Children's home run by Prestige Adolescent Care and Education Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

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:

 Children receive high quality, individualised care, which helps them to make progress across all aspects of their development. Their health and education are very well and successfully promoted. They understand their care plans and the reasons for decisions about their care.

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

 Staff listen to children and take their views seriously, including complaints and concerns they raise. Children build strong bonds with staff and trust them.

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

 Children’s safety is at the heart of the home’s practice and children who live in the home feel safe and are safe. Staff treat children with warmth, kindness and respect.

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

 Children receive therapeutic support and staff receive good guidance and advice on how to understand and respond to individual children’s complex behaviour.

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

 The leadership and management of the home is outstanding. Through very good training, support and supervision, staff develop the skills they need to support children’s continuous development.

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

 There has been a reduction in the use of restraint and the home no longer uses prone restraint. Staff parenting skills have improved and continue to improve so that behaviour management strategies are more effective.

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What does the children's home need to do to improve?

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.

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Recommendation

The home has an important role in supporting each child leaving the home in the period immediately before their departure. The registered person should help each child to prepare for leaving, both practically and emotionally. In particular, ensure that children moving to foster care are helped to understand about positive family life. (The Guide, page 57, paragraph 11.9)

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately run and is registered for four children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/12/2015 Full Good 12/03/2015 Full Good 02/07/2014 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/02 2014 Full Good

p.5

Good

Staff build positive, influential and secure relationships with children so that children feel safe and well cared for. They are sensitive to children’s individual needs. Staff successfully help children to develop self-esteem and confidence through engagement in a wide variety of activities and incentive schemes that reward positive behaviour and success. Children develop their self-care, independence and interpersonal skills by establishing good habits and routines through daily targets that focus on rewarding achievement.

p.6

Good

The home makes a positive difference to children’s lives. Children engage well in education and receive extremely good support from the home that enables them to achieve better than expected results and to have a positive experience of education. For example, the home worked very well in collaboration with a school and independent tutoring service to ensure that a child who was excluded in Year 11 received high levels of support and effective, home-based teaching. This resulted in him achieving above his predicted grades and securing a place at college. An education provider commented: ‘They do an excellent job. They support him really well. They help him with doing his homework and reading. He comes every day, fully equipped, despite the distance. He is settled since being there and is in a good frame of mind.’

p.6

Good

Children’s health and welfare are equally well supported. They receive nutritious, home-cooked meals, which they enjoy as part of a social occasion at the dining table, and plenty of exercise, which promotes their physical and mental well-being. Records show that children grow significantly within the early weeks of their placement. Their health needs are identified and addressed and staff support individual children’s complex health needs very well. Good bedtime routines help children to settle at night and all children hand in their mobile phones at night, which reduces the likelihood of their sleep being disturbed. This helps to ensure that they get up for school each day and have full and active days.

p.6

Good

Those children who receive therapy benefit from the opportunity to explore their feelings in a safe environment. Additionally, the therapist provides advice and guidance to the staff team. This helps staff to have a better understanding of individual children’s complex needs and assists them to respond more effectively to children’s presenting behaviour. A social worker commented: ‘The placement has been excellent. He seems much happier since being there. The therapist works with the team around him and they are working well with him and us. There is more to do, but it’s working well.’

p.6

Good

Children are consulted about their day-to-day care through regular house meetings and key worker sessions as well as in everyday conversations. They know their own plans and know what they need to do to reach their goals. Good placement plans and day-to-day targets guide staff to provide positive experiences for children in accordance with their particular needs. One-to-one staffing allows children to engage in pursuits they enjoy, both in and away from the home. The home provides a pleasant, homely environment where children can freely play in the large back garden and relax in the communal rooms.

p.7

Good

Professionals comment: ‘We are very impressed with the care and support they have shown our child in a short space of time,’ and, ‘They actually care about the child. He gets better attention in the home than he got in placement. He has actually said he does more now than he's ever done and he has some positive role models, which he needs.’

p.7

Good

All children said they are well looked after and that staff listen to them and take notice of what they say. One child explained: ‘They listen to us, and they help me when I need help.’ Minutes of children’s meetings demonstrate that children are enabled to have their say and are listened to. For example, one child challenged the fairness of the incentive and reward system and staff spent time explaining it to help him understand how it is individually focused to meet the needs of each child. Children asked for a laptop and this has now been provided and they are able to take turns using it, with staff supervision.

p.7

Good

Children are supported to maintain contact with their families, where this is in their interests. Where possible, the home fosters the re-establishment of relationships that have previously broken down. The home works with parents and placing authorities to encourage the growth of positive, supportive relationships that benefit children, and staff help children to understand when relationships are damaging. Staff support children who live far from home to have positive face-to- face contact with their families by transporting children long distances, as required.

p.7

Good

The home works in partnership with placing agencies in helping to prepare children for moving on to new placements, usually fostering. Although the home complies with the wishes of the placing authority, not all children have a good understanding of what family life entails, before they move. For some, the lack of effective preparation adds to their anxiety and uncertainty about the move. Judgement grade

p.7

Good

Comprehensive person-centred risk assessments and individual behaviour management support plans guide the staff team to care for children safely, through consistent, well-planned responses to risk-taking and challenging behaviour. Consequently, the home provides a stable environment with clear boundaries that steadfastly supports children to have a strong sense of safety. One child said: ‘It’s definitely a safe place to live,’ and another said he feels safe because staff don’t fight.

p.8

Good

The staff team has a good understanding of risks to children who are new to the home. Children who have engaged in dangerous, risk-taking behaviour in previous placements are much safer, and are far less involved in, for example, self-harm or drug misuse. Over time, they become more settled and their outlook on life becomes more positive.

p.8

Good

Access to a phone is risk-assessed, and where it would not be safe for children to have unrestricted access to a phone, arrangements are in place for them to use the office phone, which is made available on request out of school hours. Children are not provided with a mobile phone or wi-fi access until staff are satisfied that they have a good understanding of how to use the internet, social media and mobile phones safely. To achieve this, staff hold key worker sessions with children and support them to watch and learn from educational videos relating to online safety, grooming and exploitation. This helps to protect children from bullying and grooming.

p.8

Good

Children with a history of going missing are missing less often and this behaviour reduces over time. They have individual missing from care protocols that clearly outline how staff should respond to the child going missing and at what point the police should be informed. When a child is missing, staff follow agreed procedures, which include searching known haunts and making contact with the child’s family and friends. The home makes every effort to ensure that children receive an independent return interview, challenging placing authorities if they are not meeting their duties to provide these. In addition, the manager or a senior member of staff speaks with the child on their return to ascertain the reason they went missing and this information is shared with professionals and used to develop safer caring of that child. The home carefully considers the push/pull factors that may be influencing the child’s behaviour, which further helps to protect children.

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Good

The very high use of restraint has been a feature of the home which has been highlighted in previous inspection reports. Since the last inspection, all staff have received refresher training in the management of restraints. This was following an incident in which a child received a minor injury during a restraint. The home is no longer using prone restraint as staff now recognise that this is not a suitable method of intervention for children. The use of restraint has reduced significantly with a change in the children living at the home, improved behaviour management strategies and a clearer focus on the use of distraction and de-escalation techniques to reduce children’s anxieties and aggression. However, this is work in progress and the manager recognises that more needs to be done. At 54 restraints over a nine month period, the use of restraint remains comparatively high; but with the improved use of positive and timely behaviour management interventions, the

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Good

home is taking positive action to reduce the need for and use of restraint.

p.9

Outstanding

The home is very well led by an experienced manager who is suitably qualified, with a level 5 diploma, and who has been the registered manager since June 2013. She is ably assisted by two deputy managers and receives good support and supervision from a suitably experienced line manager.

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Outstanding

The management team provides strong and inspirational leadership and effective monitoring of children’s progress and outcomes. They know the children extremely well and are fully involved in decisions about children’s care. Their clear focus on helping children to have enjoyable experiences within clear and supportive boundaries leads to children becoming more emotionally stable and secure, and making noteworthy progress.

p.9

Outstanding

The staff team is very well supported and trained to meet the specific needs of the children currently living at the home. Recent training includes supporting children at risk of sexual exploitation and extremism as well as helping children to stay safe online. Staff have also had specialist training in meeting the health needs of a particular child. This helps to ensure that staff have the underpinning knowledge to protect and promote the welfare of the children living at the home.

p.9

Outstanding

Recruitment, induction and supervision processes are extremely thorough and this ensures as far as possible that children are cared for by suitable people who quickly develop the skills they need to provide good quality care. A member of staff said: ‘We work well as a team together and support one another when needed.’ Records of regular team meetings and one-to-one supervision sessions show that these meetings are aptly child-focused and reflective, geared towards helping staff to have a better understanding of children’s needs and to continually improve their practice, so that children get the best possible care. Leaders and managers know the strengths and weaknesses of the home very well. They take robust and swift action to address shortfalls and promote continuous development and improvement. For example, good progress has been made in addressing recommendations made at the last inspection and this has led to an

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Outstanding

overall improvement in the quality of experiences the home provides for children. The home benefits from exceptionally good monitoring by an independent person, which includes a monthly assessment of children’s welfare and safety. Reports of these visits provide helpful feedback to the manager, which she uses to improve the operation of the home further, through reflecting and acting on matters raised about practice and recording.

p.10

Outstanding

The statement of purpose was reviewed in August 2016. It provides detailed information about the home and how it works with associated partner agencies. It accurately reflects the service provision.

p.10

Outstanding

Partnership working is strong and effective. This is reflected in the views of parents, social workers and other professionals. For example, social workers report: ‘We have positive working relationships,’ and, ‘They liaise well with us.’ A parent said: ‘They keep me up to date with things. They have good rules. He doesn’t like them but he understands them and they give him good advice, which he follows. They are doing everything they can for him and they are doing it right.’

p.10

Outstanding

The manager ensures that all written information and relevant documents are provided prior to or at the point of placement. She seeks further advice from social workers before agreeing to a placement and this enables effective placement planning and matching. The manager and staff advocate extremely well on behalf of children to ensure that they get an appropriate level of service from other professionals, including from social workers, education providers and health professionals. The home goes the extra mile to ensure that children get the services they need. For example, they transport children long distances to ensure that children can remain settled at their own school, and they follow up on health concerns to make sure that children get the treatment and support they need as quickly as possible.

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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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