Children's Home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Lincolnshire

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 living in this home consider it as their home. They experience a family environment and know that staff genuinely care about them.  All children progress significantly from their starting points.  Through the considered care delivered, staff support children to manage and self-regulate negative behaviours and thoughts, enabling good mental health.  Staff understand the cause of negative behaviour and safeguard children by not criminalising their negative conduct.  Strong leadership and management deliver a clear ethos of child-centred practice.  Managers and staff work collaboratively with families and the wider professional team to ensure good outcomes for children.  This inspection also identified a few shortfalls. The manager’s quality of care reports lack consultation with parents and stakeholders. The children’s guide does not correctly record information in respect of the Children’s

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The children's home provision is good because:

Commissioner. Although incidents of physical intervention are infrequent, when they do occur poor recording does not evidence timely debriefs.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that 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

In order to complete a review of quality of care provided for children, the registered person must ascertain and consider the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(5)) 31/10/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that children are informed of how to contact the office of the Children's Commissioner for advice and assistance about their rights and entitlement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.19)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that any child who has been restrained has the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the incident. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that a child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than five days after the incident. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Information about this children's home

A private company owns and operates this children’s home. It is registered to offer care and accommodation for four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 24/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/11/2015 Full Requires improvement 18/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/12/2014 Full Good

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Good

Children experience a home environment and regard this home as their home. One child commented, ‘I have been in care for a very long time, and this is the only place that feels like home!’ Another added, ‘I have been in care a long time and this house is the best I have lived in.’ The committed staff team offers children a nurturing and caring environment, and an opportunity to build trusting and secure relationships with staff. These relationships become central in enabling positive change for children. One social worker noted, ‘They have given her the nurturing she needs and the freedom to make decisions so she can feel in control of her life.’ Children in this home all progress from their starting points. Each child has advanced in education, and staff work closely with education providers and virtual headteachers to secure appropriate education placements. When first placed, most children were out of education, but with support and

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Good

encouragement all successfully re-engaged. Staff support children to continue to succeed. For one child, this has meant the commissioning of additional tuition, an opportunity fully embraced by the child. All children have gone on to achieve a range of nationally recognised awards, from entry level to GCSE. Staff have also helped children to expand their learning and work opportunities by securing their engagement in voluntary work. As a result of being placed in this home, children’s educational attainment has improved and their adult life opportunities have significantly increased. Children have their health needs met. Children are generally in good physical health. A combination of healthy diet and physical exercise contributes to their overall well-being. Children placed in this home have experienced early-life trauma, which has significantly affected their emotional health. Children have displayed

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Good

both self-harming behaviours and behaviours that show emotional fragility. Through the nurturing and trusting relationships formed with staff and with the engagement of child and adolescent mental health services, children’s mental health and their emotional well-being have significantly improved. Staff’s availability to children and individual key-work sessions offer time and space for children to talk about their experiences. This intervention has helped children to heal, to self-regulate, to protect themselves and to create a more positive future. One child commented, ‘If this home didn’t happen for me, I don’t know where I would be.’ Children engage in a range of activities. These include physical exercise, such as gym attendance, and fun activities, such as bowling or cinema. All children placed enjoy free time and enjoy meeting up with friends and peers. Friends and families visit the home and some have stayed over, giving the children a typical family

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Good

home experience. Active staff have given children camping opportunities, and one child raised money for a national charity by succeeding in her venture to climb Mount Snowdon: a significant personal achievement and an individual financial contribution to a national health issue. One child commented, ‘I have been given opportunities here that I would never have had.’ These opportunities offer children a sense of fun and a growth in social competence. They also raise self-esteem and the children’s resilience. For children joining the home and for those moving on, well-considered transition plans help to reduce anxiety and aid a smooth move. An initial needs impact risk assessment considers the needs of any potential placement to those already in place. A children’s guide sets out the home’s operations and expectations. This includes a personalised message from one child, which offers any newcomer a warm welcome. The guide, however, requires updating as contact information in

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Good

respect of the Children’s Commissioner is incorrect. Children leaving the home do so with much-improved outcomes. Their moving on is enabled by their emotional stability. Staff work closely with the professional team to ensure the appropriateness of suitable onward placements. One child whose plan is a step down to foster care spoke of her recognition of changes within herself and how staff had helped her get there. ‘When I came here I was in a really dark place. Staff gave me the opportunities I didn’t have before. They took me under their wing. They talk to me, listen to me or just be with me. I guess the staff believed in me and helped me out of it, that dark place.’ About another child whose plan is to move to semi-independence, her social worker commented, ‘She would not have managed this a few months ago, but she can now, due to their intense support.’

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Good

Staff help and protect the children in their care. However, more importantly, staff enable them to help and protect themselves. The trusting and nurturing relationships formed with staff are the foundation on which children are enabled to create positive change. Harmful behaviours reduce as children begin to cope with past trauma and regulate their emotions. The home operates a therapeutic model of care, using particular reporting methods to track behaviour, emotional well-being and risk relationships and indicators. This forms the basis of the children’s behaviour management plans. Staff work closely to deliver a consistent style in behaviour management, setting clear boundaries and expectations for children. The manager engages the services of the wider professional network, such as alcohol and drug services, to work directly with all children, as new behaviour emerges. A direct and prompt response offers children

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Good

education about risks, at the earliest opportunity. Staff recognise that some behaviours are borne out of past experiences and do not seek to criminalise children for their display of damaging behaviour. Police are not called; instead, children are offered understanding and reassurance from staff. The home has recently experienced an increase in one child going missing or absent from the home. The child always makes her way to her mother. When this occurs, the home initiates their missing-from-care procedures and delivers a robust multi-disciplinary response. Return-home interviews consider the reasons for the missing episode and ensure that no harm has come to the child. The home’s manager is proactively working with the professional team to safeguard the child and to consider parental contact without the need for the child to go missing. The need for staff to physically intervene in a risky behaviour is a rare occurrence,

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Good

as staff’s skill in de-escalation and the established good relationships are consistently effective. However, on these rare occasions, poor recording has not evidenced children receiving a timely debrief. This may have a detrimental effect on the children and relationships within the home. On one occasion, staff intervened as two children were in a physical altercation. The manager arranged a restorative justice meeting with the children, allowing time for their reflection and apology. This effective intervention smoothed the relationship between the children involved and increased their sense of personal responsibility.

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Good

The manager is suitably qualified to hold the position. She brings a wealth of experience to the post and has held the registered manager’s post in this home for the past four years. The manager is driven to get the best outcomes for children and effectively leads the team to deliver this ethos. Staff speak positively about the management of the home, their clear vision for children and the support they receive in delivering care. This unified approach offers children a consistent working style. One parent commented, ‘It is a strong supportive home. Staff work together and it makes her feel safe. They do everything they possibly can. She is doing really well and that’s thanks to the staff.’ The appropriately vetted staff team ensures the safe recruitment of staff. New starters undertake a set induction programme offering them an oversight of organisational policy and practice. As part of the process, they shadow experienced

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Good

members of staff. This offers them opportunity to learn practice within the home and time to build rapport with children as they begin to establish relationships. In recognition of this complex area of work, new staff receive fortnightly supervision. This frequency offers them a regular, supportive environment in which to discuss practice and development. Following a successful probation, supervision moves to monthly sessions. A set agenda offers staff time to focus on such topics as children’s needs and professional development. Annual appraisals review past performance and set ongoing development plans, to ensure service delivery in line with the home’s statement of purpose. Staff feel valued. They experience job satisfaction, which contributes to staff retention and the continuity of care for children. However, a shortfall in practice occurred. Two records of supervision for one member were unavailable. Consequently, there is no evidence that those

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Good

supervisions took place in line with organisational policy. A programme of mandatory training and refresher training ensures that staff remain up to date with such topics as safeguarding and first aid. As children’s individual needs arise, the manager commissions specific training, such as gang culture, to upskill staff in their knowledge and understanding of the subject, to ensure the well-being of children. All eligible staff either have or are working towards the completion of the required levels of the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) diploma in childcare. A particular strength of the home is its close working relationships with the wider professional network and families. All professionals reported frequent communication, sometimes on a daily basis. As staff hold the children’s welfare at the centre of their practice, they appropriately question care planning. One childcare manager commented, ‘They don’t mind if they challenge us appropriately

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Good

too.’ Parents also report good communication with the home. One commented, ‘Oh it’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant.’ The home is a central part of the team around the child and communicates with all professionals and parents to promote and support the children’s welfare. The manager has a good oversight of the home and its practices. Monitoring tools are in place to monitor practice and the quality of care provided. However, the quality of care audit fails to explicitly consider the views and opinions of parents and stakeholders. This narrow field of feedback limits the manager’s ability to fully consider the wider view of interested parties’ experiences and thoughts about how the service delivers care. This impacts on the opportunity for the manager to plan and drive improvement for the service. To improve the quality and standards of care further, the last inspection set two recommendations. The first was to ensure that children were consulted regularly

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Good

on their views about the home’s care and that they should see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. The manager has met this recommendation. Residents’ meetings take place fortnightly. These offer the children time to talk about any matters that they wish to raise. The manager now meets separately with the children, offering the same opportunity. The manager raises each matter in the monthly staff meetings in which ‘the voice of the child’ is a regular agenda item and action is taken. Similarly, children are aware of the home’s complaints procedure and use this system effectively. The home has also successfully used advocacy services to support children to make external complaints. Children now have ample opportunity to raise matters about their care with the manager and staff team. Their voice is heard and has led to changes in practice and improvements in the care that children experience. With core training

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Good

up to date, the home has met the second recommendation. This well-managed home has a committed and nurturing staff team. Children flourish in its care. They make progress from their starting points and achieve good outcomes. This is a good 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 '.

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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 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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