Children's home run by The Little Flower

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:

 The service provides effective care and support that nurture and protect young people who live and stay at the home.  Young people‟s welfare is promoted through highly personalised and individual care.  Young people enjoy a range of fun activities that aid their learning, and social and personal development.  An appropriately skilled team of staff care for young people, who develop trusting and sensitive relationships with them.  Consultation with parents and young people takes priority. Opinions are respected, valued and central to the running of the home.  Managers have a passion to raise standards continually and provide a service that is personal and individual for each young person. They understand the strengths and areas for improvements in the home and have plans in place to make improvements.

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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 with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person‟s report to— (a) HMCI. (Regulation 44(7)(a)) 30/11/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— (a) supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45(4)(a)) 30/12/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20)( Guide to children's homes regulations including the quality standards, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Information about this children's home

This home provides residential and respite care and accommodation for up to three children or young people who have a physical and/or learning disabilities. A private company runs the home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 03/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/11/2015 Full Good 31/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/02/2015 Full Good

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Good

At the time of this inspection, the home was providing a service to one young person placed under a short-break arrangement. The inspector did not have the opportunity to observe or speak with any young people.

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Good

Young people benefit from care provided by a consistent, nurturing and well- trained staff team. Young people develop trust and confidence and, as a result, make good progress in their development. Good levels of individual care and support ensure that their specific needs are continually met. A parent commented, „When X returns home he is chilled and has that twinkle in his eye which says to us, “l have been happy and stimulated”.‟

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Good

The manager and staff are adept at using a variety of communication methods such as gestures, symbols and words to ensure that young people‟s views are listened to and understood. This means that young people develop skills in line with their capability, for example understanding that when a young person removes his hands from an activity he wishes to stop, or a closed mouth means „l am full‟. Young people develop their understanding and are proud of their achievements, for example the use of single words or blowing kisses to family and staff to say „l love you‟.

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Good

Individual goals and targets are identified and set for each young person. These goals are based on enhancing young people‟s progress and developmental experiences, for example to enable young people to develop choice in decision making or to enhance their enjoyment of an activity.

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Good

Young people enjoy a range of fun and creative activities in and out of the home. Displays of young people participating in activities are visible throughout the home. Each young person has an individual pictorial life storybook charting their progress and activities while at the home. The home is well equipped with play materials that meet the needs of young people. Musical instruments, storytelling and sensory play are particularly enjoyed. The small sensory garden enables young people to interact with nature, plant vegetables and enjoy the fruits of their endeavours. They enjoy a range of community activities ranging from visiting restaurants and places of interest to enjoying participation in sporting activity. A parent commented: „X enjoys going to rugby matches and we are so pleased that the staff take him out to games. This is something that we are unable to do for him.‟

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Good

Support for young people‟s health needs is safe and effective. A good level of training promotes a clear understanding of safe administration of medication. Young people benefit from nutritious, home-cooked meals, which meet individual dietary and cultural needs. As a result, young people remain healthy and well.

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Good

Young people who come into the home have a range of complex disabilities and needs. They are cared for by a dedicated staff team that has a good understanding of safeguarding and the particular risks for young people with disabilities. Detailed risk assessments enable the staff team to support them to stay safely at the home and to spend time in the community.

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Good

Young people benefit from clear routines. Any challenging or complex behaviours are well understood and managed. As a result, physical intervention is not used. Incidents are well recorded and examined by the manager to ensure that practice in this area remains effective.

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Good

Young people‟s safety is central to the practice of this home. Safeguarding policies and procedures, including whistleblowing, are clear, understood by the staff team and implemented when necessary.

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Good

Parents confirm regular consultation with them on the care and support provided by the home. The home‟s complaints procedure is clear and understood. This helps to ensure that young people remain safe while at the home.

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Good

Young people enjoy a safe, comfortable and secure environment. The home is well equipped to support and care for young people with disabilities safely. For example, each young person has a personal evacuation plan in place. The location risk assessment is thorough and there are no health and safety issues. This further enhances the safety of young people.

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Good

The registered manager is also the owner of the service. She has appropriate leadership and management qualifications, and has over 25 years‟ experience of working in the social care field. She is passionate about providing a quality service for young people with disabilities. The service is child focused, and seeks to ensure that young people have varied and enjoyable experiences in a safe and secure home.

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Good

The service has recently changed its registration to accommodate children on a long-term basis, as well as continuing to offer a respite service. However, at the time of this inspection, there were no young people placed on a permanent basis.

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Good

The manager strives to and creates a well-run, quality service. She is aware of the home‟s strengths and continually seeks to identify improvements to enhance the experiences of young people.

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Good

Staff receive regular and effective supervision that keeps them focused on the support and care that they provide to young people. A member of staff commented, „The manager is fully supportive of us. Our voices are heard; she listens and will implement any ideas we have to improve experiences for our young people.‟ They have opportunities for regular informal discussions, as well as team meetings. However, the service has not implemented a workforce development plan. As a result, there is no central point of reference at the home from which to analyse the skillset of the current staff team.

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Good

Independent monitoring of service is challenging. Records and overall standards of practice are robustly scrutinised. The manager uses this information to raise standards and improve on her quality assurance practice. She highlights areas for ongoing development while recognising what is working well in the service. Feedback from young people, parents and social workers is central to these quality assurance reports. However, Ofsted does not receive independent and internal monitoring reports in a timely manner. As a result, the regulator is unable to monitor what is happening at the home.

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Good

An effective manager and committed staff team cares and supports young people who access this service. Procedures and practices are robust.

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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 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

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

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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