Children's Home run by Keys Care 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’s provision is good because:

 The registered manager is very experienced and provides strong and supportive leadership to a passionate, consistent and competent staff team.  Staff work in partnership with other agencies to ensure that young people are able to make good progress and are kept safe.  Young people experience a very nurturing environment where positive relationships are seen as important to ensuring the safety and well-being of young people.  The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has plans to address shortfalls.  The staff team has remained consistent, which has enabled young people to build strong attachments with its members. Young people grow in confidence, resilience and self-esteem because of these strong attachments.  Young people are either attending school or are in employment. They enjoy a good range of activities in their leisure time.  Young people develop good independent living skills, such as budgeting, cooking

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

and cleaning. These help them to move successfully on into adulthood.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private, national organisation. The home is registered to offer care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 10/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/06/2015 Full Good 05/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/11/2014 Full Good

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Good

Young people experience a very nurturing environment where positive relationships are seen as important to ensuring the safety and well-being of young people. A psychologist said that a young person, ‘felt able to talk to the staff here, which demonstrates the quality of his relationships. This has been very important to him in the absence of his family, to have secure attachments.’ Staff have the skills and experience to enable them to form trusting, positive relationships with young people.

p.5

Good

Young people generally get on well together. A young person said: ‘We don’t really argue now.’

p.5

Good

Young people have good attendance at school or are looking for a job. A young person has just been offered a job and attended his induction day. Staff were clearly proud of his achievement. Staff work closely with school, college and employers. They attend all meetings, including parents’ evenings, and are strong advocates for the young people. A teacher said: ‘They are genuinely interested,’ and ‘Staff offered good challenge to us about the school being able to safeguard him.’

p.5

Good

Young people are in good health. Staff encourage them to eat healthy meals, participate in exercise and attend all healthcare appointments. Young people access a range of healthcare professionals, including mental health services. A psychologist said: ‘Staff have worked incredibly well with the young person and myself. This enables us to provide good support for him. They have produced a very nurturing, warm and consistent environment for him, which is what he needed.’ Staff also have access to a company therapist who helps staff to better understand the emotional needs of young people and formulate strategies for working with them. Consequently, staff have a good understanding of the emotional needs of young people. A teacher said: ‘The young person needs stability. Continuity is important and he has that with the staff and management of the home.’ Staff have also helped young people to stop smoking. A young person

p.5

Good

said: ‘I used to smoke but I’ve mostly quit. I don’t like doing it now as I want to be fit.’

p.5

Good

Young people enjoy a range of activities, such as the cinema, the gym, walks and computer games. Although activities are more limited for one young person, in line with agreed curfew arrangements, staff find creative ways to engage him in activities that do not breach his restrictions. For example, during the summer holidays, the young person was able to access an online game that involved him walking many miles! This helped with his health, confidence and self-esteem.

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Good

Staff understand why contact with family and friends is important for young people. They facilitate and promote contact, where appropriate, to ensure that young people can maintain these important links.

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Good

Young people have good opportunities to learn independence skills that help them to move successfully into independent living. A young person said, when talking about the independence plan he is working to: ‘It’s working well. I stick to the budget and sometimes I can save a bit.’

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Good

Young people have individual bedrooms that are highly personalised. A young person was excited to move to a bigger room and showed pride in arranging his room to how he wanted it. Some areas of the home are in need of redecoration. A young person said: ‘The house needs some doing up, as some rooms don’t feel like rooms, like the lounge. It needs painting, sorting out – different sofas.’ The registered manager said the home is in the process of being redecorated. The kitchen and bathroom have just been refurbished and new carpets have been ordered for the lounge, hall and landing.

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Good

Staff demonstrate great skill, teamwork and perseverance in their care of young people. They have warm and nurturing relationships with them. The staff team has remained consistent, providing continuity of care, which has enabled young people to build strong attachments and grow in confidence, resilience and self-esteem. This has allowed them to help young people through a difficult period of time when the group became unsettled in recent months.

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Good

Staff follow good safeguarding procedures to keep young people safe. They work tirelessly, helping young people to choose a more responsible path. They work in partnership with other agencies to ensure that there is a consistent and well- planned approach to benefit all young people.

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Good

Young people have gone missing from care, taken illegal substances and committed offences. However, such incidents were infrequent prior to a recent admission and have significantly reduced since he left the home. Risk management plans provide good information for staff to help them de-escalate and reduce incidents. Impact risk assessments completed on admission of young people are comprehensive. Staff do not tolerate bullying behaviour. Bullying is discussed individually with young people and at house meetings. Staff explore how the victim feels when bullying takes place. This helps young people to have a better understanding of the consequences of their actions.

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Good

Staff are trained in the use of physical intervention, but this is seldom used. Furthermore, when it is used staff are very careful to hold young people for as short a time as possible. For example, a record was made of staff guiding a young person away from a risky situation. The guide lasted approximately three seconds. Young people do have a good understanding of the rules, and the consequences for breaking the rules. They say the rules are ‘OK’. Consequences are appropriate and include actions such as the loss of free time.

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Good

Staff talk to young people about online safety and young people say they know how to access the internet safely. Staff carry out checks on new friends made online as a good parent would. They closely monitor internet usage around the home. This helps to keep young people safe.

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Good

The registered manager is very experienced and holds a management qualification. He is supportive and provides strong leadership. The staff team is highly experienced, skilled and extremely passionate about the work they do. A social worker said: ‘The staff are a good tight team. They work together as a team. They talk to each other.’ The manager and his team genuinely care for the young people and tell them this regularly. A young person was asked to choose a judgement for the home. He said: ‘It’s outstanding the way staff look after us.’

p.7

Good

External agencies agree that staff work closely with them to ensure good outcomes for young people. A teacher said: ‘There has been multi-agency work around the risk the young person presents. The key to this was being able to work with the manager and his team. They have ensured good communication and consistency, which are important in meeting his needs. I cannot speak highly enough of the manager and his team.’

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Good

There have been a number of complaints from the local community about the behaviour of some of the young people. These have been managed quickly and satisfactorily where possible. The registered manager has maintained good relationships with neighbours. The home has a good location risk assessment. This has been compiled in consultation with other agencies, such as the police. It demonstrates how risks within the location of the home are reduced.

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Good

The registered manager has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has plans to address shortfalls. All requirements made at the previous inspection have been complied with. These were with regard to online safety, the environment and review of the location risk assessment.

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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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