Children's home run by Quarriers in Inverclyde

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:

 Children make excellent progress as a result of their short breaks. In particular, they develop greater confidence in their own abilities and acquire skills which will be of use to them in adult life.  Children enjoy coming to stay here. They establish good friendships and also develop excellent relationships with staff. Children take part in a range of activities which are stimulating and enhance their self-esteem.  The work that staff do with children is informed by detailed and highly individualised plans. Children are fully involved in setting their developmental goals. Achievement is recognised and celebrated. Health plans are excellent, and arrangements for medication are exceptionally robust.  The home is good at keeping even the most vulnerable children safe. Staff are skilled in managing behaviour and preventing children hurting themselves or others without the need for physical restraint. Any safeguarding incidents are

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The children’s home provision is good because:

promptly reported.  The registered manager is effective in keeping the focus of staff’s work firmly on the needs of the children. Good partnership working maximises the benefit to children from staying here. Significant improvements to the home have been made, enhancing its homeliness and adding to its facilities. Two recommendations have been made to further improve practice.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  When establishing the home, the registered person must ensure that it is suitably located so that children are effectively safeguarded and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans. (Regulation 12(2)(c)) Under Regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

 Children in residential care usually live in a group environment, and so it is particularly important that they can spend time away from other group members. Staff should respect children’s privacy and support the other children living in the home to do so, specifically that children should be able to lock their bedroom doors from the inside but with the ability for staff to gain access if necessary. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.17)

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides short-break accommodation for up to four children with learning disabilities. It is operated by a charity.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

30/03/16 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

17/03/15 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Good

Prior to agreement being reached for a child to begin short breaks, staff gather all relevant information from parents, social workers and the child. Introductions to the home proceed at the pace appropriate to the needs of the family and child. This process ensures a smooth transition into the programme of short breaks. Subsequently, the mix of children who stay at any one time is carefully considered and planned. This ensures that groups of children are compatible, encourages friendships to develop, and provides children with consistency and predictability.

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Good

Staff have a comprehensive knowledge of each child’s background, history and needs. A social worker said, ‘Staff know the needs of children really well, they do a lot of work to read information and ask questions. It almost seems as if they’ve known the children much longer than they actually have.’ They use this information to draw up detailed plans. These set out how the day-to-day programme for each child provides them with stimulation and enjoyment as well as meeting their basic needs and keeping them safe. They also contain goals for each child to aim for, agreed as far as practical with the child and their family. Meeting the health needs of each child is primarily the responsibility of the parent. Nonetheless, since the last inspection, the registered manager has put in place new health plans. These are excellent, enabling staff to support the full range of children’s physical and emotional needs in collaboration with parents and other services.

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Good

A particular focus of the work done by staff is to improve children’s confidence and emotional resilience. Staff encourage children to become more independent and confident in their own abilities. For example, one child has gone from complete reliance on staff accompanying him on outings away from the home to travelling to college independently on public transport. His social worker said of this same child, ‘While visiting him in the home he offered to make me a cup of coffee, which he did independently and with confidence.’ A parent said, ‘My child’s ability for independence has come on a lot – staff make demands on him to do things for himself. He also has better diet, he used to only eat certain things due to his autism but since coming here has made great improvement.’

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Good

Staff respond to children with warmth and affection and are attentive to their needs at all times. As a result, children love being around staff and interacting with them. The quality of these relationships is significant in helping children to make progress in relation to their targets and in developing greater self-esteem.

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Good

Staff make daily entries onto each child’s file, recording their behaviour and activity. Every month, each child’s key worker then collates these observations into a format which enables the child’s progress to be assessed and evaluated. This is an excellent tool, which clearly shows that children not only enjoy coming here but develop their skills and abilities.

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Good

Staff take every opportunity to involve children and consult with them. Monthly meetings are chaired by one of the children with support from staff. Staff are skilled in seeking the views of children who have communication difficulties, for example by using picture symbols or signing. Each child’s plan provides detailed guidance on how to make communication with them as effective as possible. For example, one reads, ‘I communicate verbally but can be shy and whisper… I may find it difficult to talk in strange situations or with new people… I haven’t got fantastic vision and my spatial awareness isn’t great as my peripheral vision is extremely limited, so stand close to me and look at me when talking to me.’

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Good

Staff support children on visits to a range of venues and activities, including the cinema, bowling, swimming, parks and the beach. Although there is a minibus, staff often take advantage of the home’s easy access to public transport. This is important in developing children’s independence and confidence. In addition, the home is exceptionally well equipped to provide stimulation and diversion. Some children find the sensory room particularly soothing and comforting. In the spacious garden there is ample room to use bikes and go-karts. Recent additions include the outdoor gym and the garage, which has been converted into a roomy ‘chill-out’ space, with TV, pool table and board games. The latter was converted free of charge by a local business after an approach by the registered manager for funding. This range of activities enables children to develop their motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and to improve their ability to cooperate and negotiate with

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Good

others (such as learning to take turns). It also simply provides great fun and pride in achievement.

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Good

The home has made improvements to the overall homeliness of the accommodation. Bedrooms have different themes, which were agreed in consultation with the children. One has a large hand-painted mural of the local train network map, another has a New York motif. There is ample space for children to spend time alone if they wish to. However, there is no means for them to lock their bedroom doors from the inside, which would give them greater assurance of privacy.

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Good

Staff compile comprehensive risk assessments on each child. These set out how and why children are vulnerable, how they may cause harm to themselves or others, and measures in place to control these risks. Sometimes a child stays briefly beyond the age of eighteen as part of their transition plan. When this happens, the impact on the other children of having an adult staying with them is assessed and plans put in place to safeguard all who use the service. The registered manager also carries out a regular assessment of the home’s location. This focuses on any threats to children in the area, but does not also describe the opportunities that the location provides, such as its good access to public transport and other services such as schools.

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Good

The number of staff allocated to support each child is set out in their individual plans. This ensures that each child’s unique needs can be met, particularly in terms of ensuring their safety. This level of support has resulted in no child ever going missing without the need to place unreasonable restrictions on their liberty. Other risks are similarly well managed; for example, controls on internet access, including supervision by staff, help to protect children from online threats.

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Good

Staff are very clear about how to report any concerns that they may have about a child. This includes any worries they may have about what may have happened in other settings, for example school. The thoroughness with which staff approach safeguarding means that children experience a feeling of calm security within the home. One parent said simply, ‘I know my child feels safe here.’

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Good

The close attention that staff provide to children also means that they are on hand to guide, support and advise. Behaviour management plans are drawn up in consultation with other agencies and parents, and identify what might trigger a child’s distress or anxiety. As a result, staff are able to anticipate situations where a child might begin to display challenging behaviour, and employ a range of strategies to manage it. This approach is extremely effective. In the last twelve months, staff have had to physically restrain a child only once, meaning that children’s dignity is upheld and they begin to learn other ways of dealing with stress.

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Good

Many children have complex health needs. As a result, the home is responsible for receiving from parents, and administering to children, a large amount of different medications. The system that the home operates is a model of excellent practice. It ensures that the potential for making mistakes in giving medication, and so exposing children to harm, is minimised. In addition, staff receive training from health professionals to ensure that children’s particular medical conditions are effectively and safely managed during their stay. A community nurse said, ‘We are able to train the staff in particular techniques, such as gastro-feeding.’

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Good

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified for the role. She ensures that, in their daily practice, staff apply the ethos and values of the home as described in its statement of purpose. She places great emphasis on being able to record and evaluate the progress that children make as a result of the work that staff do. This ensures that children’s stays are purposeful and enrich their lives, both now and in the future.

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Good

The operation of the home is effectively monitored. The reports of the independent person who visits monthly are detailed and provide constructive challenge. The registered manager’s own monitoring provides an assessment of the home’s achievements over the previous six months and a plan for future development.

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Good

Staff are clearly committed to the needs of the children. For example, they are willing to be flexible in their working pattern to cover unforeseen absences such as sickness. The registered manager and other senior staff provide formal, monthly supervision to individual staff, as well as holding monthly team meetings. A feature of both individual and group meetings is that staff are challenged to reflect on their practice, particularly in terms of how their work impacts upon children. A number of staff have been allocated particular areas of responsibility, for which they become champions. For example, one of the team leaders has attended training at the national Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) and is the CEOP champion for the home. This provides staff with a readily accessible source of information on this important area of safeguarding.

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Good

Staff are provided with a range of training opportunities. These include areas such as fire safety, behaviour management and first aid, as well as training which is more specific to the needs of children who stay here, such as supporting children with cerebral palsy or Down’s syndrome. Staff are therefore provided with the skills and knowledge that they require to support children effectively.

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Good

The registered manager and her staff work closely and productively in partnership with parents, who recognise the contribution that the home makes to their children’s quality of life. A monthly parents group is a helpful arena to share views, air any concerns and provide support. One parent said, ‘The home is an exceptional resource, staff are friendly, can’t do enough for you, the activities are great, staff accommodate all my child’s needs, nothing is a bother to them.’ The high regard that parents hold for the home is demonstrated by their commitment to fundraising. During the inspection, one parent dropped in to hand over £400 which she had raised in a local event.

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Good

Staff also have good relationships with professionals. They are assertive in challenging other agencies when their contribution is not fully supportive of children, for example when up-to-date planning and assessment documents have not been provided by the placing authority within a reasonable timescale.

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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 0300 123 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, work- based 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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