Children's home run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in Havant

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:

 Staff are exceptionally nurturing towards the young people. They enable young people to develop and maintain relationships with them and each other. The relationships among all in the home are characterised by mutual respect and understanding.  Staff provide young people with unwavering support and encouragement. Young people have a high sense of achievement in all areas of their lives, and their self-esteem and confidence have increased significantly.  Young people understand and agree their individual boundaries. They know what the expectations of them are in relation to their behaviour. Consequences for poor behaviour are clear, fair, and consistently and swiftly applied. Young people learn better ways of dealing with their anger, and grow and mature into thoughtful individuals.  Young people make exceptional progress in their attendance in education, and their attainment exceeds original expectations. Young people develop

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

goals and ambitions for their futures. They have developed a strong work ethic and work hard to achieve their goals.  Young people take part in an impressive range of activities and develop a range of new skills. They are kept occupied doing things that interest them and have fun with each other and with peers in the local area. They develop a strong sense of community spirit.  Young people’s safety is treated as paramount, and, over time, young people begin to take responsibility for their own safety and well-being.  Staff’s practice is based on attachment theories, cognitive behaviour therapies and reflective practice. Consequently, care planning for young people is individualised and of a high quality.  Work to rehabilitate young people back into their families is highly successful because of the excellent work that staff do with young people and their parents.  Interagency working is of a very high quality, and this ensures that young

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

people get the services they need in a timely way.  The home is well led and managed and shows a strong commitment to helping young people to improve their life chances.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and that the above principles, as set out in paragraph 9.35, are respected. This is with specific reference to carrying out a review in respect of the use of bedroom door alarms overnight, to ensure that there is a clear rationale for their use in each case. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. This is with specific reference to ensuring that all staff receive formal recorded supervision on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 60, paragraph 13.2)

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to eight young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. 

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Information about this children's home

The organisation runs a registered school that young people living in the home may attend.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

06/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

19/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Outstanding

This is a home in which young people thrive. The excellent relationships are key to the extremely positive experience that young people have living in the home, and the exceptional outcomes they achieve. Staff make time every day to talk and just be with young people. There are high levels of physical affection, and young people feel nurtured and cared about. Young people say that they are respected by staff and each other. They quickly develop a strong sense of belonging and maintain this through their time in the home. These positive relationships provide young people with a sound base from which they grow and develop. More than one young person referred to the children’s home as ‘my home’, and one said, ‘This is just the best place.’ There is excellent attention given to assessing the suitability of newly referred young people, to ensure that their needs can be met and that they are compatible with the other young people. The admission process is extremely well planned for.

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Outstanding

Staff and young people receive relevant information about any new young person and have the chance to meet them before their admission. This ensures that the staff and young people living in the home are very well prepared for the placement. New young people meet staff and visit the home before their arrival, and they, and their parents when appropriate, are warmly welcomed. Young people settle very quickly into daily life in the home and develop trust in the staff and their peers. A social worker said, ‘I am very happy with the placement. This is one of the best homes.’ The manager and staff go to exceptional lengths to ensure that young people can express their views so that these are known, understood and, when appropriate, catered for. Young people’s views form the basis for planning their individual care and strategic developments in the home. Young people are confident that the home is operated for them, to meet their needs to a high standard and to help

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Outstanding

them to progress in their lives. They feel that their views are highly valued. Excellent support is provided to young people when they are unhappy about something, be it about the home or other services that they use. Examples include young people’s dissatisfaction with issues in the home being promptly dealt with before they become complaints. They are effectively supported to access external help, such as an advocate, if they are unhappy with future plans being considered by their local authority. Young people feel they have some have control over decisions which they may not agree with or like being made about their lives. The staff have high aspirations for the young people and encourage them to develop ambitions. There is a strong work ethic and an emphasis on being productive and useful members of society. There is excellent support to young people in their learning. They achieve far more than was thought possible, and

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Outstanding

their school attendance is exceptionally high. For some, who have been out of education for significant periods of time or have had exceptionally poor attendance in the past, this is a significant achievement. One young person said, ‘I now look forward to school’. Staff have excellent links to the education placements that young people attend, and all staff know, understand and support each young person’s education plan. Educational and other successes mean that young people have developed confidence in their abilities, and their self-esteem has increased. They realise that they can achieve, and this spurs them on to try new and interesting things. A social worker said, ‘Education is fantastic. He has done so well and we have found that he is intelligent with a bright future.’ Older young people are involved in work-related activities alongside attendance at school or college. Young people’s day-to-day lives are filled with educational and recreational

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Outstanding

opportunities that are suited to them and enjoyed by them. They are enabled to achieve exceptionally well. For example, one young person plays rugby at county level, and another has been in local performing arts productions. A social worker said of their young person’s involvement in sport, ‘His sports have been the key for him… His progress is fantastic.’ Another social worker said that staff had been remarkable at encouraging the child she works with to engage in activities. Every day is filled with interesting and character-building opportunities that the young people fully engage with, have fun doing and learn from. The young people love the regular holidays and short breaks, using the home’s cabin cruiser or caravan. During the inspection, a group of young people set off on a week’s break in the caravan. A young person said, ‘I don’t have time to get into trouble here.’ There is a strong ethos of shared responsibility for daily tasks in the home, and

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Outstanding

young people understand their personal responsibilities to learn the skills they will need to be more independent. Young people help staff with cooking and cleaning. Some are adept at putting together flat-pack furniture, and others are learning to drive or learning about how to deal with the challenges of developing healthy romantic relationships. Young people’s health needs are exceptionally well met, and their health improves. For example, some young people have successfully taken on the challenges of losing weight through healthy eating and exercise routines. These young people’s significant weight loss has meant that the risks that come with being obese no longer apply to them. Other young people have been supported to overcome their fears about attending routine medical appointments, the dentist for example, and now their oral health has much improved. Other young people are very well supported in managing health issues that require regular appointments and

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Outstanding

complex treatment arrangements to keep them as physically well as possible. Young people’s emotional and psychological needs are understood and met to a high standard. The services of a professional who is experienced in cognitive behaviour therapy are available to young people. Those who have worked with him have achieved success in managing their problems more effectively. A young person said that he had found the cognitive behaviour therapy work very useful and described how he uses it in his day-to-day life. Other young people are supported to work with external services, such as the children and adolescent mental health services, and, as a result, there have been improvements in their emotional well-being and their behaviour. Staff are very skilled in working with families. A parent said, ‘I am very, very happy with him living here.’ Young people who have moved on from the home recently have returned to live with their families. This has been achieved through diligently

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Outstanding

planned and well-executed family contacts and home visits. Young people have made excellent use of the opportunities that this home provides for them to develop and achieve, and have continued to build on their successes when they have moved on from the home.

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Outstanding

Young people, sometimes for the first time in their lives, have a stable environment in which they feel safe and cared for. Staff get to know young people exceptionally well and through their training understand how past trauma and abuse have impacted on their behaviour and emotional well-being. They know young people’s trigger points and recognise the sometimes subtle signs that a young person may be becoming upset. They are usually able to defuse situations, such as arguments between young people or young people becoming violent, before they escalate. When situations do escalate out of the young person’s control, the staff implement effective and thoughtfully developed risk-reduction strategies, and this ensures that risks are managed effectively. Behaviour management is grounded in attachment theories, cognitive behaviour therapies and reflective practice. There are firm but fair and consistent boundaries

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Outstanding

and sanctions for poor or dangerous behaviour. Physical restraints are very rarely used, and when they are it is because there are risks to others or property. Young people make mistakes, but the tenacity and unconditional support of staff and the clear strategies to support young people to manage their behaviour effectively ensure that they learn from these. A young person said, ‘You can make mistakes here, but staff always help you to learn from them.’ A social worker said of the staff, ‘I cannot fault them. They deal with some tricky situations highly effectively.’ When an incident occurs, such as a young person going missing, the prompt and decisive action taken by staff, in conjunction with other agencies such as the police, ensures that matters are dealt with effectively. The incidents of young people being missing or absent from the home are extremely rare with only three such incidents since the last full inspection over 12 months ago. There are

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Outstanding

excellent working relationships with the police, and protocols are implemented and swift action taken. On return, the young person has opportunities to talk to staff, the police or someone independent from the home, to establish why they went missing and to help them understand the risks that they have put themselves in. Key-work sessions take place to discuss any dangerous or disruptive behaviours, and young people have been successfully helped to understand the impact that their behaviour can have on their future life chances. Frequent visits from the local community support officer provide young people with reliable safety advice. He sometimes visits informally for a cup of tea and a chat and, when incidents have occurred, he visits on a more formal basis to talk to the young people concerned. He also talks to young people about a range of topics such as keeping safe in the community. He teaches them that there are members

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Outstanding

of the community who wish to expose young people to extremist ideologies and other forms of exploitation. Young people engage especially well with him. The excellent quality of relationships between all living and working in the home ensure that people’s differences are respected and there is an extremely low level of bullying. The last bullying incident occurred over eight months ago. Young people do not always get on together but they are able to talk through differences of opinion and resolve them effectively. This extends to issues arising with young people outside the home, including those contacts made through social media. Young people learn about appropriate and inappropriate relationships and the risks from social network sites and they learn to use these safely. Staff working in the home have been through a thorough recruitment process to ensure that they are suitable people to work in the home and have the skills and

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Outstanding

commitment to improving the lives of young people. Staff are clear about how to deal with a concern about the safety of a young person and aware of how to escalate child-protection concerns to the appropriate internal and external safeguarding professionals. The designated officer in the local authority has no concerns about the safety of young people living in this home.

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Good

The home is effectively and efficiently managed by a permanent, suitably experienced and qualified registered manager who holds a degree in social work and a level 4 management qualification. The manager was registered by Ofsted to manage the home in August 2014. She is held in high regard by the young people and external professionals. A young person said of the manager, ‘She is kind, she cares, she is there for us and she gets things done.’ A social worker said that she is a ‘fantastic manager. You can approach her about anything.’ The staff team is of a high calibre and has a total commitment to improving the lives of the young people it works with. Staff are passionate about this and the young people they work with and about helping them to turn their lives around. A young person said, ‘I don’t recognise the child I was… They [the staff] saved me.’ A social worker said, ‘Living in the home has certainly been

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Good

life changing for him.’ Staff are well supported in their roles through effective research-based training, including level three qualifications that are completed in a timely way. Six staff members hold a level three qualification and the remaining three are in the process of undertaking it. Staff have good quality practice and clinical supervision that helps them to reflect on their practice. It was noted that formal practice supervision for one staff member had not been as regular as expected. This had been identified through the external monitoring arrangements and, while it was addressed, close monitoring of this is needed to ensure that supervision continues to be regular. Monitoring is effective. Issues arising from the manager’s and external person’s monitoring, and through inspection, mean that the manager has a good understanding about the strengths and areas for development. She is quick to address issues arising. Additionally, exceptional care is given to

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Good

ensure that young people and others are able to express their views about life in the home and that this is used in planning and development. The manager is very involved in the care planning for young people and knows them all extremely well. She makes sure that young people are involved in their own plans. She ensures issues that young people do not agree with in their care planning are fully explored in a purposeful and professional way with placing authorities. This allows young people’s hopes and wishes for their futures to be addressed. The environment that young people live in is comfortable, of a good quality, well maintained and attractively decorated to the taste of the young people. Young people take pride in their surroundings and enjoy their collective responsibility to keep communal areas and their own bedrooms tidy. The rationale for the alarms on all bedroom doors overnight is not clearly explained

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Good

or justified. Although this does not detract significantly from the pleasant and calm atmosphere in the home, it may restrict some young people’s movements unnecessarily. There are strong links to the local and wider community. Young people use the community facilities appropriately and effectively. For example, there is a well-established practice of young people and staff volunteering at the local soup kitchen. This provides young people with a good sense of community spirit and an understanding about helping people who are less fortunate than they are. Records about young people are well maintained, kept up to date and provide a useful account of their time living in the home, should they wish to access them now or in the future. Young people develop memory boxes that they maintain so that they can look back when they have left and remember their time in the home and their achievements.

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

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