Children's home in Charnwood

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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:

 A passionate registered manager leads a dedicated staff team that is focused on helping children to achieve their best possible outcomes.  Staff keep children safe because they are well informed, vigilant and protective.  Children feel valued and important and experience a sense of belonging in a homely and caring environment.  Children profit from the close attention paid to all aspects of their growth and development. They make progress and have fun.  Routines, structure and consistently applied boundaries, together with emotional warmth, provide children with a sense of permanence and security.  Children develop positive attachments to adults and feel free to express themselves.  Children are effectively supported and encouraged to engage in the wider community and to acquire the skills and knowledge required for adulthood.  Shortfalls, with no direct impact on children’s safety, regarding staff

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The children's home provision is good because:

qualifications, making notifications to Ofsted, aspects of record-keeping and specific liaison with placing authorities are described in this report.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meet(s) 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

The registered person may only employ an individual if the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills. (Regulation (3)(b)) 24/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay of any incident as listed in this regulation. (Regulation 40(4)(a) to (e) 24/12/2016

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Recommendations

 The registered manager must ensure that statutory guidance regarding children that go missing from the home is fully applied. In particular, this refers to the offer of independent return home interviews. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.25)  The registered manager must review the practice of staff supervision in the home and ensure that this is in accordance with the home’s policy and statement of purpose and also meets the needs for staff to reflect meaningfully on their practice as well as how they may be affected by the behaviour of young people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2 and page 39 paragraph 8.15)  The registered manager must ensure that matters are effectively escalated when concerns arise, as a result of the inadequate responses of a placing authority, to the risk of serious harm to a child. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 57, paragraph 11.12).  The registered manager must ensure that records of restraint clearly show compliance with prescribed practice and, in particular, adherence to the timeframes for post-restraint actions. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59 and 9.60)

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to accommodate up to four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

10/07/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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people living in the home are

Children feel valued and develop a sense of belonging as a result of the consistent routine and structure provided by caring and highly interested staff. Daily shared mealtimes provide an opportunity for children and staff to share ideas and make plans. Children learn how to listen, give their opinions and develop their social skills. The family-style home environment places children at its core. They are appropriately involved in the running of the home and help to choose meals, assist in the kitchen, help with cleaning and suggest and choose activities. However, the staff are in charge. Reasonable boundaries are clear and are applied with consistency and care. This helps children to feel secure while developing a sense of investment and ownership in the home. The physical environment echoes the child-centred ethos of the home. The walls of the living areas are adorned with framed photographs and certificates of individual

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people living in the home are

achievement. There is an abundance of readily accessible age-appropriate books, games and videos. The staff office is located in an attic room, away from the living area and does not distract from normal home life. The interior is clean, well maintained and provides a warm, homely atmosphere. Children make good use of the spacious garden, which is equipped for sporting activities. Children form positive attachments with the staff because they discover that the staff care about them and can be relied on. Staff listen and are closely interested in everything that the children do: how they feel, how they think about their families and the future. This helps children to talk about things that are difficult and upsetting for them. One child said, ‘This place is different. I know that they care about me here and that something will happen if I do something wrong.’ Children succeed, make progress and expand their experience of the world.

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people living in the home are

Unwanted and unhelpful behaviours significantly decrease because the children are positively re-directed. They become involved in regular, positive leisure activities and form friendships in the community through becoming members of sports teams. Children acquire life skills, such as cooking. They participate in charity work and experience new things like going abroad, water-skiing and snowboarding. The staff celebrate and share in the children’s growth, development and achievements and support them when things go wrong. This helps children to build resilience and trust, to increase their independence and to develop a more positive sense of themselves and the world around them. Staff support children’s engagement in learning. They understand the education system, follow children’s progress closely, communicate regularly with teachers and support the children with their homework. This helps them to make progress,

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people living in the home are

maintain motivation and develop aspirations for their futures. All of the children access the health services that they need, including dental and orthodontic care. The home places a high priority on the therapeutic needs of the children and ensures that the relevant specialist services are effectively accessed. The level of commitment in this regard is impressive, and children’s regular attendance at therapy sessions is strongly supported. Close liaison between staff and therapists helps to keep children engaged and to make the most of the help offered. Children’s cultural differences are embraced and appreciated. Faith practices are fully supported. The manner in which the rich diversity in the home is made to feel normal and a part of daily living is a particularly positive feature of this home. Staff are cautious and considered when deciding about children moving in. The care needs and the home’s capacity to meet these are properly measured. The

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people living in the home are

likely mutual effects of those moving in and existing children are carefully considered. This assessment helps staff to manage the changes effectively and to minimise or negate potential risks. Children moving in feel welcome because their circumstances have been sensitively considered, and existing children have been properly prepared. Moving out of the home is managed with the same care and consideration. A very recent move was planned to take place over a number of weeks, with key events being carefully scheduled and sequenced. Although the child has moved to foster care, the home will continue to remain in contact and provide transport for the young person’s therapy session each week for a planned period. This practice helps children to move on in a positive manner and minimises feelings of loss. Current contact arrangements between the children and their families involve complexities and risk. Children are, however, able to benefit from these contacts

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people living in the home are

because the home liaises very closely with the placing authorities and manages arrangements with care and vigilance.

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people are helped and protected

Children are protected by a safeguarding culture that has, at its core, value, respect and care for each child, regardless of their circumstances and behaviour. The relevant areas of risk for each child, both inside and outside the home, are assessed, understood and appropriately recorded. This includes risks that children may pose to each other, including bullying behaviour. Ways in which these risks can be reduced are similarly addressed. This guides staff in keeping children safe and allows staff to support children in taking age- and ability-appropriate risks as they move towards increasing independence. Examples of this are learning to safely manage the hazards in a kitchen and learning how to use free time in a safe and responsible manner. The home equips children to keep themselves safe and to learn how to manage normal risks and hazards. Staff are also good at managing any identified risks, particularly those related to child sexual exploitation, internet use and

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people are helped and protected

radicalisation. Staff are able to do this because they have been specifically trained to recognise and address the risks related to these specific areas. Staff also possess expertise in managing the risks related to children who display problematic sexual behaviour. An annually reviewed and relevant locality risk assessment also helps staff to plan and keep children safe when they go on activities. Good health and safety practice in the home helps to keep children safe. Routine fire safety checks and drills are completed according to the required schedules, and these are monitored by the registered manager. Staff respond swiftly when young people go missing or are absent. Vigorous, persistent and coordinated efforts are made to locate and safeguard children. Staff maintain impressive links with key safeguarding professionals. They follow the reporting procedures when children go missing. Staff urgently seek to understand

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people are helped and protected

the reasons for children going missing and have succeeded in reducing this behaviour. Placing authorities are, however, not following return home protocols, particularly in arranging independent return home interviews, and there is insufficient challenge from the home about this. A recommendation is made in this regard. Children benefit from well-formulated and consistently applied plans to manage their unwanted and unhelpful behaviours. This helps to de-escalate situations, decrease tensions and reduce relationship breakdown. The use of physical restraint in the home is reducing, and the registered manager and staff are looking at ways of ensuring that this downward trend continues. When used, physical intervention follows all reasonable de-escalation efforts. It is proportionate to the circumstances and of appropriate duration. The template used for recording restraints does not, however, provide for the full recording of post-restraint requirements. The

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people are helped and protected

manager’s ability to fully evaluate restraint practice is hindered by this shortfall. Children are not unnecessarily criminalised when they lose control or act impulsively, causing harm. This is because the registered manager and staff are measured and controlled in their responses and clear about thresholds for police involvement. Children learn effectively from the restorative approach applied by the staff in these circumstances.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager, experienced at all levels of children’s residential care, is a very positive role model for his staff team. He is in the final stages of achieving the level 5 diploma and is passionate about improving the standards of care for children. An experienced member of staff described the registered manager as having ‘a ridiculously positive relationship with the children. He really leads by example.’ Children benefit from a staff team that displays a high level of commitment and dedication. It is not unusual for staff to come in on days off to ensure continuity of weekly activities, such as there being the same person to take a child to his weekly therapy session, or to take a particular child on a bespoke outing of special interest. All staff happily attend individual children’s birthday celebrations, whether or not they are on duty. A strong team ethic is evident, and the registered manager enjoys the support and

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leaders and managers

respect of staff who are confident in his leadership. Particular staff strengths and interests are effectively put to use. However, the registered manager is not always sufficiently free to pursue his strategic role as a result of conducting routine tasks, some of which could be delegated. Notifications to Ofsted about serious incidents are not always received within the prescribed timescales. This compromises the regulator’s ability to monitor the home’s management of serious incidents. The registered manager has succeeded in maintaining the sufficiency of staffing levels and, therefore, the continuity of care for children, during an ongoing period of staffing transition, has been maintained. The use of a limited number of agency and sessional staff has been necessary during this period, but some staff do not possess the level 3 diploma. This compromises the overall knowledge and skill set of the staff team currently.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager maintains an accurate understanding of the progress and quality of care for each child through various monitoring systems. His enquiring approach ensures that he remains alert to any significant patterns or trends that may emerge. The registered manager is effectively supported by a senior management structure in the wider organisation, which also assists with the monitoring process. The registered manager can, however, make more effective use of the regulation 44 and regulation 45 review processes to inform him of plans to improve the quality of care in the home. The registered manager and staff work closely with placing authorities in developing and applying care plans for each child. There is an effective cross- referencing system in place to record all the work being completed around the specific targets for each child. This ensures a coordinated effort and focus for all staff working with individual children. The positive working with placing authorities

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leaders and managers

is reflected in the feedback from a placements manager who expressed her appreciation by saying, ‘You keep everyone informed, attend meetings and appointments, and provide incident reports and updates. Thank you for all your care and support.’ The registered manager and staff are proactive and persistent in challenging placing authorities about arrangements, when children are not making progress. They escalate concerns when they feel that they are not able to keep the children safe. However, the way in which they escalate concerns is not always effective, and this has led to some avoidable delays in required actions being taken by partners. All staff receive supervision, but this is variable with regards to frequency, standard and content and also not in accordance with the home’s policy and statement of purpose. The registered manager has plans in place to address these shortfalls. The centralised administration of staff recruitment works well. Full and thorough

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leaders and managers

references, and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and employment checks ensure safe practice. Interviews of applicants are searching and strongly focused on finding staff suitable for working with the children. Staff understand and meet the needs of the children through regularly refreshed mandatory and additional training. This is effectively monitored and measured through annual appraisals. A new induction programme has been developed to improve the efficiency with which new staff acquire key knowledge and skills and the way in which they become active on shifts. Records are a mixture of paper and electronic. The electronic system is in a process of development and has some innovative reporting features. At this stage, children’s working records are mostly kept on traditional paper files. Overall, the standard of record-keeping is high, and key information is readily available to support working with children.

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leaders and managers

The registered manager and his team are very motivated to improve the standard and quality of care. They learn from experience and listen carefully to the feedback that they receive from children, parents and carers, and partners and others. The registered manager knows the strengths of the home and where improvements are needed and has plans in place for this to happen, both short and longer term. The registered manager is aspirational for the achievements of individual children and the standard of care offered by the 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 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 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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