Children's Home run by Stockton Borough Council in Stockton-on-Tees

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

 There are observable warm, loving, effective relationships between staff and young people.  The work with young people is underpinned by attachment and pro-social theory. All interactions start with a positive aspect.  All young people have achieved progress in education and attain 100% attendance.  There are detailed, comprehensive records that also tell the story of a young person’s life.  Achievement is celebrated, no matter how small.  Staff are creative in their work with young people, providing individualised care within a family atmosphere.  The staff team is positive and highly committed. Staff all talk of being proud of their young people.  The staff team understands the importance of friendships outside of the home. Sleepovers for family members and friends are a regular event at weekends and holidays.  Activities are wide ranging and all young people are involved in clubs and organisations of one kind or another, ranging from cadets, guides and

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

football to gymnastics and dance.  There was a well-managed transition of managers when the long-term manager received promotion. The acting manager and acting deputy form a strong management team, and registration is progressing.  Young people are fully involved in the running of the home and contribute well to records. This helps them to feel respected and included. Their behaviour is exemplary and they are all well-mannered and courteous.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) In particular, the large items of communal furniture are in need of replacement.  A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. 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) In particular, safeguarding should be added as a stand-alone item to ensure that it is discussed on each occasion.  In addition to the requirements of this standard, the registered person has

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Recommendations

specific responsibilities under regulation 34 to prepare and implement policies setting out: arrangements for the safeguarding of children from abuse or neglect; clear procedures for referring child protection concerns to the placing authority or local authority where the home is situated, if appropriate; and specific procedures to prevent children going missing and take action if they do. The policy on protection of children from abuse and neglect should include arrangements in relation to dealing with allegations involving staff in the home, e-safety and to counter risks of self-harm and suicide. All policies should be reviewed regularly and revised, when appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.19) Specifically, the policy for administration of medication needs to detail how often the competency of trained staff is checked by managers.

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to care for up to four young people with emotional or behavioural difficulties. The registered provider is a local authority.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 11/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/11/2015 Full Outstanding 18/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 27/01/2015 Full Outstanding

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Outstanding

The home has a warm, welcoming family atmosphere and is situated on the outskirts of the town centre, enabling young people to have good community links. The young people experience excellent levels of care and all make great progress in every aspect of their lives. The professional staff team, led by strong management, knows the young people well and is committed to providing high- quality, individualised care. This enables young people to develop a strong sense of being valued and belonging. A young person said, ‘I love the staff and I know they love and care about me.’ A member of staff said, ‘I am proud of everything (name) has been able to achieve.’

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Outstanding

Care planning is robust. Plans are personalised to young people, and are reviewed and updated regularly. Each young person has a memory file in which staff write letters to young people, discussing the things that they have done together or stating how proud they are of an achievement. There are photographs of experiences that they have had together, both large – such as a trip abroad in the summer – and small – a trip to a local coffee shop for a catch up with a key worker. The voice of the young person is evident throughout the records, with clear links between the information in plans and records. A professional involved in the home stated: ‘(Name) has a very positive relationship with her key worker and communication is good.’ This enables young people to settle easily and offers a level of consistency of approach that helps young people to feel cared for and improves their emotional well-being.

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Outstanding

Staff maintain good relationships with other professionals involved in the care of young people. A social worker stated: ‘Staff keep me updated with everything. I am very happy with the progress of the young people.’

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Outstanding

Young people make excellent progress across a range of areas, such as education, emotional and physical health, and behaviour. All young people have 100% attendance at school. They are all involved in after-school activities and play an active part in school life. For example, one young person is a student librarian. This improves the self-esteem and communication skills needed to approach adult life.

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Outstanding

Young people are fit and healthy and all undertake some activity to assist with maintaining good health. Appointments are well attended and young people are supported to attend, when necessary. Menus are varied and developed in conjunction with young people, yet support their health and nutritional needs.

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Outstanding

The staff are also effective in helping young people to maintain and strengthen relationships with their families. They supervise contact when needed or facilitate visits to the home. The result is that young people are not in conflict between their family and the home. This allows them to settle and achieve what they want for themselves without experiencing negative feelings about the fact that they live separately from their family.

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Outstanding

Life skills form an important part of the practice, irrespective of the age of young people. Plans are in place to allow young people to develop knowledge and skills appropriate to their age and ability, when relevant. Staff support young people through planned opportunities to test out what has been learned. This prepares young people for their life as they grow older and for leaving the home.

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Outstanding

Young people contribute well to the running of the home. This helps them to feel valued and respected. The staff hold a monthly meeting with young people at which they are able to discuss issues and make contributions. The minutes are then shared with all staff at their own meeting so that the lines of communication between the two continue. This helps young people to feel listened to and valued.

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Outstanding

A range of activities such as swimming, football, dancing and visits to zoos or museums are planned with input from young people, yet the ability to relax at home is also encouraged. There are a wide range of resources available in the home for such times, for example board games, books, computer games and art resources. The young people have used technology to complete short films about themselves to help new staff and visitors to find out more about them and how they feel about their life in general. This improves their confidence and ensures that they feel in control of the information that is shared about them with relative strangers.

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Outstanding

The home is well maintained and comfortable. However, as can happen in any family home, the large pieces of furniture such as sofas and chairs are now looking as though they are in need of replacement. This is recognised by the acting manager.

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Outstanding

Young people state that they feel and are both safe and secure in the home. This promotes an open and transparent atmosphere in which young people are able to discuss issues as they arise and gain the help that they need. This develops their trust in the adults caring for them and limits the possible impact of issues on their behaviour.

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Outstanding

Individual risk assessments are up to date and easy to understand. They are reviewed regularly and updated in response to incidents as they arise. Impact risk assessments are carried out when a young person is admitted. These look at individual risks and cross-reference possible risks with those young people already resident. There have been no incidents of exploitation at the home, although it is recognised by staff that all young people are at risk. The staff know and share with them these and other risks that young people may face, and offer strategies at regular key-worker sessions on how keep themselves and others safe. One young person recently achieved an award for helping another young person in the community, which is commendable. The discussion of risks, including online risks, replicates family life and allows young people to explore the world and their feelings safely. This enables young people to live life to full while managing the

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Outstanding

risks that all young people of a similar age are exposed to.

p.8

Outstanding

There have been no ‘missing’ episodes in a year and no physical interventions for two years. Sanctions are used sparingly, with a restorative approach being adopted regularly. When sanctions are used, there are opportunities offered to shorten or delete the sanction, based on this approach. This enables young people to develop consequential thinking, and develops both their sense of right and wrong and their ability to enhance the choices that they make in their lives.

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Outstanding

Bullying episodes do not currently occur at the home, but staff’s response and recording of previous incidents have been robust. This helps practice to improve. Risk assessments identify interactions and times when the potential for bullying is heightened to manage staff’s practice accordingly.

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Outstanding

Staff are clear about the processes and procedures to follow, should a safeguarding issue occur. There are no current allegations involving young people or staff.

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Outstanding

Health and safety is taken seriously at the home. Young people and staff have undertaken up-to-date first aid training. Fire drills are carried out as required, and all equipment in the home is well maintained and tested within timescales. This demonstrates that all aspects of the overall quality of care are given equal consideration. This ensures the safety of young people.

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Good

The acting manager has been in the position for four months and was previously the deputy. She is currently undertaking a level 5 qualification relevant to the role and hopes to finish it within six months. The registration process is underway. She is a motivational manager who leads a very knowledgeable, committed staff team. The transition of management arrangements has been well managed and the impact on the staff team and young people limited. A member of staff said that she ‘doesn’t feel that there has been much change’. A young person, when asked if they felt that things had changed, said: ‘Not really. We have a good manager.’ The staff team is well established and staffing levels are able to support the needs of the young people. Consistent staff on casual worker contract are used to cover holidays, but levels of sickness and absence are low. This offers young people a level of stability that enhances the family atmosphere and contributes to their

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Good

The manager ensures that the staff are well supported to undertake their roles effectively. Supervision is regular and shared between the acting manager and deputy. It is evaluative, and the records are up to date. They show in-depth discussions with staff in relation to young people and their own practice, with a reflective piece each month and at each daily hand-over. Safeguarding as a topic is covered within the reflective pieces. However, the addition of a stand-alone agenda item on safeguarding will enable staff to keep this at the forefront of their daily practice and prevent possible complacency. Annual appraisals involve comments from young people and a staff self-evaluation. The impact is that staff have the support to undertake their roles effectively, ensuring that they meet the needs of young people and address the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose.

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Good

Team meetings take place monthly and are well attended. The minutes show that the care and progress of the young people are always central to practice, planning and development. Observations of a meeting during the inspection demonstrated the levels of creativity used by staff to address the need for incentives that are individual to young people. All decisions focus on promoting the progress of and excellent outcomes for young people and, when relevant, such decisions are not finalised until they have been discussed with young people. This ensures a level of ownership by young people that further increases their emotional well-being.

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Good

The acting manager and acting deputy work together well and have clearly defined roles. The acting manager’s monitoring of the practice and records of the home is good. Records are signed off when necessary and all are quality assured on a monthly basis, either by the acting manager or the deputy. This enables a high level of accurate recording. This will help any young person who wishes to access their records now or in the future to have a clear picture of their life while living at the home.

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Good

There are no recorded complaints from young people or associated others. There is a file of compliments, including emails and verbal comments received from other professionals, families and young people, both for individual staff and for the service as a whole.

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Good

The training matrix evidences that all staff have completed mandatory training, including first aid. This is in addition to a range of courses relating to attachment and safeguarding, including exploitation. Plans for training updates and new courses were seen during the inspection. However, in relation to medication training, the policy does not dictate how often competency in relation to administration should be checked. This would enhance practice around medication. A comprehensive locality risk assessment is kept under regular review. It demonstrates that the management team has consulted relevant professionals such as the police and local authority safeguarding officers to determine the continued suitability of the home’s location. This helps to identify any emerging issues in the community and ensures that young people are safeguarded effectively.

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Good

The statement of purpose and young people’s guide are updated as required. The guide for young people details the expectations and boundaries in relation to behaviour and outlines the complaints procedure. There are relevant contact details included to enable young people to gain access to advocacy services, if needed.

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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 0300 123 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 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

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

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