Children's home run by Broadwood Education Services in Rossendale

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children’s home’s provision is good because:

 Young people enjoy positive relationships with staff who know them well, and who provide them with praise and encouragement to succeed.  The manager and staff are skilled and experienced in responding to unsafe behaviours, such as missing from home, self-harm and sexual exploitation. Prompt action is taken to help and protect young people.  Effective multi-agency working contributes to keeping young people safe. Young people know that staff care for them.  From their starting points, young people make good progress in their personal development. This includes improvements in behaviour, engagement with education and a significant reduction of incidents of going missing.  The manager demonstrates strong leadership to raise standards of care and motivate the staff team. Staff report that they are supported well through supervision, training and direct guidance from the manager. Team morale is good with a shared vision of continual improvement.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

6: The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

In order to meet the quality and purpose of care standard, the registered person must: (2)(c)(i) ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child. In particular, decorate the hall and landing, replace the lounge carpet and remove unsightly padlocks. 14/10/2016

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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 is responsible for leading a team which provides high quality care for all children living in the home. They must lead and manage the home in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s statement of purpose. In particular, staff meetings require a set agenda, a concise record of discussions and decisions, and clear action points. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’,

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a private organisation and is registered to provide care and accommodation for four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 30/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/01/2016 Full Requires improvement 30/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/01/2015 Full Good

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Good

Young people are cared for in a nurturing environment where the staff are attentive and sensitive to individual needs. Young people benefit from this level of care, form attachments and develop their skills in building relationships.

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Good

Young people have not gone missing from this home and levels of aggression have reduced. This is indicative of young people feeling safe at this home and benefiting from good relationships with the manager and staff.

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Good

At the time of this inspection, one young person was in placement, and another young person had recently moved on as she had reached the age of 18 years. The previous full inspection raised a requirement to ensure that young people are only admitted to this home if their needs can be met and consideration is given to the impact on the existing young people in placement. Leaders and managers have reflected on this and are now in the process of admitting a young person. The manager is working towards a planned arrival having visited the prospective young person in their current placement, and having invited them to this home for a visit and subsequently an overnight stay. Risk assessments and documentation are reviewed by the manager to inform this decision. This process avoids admitting young people at a time of crisis and promotes consultation with all young people about this change.

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Good

Consultation with young people is a good feature of this home. The manager and staff engage well to establish the views and opinions of young people. This occurs verbally and through the use of written records. In addition to finding out the young people’s choices for food, home decoration and activities, there are open discussions on how to support young people in making personal progress. For example, to improve an area of behaviour, a discussion occurs to identify what level of support is required to modify and reduce the negative behaviour. With the young person, staff agree a plan and link expectations to an incentive. This has been effective and improves daily routines and sleeping patterns. Young people recognise their success to the extent of asking the manager, ‘I need a new incentive, can you help me?’

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Good

One young person has struggled to maintain regular attendance in education. Support during these times has ensured that a tutor is available in the home and that regular meetings occur to provide a suitable education placement. If required, young people receive staff support at their school or college. The staff team makes learning fun. For example, a young person is interested in learning an additional language. Spanish speaking staff are developing conversational skills with the young person and liaising with the school on how to introduce this more formally in the curriculum.

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Good

Young people receive support to develop their skills in independence at an appropriate pace for each individual. All young people are encouraged to get involved in mealtimes, either through menu choice, shopping or cooking.

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Good

The manager and staff team are trained and skilled in managing self-injurious behaviours. Young people make steady progress despite the challenges of adolescence and incidents of self-harm. The manager and staff team have effective working partnerships with health professionals. The team receives support in managing the mental and emotional health of young people from a therapist within the organisation. Strategies agreed by significant professionals ensure that young people receive a consistent response to the challenging behaviours that they present.

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Good

Family members and social workers report positively about the home and the care provided. They all say communication is good and that behaviour is managed well, even when young people present with high levels of self-harm and risk-taking behaviour.

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Good

The staff team embraces equality and diversity, ensuring that young people’s cultural needs are met as best they can be. In reality, this home is located in a predominantly White British community and some young people feel isolated from a multicultural community in a city, where they have lived previously. A young person, and their social worker, say that this home is good but they would prefer to live in a city.

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Good

Generally the house is pleasantly furnished, decorated and welcoming. A visiting professional described it as ‘homely’. Young people like their bedrooms that have recently been decorated to their choice. The landing requires redecoration to remove all signs of smoke damage, and the manager is in the process of sourcing a specialist cleaning company to do this. The electrical fuse board is located in a cupboard with padlocks, and this type of lock detracts from the homely appearance. A new carpet is on order for the lounge.

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Good

A serious incident of a fire occurred in the house, causing damage to an upstairs bedroom. Because of the action taken by staff, young people were evacuated safely and protected from harm as the fire was contained to one room. This incident led to one young person leaving and going to live elsewhere. This traumatic event was managed well by the manager and staff team.

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Good

Prior to the fire in the home, the manager had invited a fire prevention officer to meet with young people after they had set light to some items in the garden and the bathroom. The fire prevention officer visited twice to talk to young people and to show a film about the dangers of fire, but despite this level of intervention the fire still occurred.

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Good

Fire safety in the home proved effective and, after a review of the systems and risk assessments in place, the fire service reported that no amendments were required, as they were satisfied with the fire prevention systems and procedures.

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Good

Risk management within the home is regularly reviewed. Hand-written entries on typed documents evidence such review and demonstrate how the risk assessments are live and current documents. The manager is responsive to change to ensure that the correct protective strategies are implemented promptly to keep young people safe.

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Good

The manager works collaboratively with safeguarding agencies, attending a risk management panel with the local authority each month. Effective information exchange at these meetings has enabled the police, social workers and the staff team to take decisive action to prevent young people placing themselves at risk of sexual exploitation. Comprehensive placement plans and risk assessments have enabled the staff to support young people safely, resulting in there being no incidents of young people going missing in the last six months.

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Good

Staff work well together to implement boundaries and routines for young people. Physical intervention is minimal: it has occurred twice since the interim inspection. Any consequences for negative behaviour are supportive and restorative in nature. For example, in response to leaving food out of the fridge uncovered, the consequence, to go through a food hygiene folder with a key worker, enables young people to learn about food safety and increase their independence skills. The organisation has amended the record book for any consequences to ensure that it meets the Children’s Homes Regulations.

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Good

Positive feedback is provided daily to young people, which contributes to their self- esteem, improves their behaviour and reinforces the strength of relationships with staff. One record states, ‘I was really impressed that you managed to attend your entire review when in the past you have struggled with this, well done’. Another entry from a visiting member of staff from another home says, ‘Thank you for your kindness, you were so polite and nice to me. I know that it is hard for you to meet new staff but you made me feel very welcome here.’

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Good

Safety is given a high priority in this home. New staff are employed subject to effective safer recruitment procedures. Health and safety matters are routinely checked to provide a safe environment. Fire procedures were firmly tested recently and proved to be very effective.

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Good

The registered manager has been in post at this home for three years. She is suitably experienced for the role and holds the necessary qualification of a level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare.

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Good

The manager is a strong advocate for young people and staff, and she has the ability to challenge other agencies. As described by herself, ‘I can be a pushy manager as I strive to get the right things for them (young people).’ Her passion and commitment are evident to young people, the team and other professionals.

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Good

The manager effectively addressed the requirements and recommendations from the previous full inspection to the extent that none were made at the interim inspection in March 2016. Staff report very positively about the leadership and management of this home and consequently they report that team morale is good. Half of the members of the team have been in post for three years at this home with the manager. Young people and new staff benefit from this stability as there is cohesion and a commitment to deliver good quality care.

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Good

Monitoring of incidents enables the manager to analyse progress and identify patterns and trends in behaviours. This ensures that care plans and risk management plans remain effective and that changes are instigated. Quality assurance monitoring, both internally and externally, is effective in identifying strengths in the home and areas for development. Consultation with young people, their relatives and social workers contributes to the development of the home.

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Good

Comprehensive records are maintained for young people and the systems used allow for easy retrieval of records. During the inspection, the manager and staff could readily find records when asked to produce them. Case files and records demonstrated some good work with young people, though one entry was difficult to read and another lacked clarity of meaning.

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Good

Staff are supported well through training and supervision. Reflective journals are used for staff to bring to supervision and discuss with their line managers. Staff report that after an incident, the manager is available to debrief and they are confident that they do not have to wait for a formal meeting. Team meetings provide another forum for staff support and development. The records of team meetings would benefit from having a set agenda, clarity on decisions made and allocation as to who will action them.

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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 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, work- based 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

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

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