Children's home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

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 with complex needs have those needs met by experienced and skilled staff.  Young people participate in their care and are active in expressing their choices and preferences.  The staff work well with other agencies, parents and carers to provide continuity between their home and their short breaks.  Young people look forward to having their short breaks at the home and the chance to see staff and peers again.  The home is a safe environment in which to stay and work. Young people are protected from harm.  The experienced registered manager provides strong leadership to her large team.  Effective and timely care planning informs each short-stay placement.  The frequency of staff supervision is not in accordance with the home’s policy.

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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

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience (Regulation 33(4)(b)). 30/09/2016

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides a short- break service for up to four children or young people with learning and/or physical disabilities at any one time. It currently provides this service for 23 children and young people.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

19/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

04/03/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

The overall experiences and progress of children and young people having short stays at the home are positive. Young people require one-to-one individualised care due to their high levels of need. The staff team aim not only to continue the standard of care that young people receive at home; they are keen to offer something more.

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Good

The quality of relationships between staff and the young people is good. Much of this is due to the attention paid to young people’s likes and dislikes, both prior to their stay and during their placements. When shifts are planned, staff and young people are paired together because they are familiar with each other. Young people trust the adults caring for them. A parent summed it up when they wrote: ‘(The home) should get an award or recognition as the work the staff do is excellent. The staff are there to help all the time. They really get to know the parents and children. They are like part of the family’.

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Good

The familiarity that young people experience during their stays is not only with the staff team. Young people arrive at the placement in a state of excitement, keen to see the friends and peers they are accustomed to staying with. The careful matching process overseen by managers ensures that return stays are often reunions between groups of young people who know each other and enjoy spending time with each other.

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Good

The staff team are good at making short stays a sociable group experience. Social skills improve because of the close support that young people receive in a range of social settings. Educational progress is maintained by the continuation of school attendance during short stays.

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Good

The staff team are skilled at reading the signs of body language, where young people do not express themselves verbally. Using a range of different methods, such as the use of symbols, sign language or objects to convey meaning, young people’s views are understood. Views and preferences on issues, such as food and activity choices, are taken into account throughout their stay.

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Good

Young people’s day-to-day experiences during their short stays are mostly positive. The accommodation is well-decorated, spotlessly clean and provides a relaxed and comfortable place to stay. Young people’s bedrooms are personalised with favourite toys and posters that reflect their bedroom at home. The outside courtyard area has benefited from a facelift to encourage young people to go outdoors and engage in play that is more boisterous.

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Good

Recent trips and activities have enabled young people to benefit from a range of new and exciting experiences, including a tank museum, an ice-skating show and a guide-dog breeding centre.

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Good

Young people are kept safe and secure during their stays at the home. Individual risk assessments for young people are regularly updated to take account of new behaviours or circumstances.

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Good

Staff members are safely recruited and are subject to a range of detailed checks on their past employment history. This ensures that only adults who are safe to work with young people are employed to provide safe care.

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Good

The physical environment helps to keep young people safe. The home is well- equipped to meet the physical and sensory needs of young people. Young people’s use of new technology is always closely supervised, and is safe.

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Good

Young people do not go missing from the home. Exploitation and self-harm are not features of their stays. This is because staff assess the risks in detail and understand how vulnerable young people are. As care is provided on a one-to-one basis, this ensures that another physical safeguard is in place.

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Good

Behaviour is managed successfully because of the close supervision by staff. Through their skills, training and experience, staff members are alert to the triggers for certain behaviours. This level of understanding avoids conflict and the need for physical interventions or sanctions. Positive behaviour is the norm and the regular awarding of rewards and certificates to young people reinforces it. Judgement grade

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Good

The registered manager currently holds a level 4 qualification and has worked in residential care for more than two decades. She leads a large staff team with a skill which reflects her considerable experience of providing high-quality short break care. The high standard of her leadership is reflected in the high standard of care delivered in the home.

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Good

Effective support for the staff team is provided through appraisals and team meetings. However, not all staff receive supervision that is timely or effective. A range of in-house, online and corporate learning opportunities are used to ensure that the training and developmental needs of staff members are met. Consequently, trained and competent professionals care for young people.

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Good

Care planning is robust and involves detailed work with families and carers to ascertain preferences and individual support needs. Staff use this knowledge to adapt their care during the young person’s time in the home. Where required, particular skills, such as self-feeding and clearing away after dinner, are developed. Skills such as these can indicate a considerable achievement for young people with such complex needs.

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Good

The registered manager acknowledges the strengths and addresses the weaknesses of the home. The monthly monitoring reports of the independent person assist her in this task. Where necessary, decisive and effective action is taken in the interests of young people. The flexibility with which the manager structures the working times of part-time staff ensures that young people have the maximum support when they need it most.

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Good

The service does not just provide a place to stay; it is a place to meet new people, gain new experiences and take part in new activities. Staff understand the need to stimulate and engage with young people. This makes the stays of young people meaningful and enjoyable, however short the duration may be. The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in its statement of purpose.

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Good

Staff members are in regular contact with carers and families. This provides an assurance for them that staff are always working with the most up-to-date information about their children. The home has positive professional relationships with a range of other agencies, including schools, social workers and health workers. Feedback from parents and carers about the service provided is uniformly positive.

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Good

The only requirement arising from the previous inspection has been met in full. As a result there is now a clearer understanding on the part of staff and placing social workers as to the legal status of young people on short stays.

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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 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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