The home has a room resourced for learning and education, and young people are achieving in their chosen fields. One young person has just taken his test to work on a building site. Another has completed work with the Prince’s Trust. This helps young people understand the purpose of education and its uses in the working world. Young people are healthy. They are encouraged to eat healthy foods and engage in activities that keep them fit. The staff are excellent at using innovative ways to encourage fitness. For example, the current health programme in the home includes all young people having a popular fitness wrist band that measures steps, etc. This is used as an incentive scheme as well as to improve health. However,

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Outstanding

this does not suit all young people. Some, for example, have joined a gym. One young person said, ‘If we don’t like what we are doing, they don’t nag. They help us find something else.’ The activities available to young people living at the home are excellent. They have access to a jet ski, a fishing boat, mountain bikes and quad bikes, and associated safety equipment. One young person said, ‘They make activities fun. They make us want to get involved.’ This not only offers new experiences to some – it also offers safe opportunities for young people to engage in adrenaline-fuelled activities that divert them away from negative means of achieving the same thrill. Young people have good access to advice and information about how to lead a healthy lifestyle, and the dangers of smoking, drugs and alcohol. External professionals, such as the police, youth offending, and drug and alcohol workers are introduced to young

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Outstanding

people as part of the team. Such professionals visit regularly, not just when referrals for services are made. This ensures that young people gain appropriate advice when they need it. They also develop a positive view of other professionals and this encourages them to make good use of the services offered. The home offers young people the opportunity to learn about caring for animals, growing vegetables, woodworking, bricklaying, business and decorating, as well as the everyday skills of cooking and laundry. This not only prepares them for life as an adult but also adds to their experiences of family life and widens their interests. Young people are encouraged to take part in charity events, such as bike rides to raise money for a variety of causes. This enables young people to develop a sense of empathy and community, and reduces the stigma often associated with young people who are looked after. Young people contribute to their plans while in the home as well as plans for

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Outstanding

managing their transition. One young person said, ‘I think my plan is good the way it is. I know what I need to do.’ Young people are also involved in the running of the home. They hold meetings monthly and invite staff along if required, but they can have the meeting without staff if they choose. They take turns to chair the meetings and record the minutes, including action points and plans for follow-up. This helps them develop a strong sense of self and appropriate influence on the world around them. They learn to negotiate both as individuals and as a group, and to practise the methods they will need to use to access services in the future.

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Good

Overall, young people are safe within this home and most are safe within their community. The relationships that young people have with staff are used to model similar relationships with each other. There is no bullying and interactions between young people are, overall, respectful and positive. They do activities together but also lead their own lives. There are occasional incidents but these are addressed swiftly by staff. This enables young people to learn the skills they need to live in their own families and communities now and in the future.

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Good

The staff team has a good understanding of its roles and responsibilities in keeping young people safe. Staff are vigilant and take effective action to protect young people from possible exploitation. This includes helping young people to access counselling and support from other professionals. When missing episodes occur, staff actively search for young people, exhausting all possibilities before reporting them to police. The local neighbourhood police officer said, ‘Missings are low here and if [young people] do go missing, staff do their own checks before ringing the police.’ Staff ensure that when young people do return, they are welcomed and accepted back. This helps young people to return to the home and talk about their reasons for going. This increases young people’s safety.

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Good

Staff have clear boundaries and expectations for young people. Sanctions are rarely used. When boundaries are overstepped, staff use their relationships with young people and a restorative approach to enable change. Restraint interventions are used as a last resort by following set protocols and training methods. Records of such interventions are clear and include debriefings for the young people and the staff involved. This helps with future practice and enables young people to express their feelings about the incident, what led to it and how they can manage themselves differently in the future. One young person said, ‘They try to help me find better ways of dealing with my feelings.’ Young people benefit from regular key-worker sessions where they and staff have the opportunity to discuss issues of concern or areas for development. Behaviour patterns are monitored regularly and help the staff team to proactively tackle

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Good

issues that may lead to incidents. The result is that many incidents, which could lead to negative activities putting young people at risk, are avoided. In addition, comprehensive risk assessments are in place that offer young people opportunities to test behaviours safely and in a measured way.

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Good

The manager is registered, suitably qualified to level 4 and has vast experience in residential work with young people. He is a committed individual and a good role model to his team. He provides strong leadership, assisted by a deputy and senior staff. The group clearly work as a team to address issues and develop a culture of openness and confidence. There are good systems in place for monitoring and managing how the home is run in order to improve the quality of care provided to young people. Young people’s progress is tracked from the start of their placement and evidence kept throughout. This gives them a sense of achievement that improves their self- esteem. Young people at this home value the staff and what they do for each of them. There are appropriate arrangements for consulting young people, parents and professionals about the running of the home. These include individual consultations, young people’s meetings and key-worker sessions, all of which

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Good

ensure that young people’s views are heard. Staff are strongly committed to developing the service to improve outcomes for young people, and there is a clear development plan for the home. Plans identified in earlier inspections, such as a DVD version of the young people’s guide, are now in place. This shows a level of commitment to continuous development within the home. Staffing levels are sufficient with staff who are well qualified and very experienced in caring for young people. The need to recruit is rare and this provides a stable team of adults committed to achieving positive outcomes for young people. A member of staff said that he is, ‘proud of what we achieve with young people’. Staff have good access to training opportunities in caring for children and young people. Staff say that they receive good support from the management team in relation to their work and professional development. This includes effective

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Good

supervision and appraisals that allow for self-evaluation as well as setting targets for future work. Some staff are sessional workers because they undertake other work in areas such as mental health. They too receive supervision and appraisal. However, this is not always within the timescales outlined in the policy relating to supervision. The home is welcoming, well equipped, and attractively decorated and furnished with few signs of damage or wear and tear. The exception to this is the downstairs bathroom, which is in need of decoration because of damp and subsequent damage. Staff and young people have made some of the external furniture and fittings for the animals, and they have developed a small business venture making trellis, plant pots and dovecotes. The income from this goes towards the upkeep of the ever-growing population of animals. This develops a sense of belonging and contribution in young people as well as helping them to gain useful skills.

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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 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 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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