Children's Home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Lincolnshire

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 make significant and sustained progress with their emotional well-being, education, independence, confidence, self-esteem and risk- taking behaviours. They are happy in this home. A young person said: ‘I would recommend this home to anyone.’  Friends and family are welcomed into the home. Young people also spend time at their friends’ houses and in the local community. Family contact is positive and in accordance with the young person’s wishes.  Young people feel safe and secure. They have strong and trusted relationships with staff. This helps them to manage their own behaviour, which has meant a significant reduction in risk-taking behaviours such as going missing and taking illegal substances.  Staff are passionate about providing a high quality of care for young people. They have access to a good programme of training. The registered manager encourages attendance at training events as she believes in a learning

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

environment. This ensures that staff are able to competently meet the needs of the young people.  The registered manager is experienced, providing strong, supportive and effective leadership. She has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home, with good plans to address identified shortfalls.  Minor shortfalls have been identified during this inspection. These are with regards to risk assessment, health promotion and staff qualifications.

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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 staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps that the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 9.5)  Ensure that staff encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. Where children have specific health needs or conditions, they should be supported to manage these subject to their age and understanding. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, have the qualification in Regulation 32 (4) within the relevant timescale listed in Regulation 32 (5). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.12)

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Information about this children's home

This children's home, run by a private organisation, provides care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/07/2015 Full Outstanding 09/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/10/2014 Full Outstanding

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Outstanding

Young people make excellent and sustained progress with regards to their emotional well-being, education, independence, confidence, self-esteem and risk- taking behaviours. They like their home and are happy. Young people are fully supported to attend their education placements. One young person is in a mainstream school and other young people are enrolled on college courses. Staff transport young people to and from their education placements and attend all meetings, including parents’ evenings and events at the school. Young people are committed to achieving in their education. Staff have a good understanding of the young people. Staff carefully plan key work sessions to help young people have a better understanding of issues in their life and to provide strategies for helping young people to better manage them. A young person said: ‘Key workers are good as well. I have loads of key work sessions. They sit and chat with you and you don’t even realise it’s a key work

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Outstanding

session.’ Young people are encouraged to participate in a range of activities. They have enjoyed the cinema, swimming, shopping trips and trips to the beach. They are actively encouraged to participate in things that interest them for example horse riding and art. One young person has a number of rosettes for show jumping and gymkhana competitions. This helps to give young people a sense of achievement and increases their self-esteem and confidence. Young people quickly make friends in the local area through their school or college. They are encouraged to bring friends home and go on sleepovers at friends’ houses like other young people their age. They are supported to rebuild and maintain positive contact with families. This ensures that young people have a wide network of support, which will help them when they leave the home. Young people are constantly consulted about their care and day-to-day decisions

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Outstanding

around the home. This enables them to make positive choices and increases their confidence in making decisions. Staff are passionate about helping young people to become independent to ensure that they can successfully transition into adulthood. A young person said: ‘I’m learning how to cook. I’m learning a lot of things.’ Staff continue to be committed to young people who have left the service to support them while living independently. A young person who has recently left said: ‘Everything went really well. Staff really helped me out. They took me to places. They are there for me whenever. I had my house trashed and I phoned them and they came straight away.’ Young people generally get on well together. A young person said that when they fall out: ‘Staff do mediation, try to get us to go out together. We might get our nails done, a film night, trip out. By the end of the night we would all be friends

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Outstanding

again.’ They also get on really well with the staff. A young person said, ‘The staff are really nice and reasonable about free time and stuff.’ Young people are encouraged to lead healthy lifestyles, which includes food and exercise. Staff have also carried out some work with young people about the risks of eating sugary foods. However, staff did not talk to a young person about oral hygiene and the effects of sugary foods on the teeth after they had a filling at the dentist. This may have given the young person a better understanding and helped her to reduce her sugar intake. Nevertheless, staff are proactive in helping young people in all aspects of their health. For example, most young people have either stopped smoking or significantly reduced the number of cigarettes that they smoke. Young people benefit from a large homely environment. They have plenty of communal space but also have the privacy of their own bedrooms. There is a large

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Outstanding

garden where they are growing some vegetables and a garage which houses gym equipment to help them keep fit. They like their bedrooms and have helped to choose the decor throughout the home.

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Good

Young people do not put themselves at risk. Incidents have dramatically reduced, which has meant that young people have not gone missing and staff have not used physical intervention. Young people no longer take illegal substances, or drink alcohol. Staff have strong trusted relationships with young people. Young people feel safe and secure. They feel cared for. Staff successfully promote positive behaviour using incentives and encouraging young people to reflect on their behaviour. They are skilled at de-escalating situations, helping young people to calm. They have a good understanding of the young people and what helps them to calm down because they have asked them. They utilise these strategies well. Staff consistently, but reasonably, apply strong rules and boundaries, which are respected by the young people. Few negative consequences are given to young people but those that are, have been agreed with the young person. Some consequences are creative and

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Good

educational such as making a poster about the negative effects of cannabis on the mind. Staff have a good understanding of risk management. However, written risk assessments, particularly with regards to horse riding, are not always robust. This was a recommendation at the previous inspection. However, the registered manager immediately rectified this during the inspection and ensured effective communication to staff about the new risk assessment. Vetting procedures help to prevent unsuitable adults from working with young people. Appropriate checks are carried out on all staff. Agency workers are kept to a minimum and the registered manager tries to use the same agency staff to promote continuity for the young people. She ensures that agency workers also go through rigorous vetting procedures.

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Outstanding

The registered manager has almost completed the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. She provides strong and effective leadership, which ensures that the highest quality care is sustained for young people. She promotes a culture of high aspirations for both young people and the staff. She encourages good parenting. A member of staff said: ‘If it’s not good enough for my children, it’s not good enough for the children I work with.’ Staff have access to good training opportunities. These include mandatory training such as safeguarding children but also training that is specific to the needs of the young people, such as training around sexually harmful behaviour, self-injurious behaviour, drugs and child sexual exploitation. The registered manager said she encourages her staff to attend all the courses on offer as she very much believes in a learning environment. Most staff and young people have been in the home for some time. This has

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Outstanding

enabled them to build good relationships with each other. Staff rarely move on from this home, thereby promoting continuity for young people. They feel very well supported by each other and the registered manager. They regularly reflect on their practice and are able to do this within an open and honest forum. This enables staff to continually improve their practice and subsequently the experiences and progress for young people. Working with other professionals is truly embedded into practice. This has benefited young people, particularly when having issues with illegal substances and going missing from the home. Collaborative working between the local police, drugs workers and staff has ensured the safety and well-being of young people. All external professionals agreed that the staff are very good at communicating with them. One professional said: ‘Communication is good and supports keeping the young person safe.’

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Outstanding

Staff are extremely caring and passionate about providing exceptional care for young people. They either hold an appropriate qualification, are completing one or are still within their induction period. A few staff, including those who work as bank staff, have been working in residential care for more than two years and are not yet qualified. However, they are undertaking a suitable qualification and appear competent and knowledgeable. Young people get on very well with all the staff whether or not they are qualified. The registered manager has a range of monitoring activities including working on shift herself on occasions. She has a good knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has plans to address any shortfalls.

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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 looked after children 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 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

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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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