Children's home run by Reamcare Limited in Kingston upon Thames

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:

 Managers are highly aspirational and do not see learning disability as an obstacle that limits their high ambitions for young people.  Young people make outstanding progress in this home and receive highly personalised and individual care from a skilled and committed staff team.  The quality of care provided by staff assists young people to make outstanding progress in their personal development. This is most significant given their starting points.  Young people have developed highly positive relationships with staff who put young people’s safety and welfare at the core of their practice.  Exceptional risk assessments balance management strategies with a strong determination to ensure young people benefit from a range of opportunities. High levels of staff supervision mean that young people do not go missing. Staff are vigilant and display excellent knowledge and practice in line with the highly effective procedures.

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Young people enjoy life-enhancing opportunities that broaden their horizons. They participate in an extensive range of activities in, and outside of the home.  Young people’s voices play a central role in their care planning. Staff are creative in utilising alternative methods of communication to enable young people to share their views and opinions.  Communication and partnership working are excellent and a significant strength of the setting. The home has active and dynamic relationships with a range of health and educational professionals. This collaborative working ensures that young people successfully manage and achieve educationally.  The manager has exceptionally high expectations of her staff. She consistently monitors the quality of care provided in the home, seeking feedback from young people, parents, carers and professionals to improve the quality of care provided.  The service is continually evolving and there is excellent quality assurance.

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Information about this children's home

The service is a privately owned children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to five children and young people. The home accommodates children and young people who have a learning or physical disability on a permanent or short-break basis.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/11/2015 Full Good

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Outstanding

The quality of care provided for young people is excellent. The home excels in the offering opportunities to young people. Care plans focus on meeting the individual social, emotional and health goals of each young person. Young people are considered as individuals, benefiting from highly personalised and innovative care that meets their specific needs. Managers are aspirational and display passion that ensures that each young person reaches their full potential. This has resulted in young people making excellent developmental progress. For example, young people previously assessed as non-verbal are now communicating using simple words. Other young people diagnosed as fully incontinent have achieved full continence in less than nine months. Young people benefit because of the commitment and hard work of managers and staff who understand their needs and vulnerabilities and work tirelessly to ensure that these are met.

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Outstanding

Young people with profound learning disabilities have developed excellent relationships with staff. During the inspection, young people who were previously non-verbal or with little communication, were observed recognising individual staff members, saying ‘hello’, ‘shaking hands’ and using individual staff names. As a result, young people have grown in self-confidence, which is translated into their positive interaction with others. A parent commented, ‘I can only describe this group of people as fantastic. My son, for the first time in 14 years, now calls me ‘mum’ and knows who l am. All of this is due to the care and love he receives from the staff. Before he was placed at the home everyone had given up on him.’ Staff are excellent at supporting young people to contribute their views. They skilfully use social stories and picture exchange communication systems to enable young people to participate in their care planning and share their views and

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Outstanding

opinions on how they are cared for. These methods are also used to reflect goals and achievements and to prepare for gradual changes in routine and new events. For example, helping young people prepare to take part in their looked after review meetings, summer holidays and most important, preparation to attend school. This visual support has been successful in enabling young people to communicate their wishes and to understand adult expectations of them. Advocacy on educational matters for young people is an outstanding feature of this home. Managers and staff work tirelessly and show exceptional commitment to ensure that young people have access to education. Young people who have previously been denied access to education are now engaged in full-time education due to the persistence and proactive approach of staff in working with educational colleagues. Communication between the two disciplines is consistent and effective. They regularly discuss approaches and

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Outstanding

strategies to help manage responses to changes in medical, behavioural and educational needs. An education lead commented, ‘This home is an excellent example of how we hope children will be supported to manage the school routine. They have gone over and beyond to support us in ensuring we understand and provide individual and appropriate care for the children’. ’ She further commented that due to the supportive nature and close working relationship with the home, they had no hesitation in taking in another young person and making appropriate adjustments to enable them to have physical access to the school. Staff skilfully provide an excellent range of activities to all young people to ensure that they make rapid progress in all areas of their development. For example, visits to the library promotes responsibility for choosing and returning books. Sensitively planned holidays give young people the opportunity to explore different parts of

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Outstanding

the country and to take part in a variety of activities. The summer enabled young people the opportunity to visit tourist attractions in London, an activity-based holiday, various seaside resorts and picnics in the park. Within the home, young people enjoy wide-ranging creative and sensory individual and team activities. Pictorial evidence of young people participating in activities in and out of the home are displayed in the home. This shows young people clearly enjoying their experience and participating in meaningful pursuits. All young people have detailed healthcare plans. Staff are familiar and understand these plans. They use creative methods to ensure that young people lead healthy lifestyles and make positive food choices. Staff have built effective and solid working relationships with a variety of healthcare services such as the occupational health service. This ensures that young people receive the support required to

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Outstanding

meet their current physical and emotional health needs and address any that may arise as young people develop. Managers work diligently with health colleagues who provide training and advice to the staff team. This ensures young people receive tailored packages of health care that meet their complex needs. Staff are persistent in promoting quality and carefully assessed contact between young people and their families and carers. A parent said, ‘When we visit it is like meeting our extended family. They include and welcome our daughter and do everything to make us feel welcome and enjoy time with our son.’

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Outstanding

A skilled leadership and management team prioritises the welfare and safety of young people extremely well. There is excellent planning for the admission of new young people. Staff are sensitive and insightful into the potential for young people with disabilities to display changing behaviours. Young people move into this home with complex disabilities and medical needs. The vast majority of young people have no sense of danger or risks to themselves or others. As a result, managers and staff maintain full responsibility for ensuring that they are safely cared for and protected from harm. Young people’s safety is afforded top priority. Managers and staff have a full understanding of each young person’s known and emerging vulnerabilities. Exceptionally comprehensive risk assessments identify individual risks; these assessments reviewed regularly. Risk assessments provide an appropriate balance between safe management strategies and allowing young people to maximise their

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Outstanding

life experiences. This increases opportunities for young people to enjoy new experiences while also ensuring that they are kept safe from harm. Managers and staff are not risk-averse and are exceptionally creative in their ambitions to enable young people to enjoy a full life. For example, staff recently enabled a young person to travel back to their community and enjoy a day out with their family. The exceptional planning and strategies put in place enabled a successful and fun experience for the young person. Parents commented, ‘We will forever be indebted to the staff for allowing this day to happen and for (name of young person) to meet and play with his siblings for the first time in over a year.’ Behaviour management systems are excellent. They ensure that young people are safely supported. Effective use of picture symbols and social stories enables staff to effectively communicate with young people, and to help them to manage their

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Outstanding

behaviour and emotions in a calm and safe way. They also give young people the opportunity to have a voice and many opportunities to think about and understand their experiences and share any concerns that they have. An example of this is a young person who continually grabbed food from others. Using picture symbols as part of social stories enabled them to understand how this affected another young person. This approach also allowed the young person the opportunity to discuss the choices they would like to have, particularly around the type of snacks offered to them. Young people live in a safe and comfortable environment. High levels of staff supervision mean that staff are confident in their ability to support and care for young people. The home excels in using the positive parenting model together with a highly nurturing staff team. Due to the exceptional support and safe care that they receive from skilled managers and staff young people are relaxed and respond

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Outstanding

positively to learning new things. As a result, all of the young people have progressed significantly, and for some beyond expectations, in all areas of their development. Recruitment practices follow strict safeguarding protocols. This means that only suitable people work with young people. Managers are aware of the broader risks to young people, including internet abuse. Computers have safety controls to protect young people from unsuitable sites. The management team prioritises the safety of the premises and a comprehensive range of risk assessments linked to a common sense approach to safety supports this. Young people learn basic personal and road safety through their daily routines in the community. This helps them appreciate the risks outside of the home and better prepares them as they progress toward adulthood.

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Outstanding

Leaders and managers are hands-on, highly visible and have a dynamic vision for excellence. To provide excellent services they lead by example and demonstrate an unquestionable commitment and passion to provide the highest possible standards of care for young people. The registered manager has a relevant management qualification and several years’ experience in working with young people with disabilities. She has been in post since the service opened. Managers have created a culture of high aspirations and a belief that disability should not impact negatively on young people’s life chances and their right to life enriching opportunities. Skilled staff provide an exceptionally high quality of individualised care for young people. Staff know young people well, have developed trusting relationships, anticipate their needs and ensure that these are thoughtfully met. Managers are continually seeking new approaches and initiatives to enhance the

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Outstanding

experiences of young people. Recent developments have focused on increasing young people’s engagement in their care planning, attendance at professional meetings and new ways of involving young people in local youth clubs and other activities to enable them to make friends outside of the home. Staff excel in listening to young people, ensuring that their views and opinions are acted on, no matter how small. An example of this was asking a young person, who had previously been praised by professionals for taking part in his care planning meeting, how his involvement could be improved. His response was ‘having cake for everyone in the meeting’. Consequently, staff will be supporting him to bake a cake for his next meeting. Staff benefit from reflective supervision, which enables them to reflect upon the effectiveness of their intervention. Regular team meetings are used to focus on continual development for young people and staff members describe them as

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Outstanding

productive and relevant. A staff member commented, ‘We are like a family who share ideas and positive ways of working for our children. When l see the continual progress made by them, l know it is all worthwhile.’ Another member of staff said, ‘Mangers are hands-on. They know the young people as well as us. They challenge, push boundaries and speak out to ensure young people receive all the services and opportunities they are entitled to. As a result, we, as a staff team, feel empowered and will accept nothing but the best for our children. The setting’s comprehensive development plan and internal and external monitoring systems focus on improving progress for young people with subsequent excellent outcomes. Managers know their strengths and areas to improve upon. This is a continually evolving service with a culture for continuous improvement. Independent monitoring of the home provides excellent child-focused reports,

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Outstanding

highlighting areas of strengths and constructive advice for improvements. Internal monitoring systems are extensive and use the views of young people, parents and carers and care professionals to further development the service. Young people’s needs are met in accordance with the ethos of the statement of purpose. Young people receive individual creative children’s guides in a communication form to ensure that they all have good access to information. Young people benefit from living in a well-decorated, homely environment. They are supported to express preferences in the decoration and furnishings of the communal areas and their individual bedrooms. This is a service of excellence where there is genuine care and enthusiasm not to just improve progress and experiences for young people but to ensure that they have positive life chances as they grow. This is best demonstrated in the observation made of a young person by their parent, ‘It’s like a light bulb has been

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Outstanding

turned on in him since being placed at the home ’

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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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