Children's Home run by SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd in Bracknell Forest

Requires improvement

The children's home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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The children's home provision requires improvement because:

 There has been no registered manager for over one year.  The updated statement of purpose should be made available to Ofsted and the placing authorities of the young people.  The independent visitor failed to identify the urgency of appointing a registered manager.

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The children's home strengths

 The young people make extensive progress while residing in the home, leading to successful transitions from the home.  The young people have exceptional relationships with the staff and each other.  Independence is routinely promoted and achieved by the young people.  The young people are kept extremely safe.  A high level of therapeutic support is provided to the young people, with which they regularly engage.  The young people develop the confidence and ability to maintain relationships in the community through purposeful group activities.  The lack of a registered manager means the home is not operating in compliance with the Care Standards Act and leadership is less secure.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that must be taken so that the registered persons meet 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 persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must provide a copy of the statement or purpose to HMCI and make a copy of it available upon request. (Regulation 16(2)) 20/10/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered provider must appoint a person to manage the children’s home. Specifically the manager appointed must complete their registration with Ofsted. (Regulation 27(1)) 20/10/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Information about this children's home

The service is a four-bedded children’s home registered for male adolescents with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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specialist organisation working with adolescent males who have

experienced significant adversity in their lives and have gone on to display harmful sexual behaviour towards others. The organisation also provides education and therapeutic intervention.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

21/03/2016 Interim Inspection Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

20/08/2015 Full Inspection Requires Improvement

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Requires improvement

A manager not being registered to manage the children’s home has significantly affected the overall judgment of the home. This is an unfortunate situation as all of the young people speak highly of their experiences living in the home and they are making extensive progress. The majority of the young people residing in the home were spoken to on inspection. They hold their relationships with the staff in high regard. One young person expressed, ‘The staff generally care[s] about the young people when compared to his previous care experiences.’ Individualised care planning for the young people contains their views, and they have a good understanding of what their goals are and how to achieve them. This has resulted in several young people successfully transitioning out of the home. The staff have natural and caring relationships with the young people. They are accessible and committed to the young people. The relationships are the key to the

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Requires improvement

considerable progress and experiences of the young people. A new admittance to the home, despite some initial resistance, has settled in with the support of the staff and other young people. Several positive interactions were observed between the staff and the young people at inspection. They prepared meals together, played video games or went out in the community. In each instance, these opportunities allowed informal conversations to take place. Many of the young people have experienced improved health with the support of the staff team. The young people routinely attend all their health-related appointments. They willingly and successfully engage in purposeful therapeutic support to assist with their emotional development. Therapy sessions are held individually and in-group sessions provide an additional outlet for the young people to be heard and understood. Education is promoted and encouraged by the staff for the young people. This is

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Requires improvement

evidenced by their successful transitions to college. Some have received awards for their attendance and academic performance. A young person expressed his appreciation of staff supporting his education. ‘The staff attended an awards ceremony for me at college. I was given numerous awards. It was great to see them there.’ In addition, the staff attend professionals’ meetings and assist in the development of the young people’s pathway plans. The young people have an exceptional amount of input into the level of independence they are able to achieve. They put forward their aspirations for independence and the staff, along with the therapeutic team, set achievable goals. Some young people have successfully reached a point where they do not need to be supervised. For example, some young people are able to safely stay overnight with significant others and friends from the community, and some responsibly work

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Requires improvement

in the community while saving money. The young people routinely engage in a wide range of activities that are having a positive impact on their lives. They develop and maintain appropriate relationships due to the confidence and social skills obtained from group activities. All the young people talked about a recent holiday for them all and the staff with great enthusiasm. A young person said, ‘I had never [been] on a holiday before where everyone was happy and nothing ruined the trip for anyone.’

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Good

The have been no significant concerns for the young people that warranted a referral being made to the designated officer. The young people feel safe, and the staff understand the protocols and procedures that need to be taken to keep them safe. Records reflect that all staff receive annual safeguarding training that is up to date. There have been no incidents of young people going missing from care for a considerable amount of time. The staff response to young people missing from care was recently tested, as a young person new to the home was having trouble adjusting to the rules. Each incident involved a robust response from the staff, evidencing that they are fully aware of the policies and procedures to undertake when young people go missing. The behaviour management of the young people by the staff team is strong. The respectful and trusting relationships that have developed between the staff and

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Good

young people ensure that only minor behavioural issues occur. The small number of behavioural difficulties that have occurred for a young person were quickly de- escalated by the staff and were followed by prompt discussion with the young person. Risk assessments are current, detailing all risks associated with the young people. The management oversees the assessments to ensure that they are updated when needed, along with how young people can be provided with opportunities to undertake tasks so that risk is low. The young people understand what steps must be taken to keep themselves safe. All safety checks including fire are undertaken in a timely manner. The location risk assessment takes into account the local community and any risk it may pose to the young people. The environment is, therefore, continually kept safe for the young people.

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Inadequate

The organisation has not successfully registered a manager for the home, which has resulted in a judgement in leadership and management that does not reflect the hard work that has been undertaken by the current manager. Two requirements have been made for leadership and management that have been addressed promptly without an adverse effect on the young people. An application for manager has been submitted, and the registration process is underway. The statement of purpose has recently been updated, reflecting the changes to the staff team, and this was provided on inspection. The statement of purpose will be made available to Ofsted, placing authorities and young people, in line with regulations. A recommendation has been made for the independent visitor to provide scrutiny of the home to assist in highlighting the strengths and areas for improvement. The monthly reports that were submitted for the home did not highlight the importance

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Inadequate

of the home having a registered manager in place and the impact should the regulation not be met. The manager is experienced in working with young people and has brought stability to the home by providing the staff with a high level of support, resulting in their working very well together as a team. The majority of the staff describe the manager as ‘strict but fair’. A long-standing staff member said, ‘The manager has really improved all the relationships in the home. The young people get on well with the staff and staff get on well with each other.’ The young people are benefiting from the staff attending mandatory team meetings that include group discussions about the young people and staff practice. Records evidence that supervision is being provided for all staff, consistently allowing for reflection of their individual practice and development. The staff team is stable and no new members of staff have been recruited.

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Inadequate

The majority of the staff have the appropriate qualification to work in a children’s home. A small percentage without the qualification will complete it by the end of the year. The current manager will be shortly going on long-term leave and another experienced manager will be running the home during that time. The process of transition has been well planned. A period of shadowing has allowed the young people and the staff an opportunity to get used to the future arrangements of which they approve.

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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

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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 Text phone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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