Midmeadows

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:

 The home is child centred. It has a warm, comfortable domestic feeling throughout.  Young people are making good progress in all areas of their development.  Young people’s day-to-day experiences are of a high quality.  The manager is enthusiastic and innovative and generates a strong culture of creativity among her staff.  The manager has a strong awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and a clear understanding of young people’s developmental needs and progress.  The manager uses team meetings effectively to develop her staff’s knowledge of the issues that young people may be facing.  The manager has been effective in developing excellent working relationships between staff in the home and other professionals to ensure that the best possible support is provided to young people.

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately operated children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for four young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

07/01/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Good

Young people are making good progress in all areas of their development. Their confidence and self-esteem have improved significantly. This is because staff spend time with them, developing their trust and forming strong relationships with them. As a result, young people are attending health appointments regularly and engaging fully in school. For example, one young person is now able to attend school trips and take part in school plays, while another has significantly reduced his missing behaviour and is now engaging with specialist health professionals. Staff work well with schools to support young people and help them progress in their education. For example, staff have attended a day in the company’s own school to gain an understanding of the new school curriculum. They also conduct handovers with school staff every morning and evening. One young person who previously struggled to attend school started to attend regularly and engage in

p.5

Good

activities. His reading age improved significantly in a short period while he was living in the home. His placing social worker commented: ‘they worked miracles … from start to finish I was really happy with the home’. Staff listen to young people. They actively seek young people’s views during individual meetings with their key workers and in regular house meetings. Young people engage well with staff and are aware of how to complain. They express their views and opinions regarding aspects of their care and the running of the home. For example, young people were fully involved in choosing the decor in the home and helping to wallpaper communal areas. One young person, when asked, rated the home ‘10 out of 10’. Young people’s day-to-day experiences are of a high quality. They enjoy a wide range of activities. Each young person has an activity plan entitled ‘this week’s amazing plan’. These plans include camping trips, days out to the safari park,

p.5

Good

regular bike rides, trips to the cinema and swimming. Young people can also attend sporting activities in the community, such as football club and badminton club. Staff support young people very well in the transition to their new placements. On one occasion, a staff member accompanied a young person to a new home to ensure that the young person experienced continuity of care during their settling in period. Staff also support young people to develop the independence skills they will need in their adult life. They work in a structured way with young people to develop a range of independence skills, including supporting them in applying for further education courses. Staff are innovative and work well with young people’s families to encourage positive contact for them. For example, staff supervise contact when needed. They have also created an activity box for one young person to take with him when he

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Good

sees his family, to improve his quality of contact. The home is very well maintained and comfortable. The decor and furnishings in communal areas are of a very high standard. Young people’s bedrooms are of a good size and personalised to meet their needs and wishes.

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Good

Young people feel safe in the home. This is because the manager and staff work hard to keep young people safe. They have a good understanding of the risks that young people face and they manage those risks well. They are knowledgeable and up to date with issues such as child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. No young people currently living in the home are at risk of child sexual exploitation. Staff respond swiftly when young people go missing. The manager and staff have good relationships with the police and local authority social workers that have resulted in some excellent partnership work. This has significantly reduced the number of times that young people go missing from the home. A police missing from home coordinator commented: ‘I have been impressed with the interaction of management with the police. They are very engaging and always attend any missing intervention meetings.’ Staff manage young people’s challenging behaviour well. There is a strong

p.6

Good

emphasis on praising young people and rewarding positive behaviour. Consequently, there has only been one physical intervention conducted. A consistent staff team know the young people well. This has contributed to a feeling of well-being and security for young people. Staff adopt behaviour management strategies that are consistent within school and the home. These have been effective in significantly improving young people’s behaviour in both environments.

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Good

Staff have a good understanding of young people’s care plans and individual risk assessments. The manager completes impact risk assessments, often in conjunction with the police, before any new young person arrives in the home. As a result, young people live in a home that can fully meet all their needs and care for them safely.

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Good

The home environment is safe and secure. The home has a location risk assessment that covers all areas of concern in the locality. Young people and staff are aware of how to keep themselves safe in the event of fire through regular fire evacuations. There is a careful selection process for all new staff working in the home to ensure that they are suitable to work with young people. Judgement grade

p.6

Outstanding

The registered manager is experienced and has been in post a long time. She is in the process of completing the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare (England). The home is well resourced and managed in line with its statement of purpose. Staff remain at the home for long periods. This means that young people receive continuity and consistency of care.

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Outstanding

The home is clearly child centred. It has a warm, comfortable domestic feeling throughout. This is because the manager involves young people in deciding how they want the home to look and feel. They have been actively involved in choosing wallpaper and soft furnishings and in decorating communal areas. The manager is enthusiastic and innovative and generates a strong culture of creativity among her staff. For instance, throughout the Olympics, staff created displays celebrating athletes’ achievements while at the same time developing young people’s awareness of different cultures. Three newspapers a week are delivered to the home for young people to read: one national newspaper, one local paper and a newspaper specifically designed for young people looked after. This gives young people an opportunity to develop their awareness of what is happening around them, both locally and in the wider world.

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Outstanding

Through high quality monitoring, the manager has developed a strong awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and a clear understanding of young people’s developmental needs and progress. Consequently, young people are making good progress from their starting points across all aspects of their development.

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Outstanding

The manager uses team meetings effectively to develop her staff knowledge of issues that young people may be facing. For example, she has invited health professionals and the police to team meetings to develop staff awareness of drug misuse and attachment disorder. Because of these meetings, staff have developed their practice to help and support young people. For example, in consultation with health professionals, staff have developed a ‘safe box’ and provided a ‘safe tent’ for one young person to use when he feels anxious. They have also created a contact box for the young person to make contact a more positive experience for him. His placing social worker stated that the manager and staff ‘go above and beyond’.

p.7

Outstanding

Staff receive a high level of support and supervision from the manager and senior members of staff. The company has developed a training programme that is wide- ranging and relevant to the young people that they look after. Care staff have obtained, or are in the process of obtaining, the appropriate qualification to work with children and young people. The manager is proactive in challenging when the responses from other services are not effective. For instance, she swiftly challenges local authority social workers to ensure that they conduct return home interviews when young people go missing. She has developed excellent working relationships with health and professionals, police and staff from other care homes to ensure that they provide the best possible support to young people. All speak positively about the way that the manager engages with them to support young people. This level of interaction

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Outstanding

has been extremely effective in ensuring that young people are appropriately placed in the home, in reducing risk-taking behaviour and in developing young people’s confidence and education. One placing social worker commented: ‘I have been very impressed with the home’. Another stated: ‘They were amazing’.

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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 children looked after 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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