Children's Home run by 2nd Nurture Limited in St Helens

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 current young person lives in a nurturing and very supportive home. Compassionate, skilled and resilient staff work cohesively to provide her with stability and a very good quality of care that is tailored to meet her personal needs. The registered manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the young person’s needs and the impact of her previous experiences on her life. They are committed to providing her with opportunities that make a positive difference to her life and future outcomes. Consequently, she is making progress in her education, social and life skills.  The present young person has strong and trusting relationships with the staff, who listen to her views and work strenuously to help her make good choices about her future. Their calm and consistent approach is helping the young person to manage her feelings and control her behaviour. As a result, her social confidence and emotional well-being are improving, she is

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The children's home provision is good because:

sustaining positive relationships, recognising and understanding other people’s feelings and developing skills to manage disagreements constructively.  The registered manager and staff have strong partnerships with the current young person’s wider support system. They work effectively with her family, friends, teachers, social workers and independent reviewing officer to meet her needs and promote her welfare. Effective care planning and risk management is helping the young person to become increasingly safer, and is promoting her understanding about personal safety.  The present young person’s welfare is prioritised by the dedicated leadership and management of the home. The staffing arrangements are organised efficiently to provide the young person with a continuity of care that meets her needs and promotes strong relationships to support her emotional security.  A lack of in-depth monitoring and comprehensive assessment of the quality

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The children's home provision is good because:

of care provided and its impact on the current young person’s life is not helping leaders and managers to identify accurately areas of strength so that they can share and build upon good practice, or identify possible weaknesses and the actions required 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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard the registered person must: (2)(f) understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided; and (h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. In particular, the independent person, who carries out visits under Regulation 44, must make a rigorous, detailed and evaluative assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children living in the home. Also, the independent visitor should find out the views of young people, parents and social workers about the home. The registered person's review of the quality of care, under Regulation 45, must provide a thorough and evaluative

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Requirement Due date

assessment of children's experiences and the impact that the quality of care is having on outcomes and improvements for the children to enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness, and identify any actions required to make improvements in the home. Reviews should be underpinned by the quality standards as described in Regulations 5 to 14. 12/12/2016

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Requirement Due date

33: Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that all employees undertake appropriate continuing professional development. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) In particular, they must ensure that employees have regular opportunities to develop and update their knowledge and skills through training programmes tailored to the individual needs of the children living in the home. 12/12/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:

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Recommendations

 Maintain good employment and recruitment practice by keeping a record of the date and outcome of telephone calls to referees to verify that they have provided a written reference for a person wishing to work at the home. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Information about this children's home

The home is run by a private organisation and offers care and accommodation to one young person with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties or learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 12/01/2016 Full Outstanding 11/02/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/05/2014 Full Good 30/08/2013 Interim Good progress

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Good

The current young person lives in a nurturing and positive family home. She receives a very high quality of care from compassionate and skilled staff. Their consistent and personalised support has brought stability to her life, which is helping her to make good progress in her education, emotional well-being, safety, social skills, sustaining positive relationships and managing her feelings and behaviour. The young person is positive about the support that she receives from staff and likes being there. The registered manager and staff work effectively towards meeting the placing authority’s plan for the young person, and provide her with positive day-to-day experiences that improve her opportunities for better outcomes. The registered manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the present young person’s character, specific needs and family circumstances. Their excellent communication and interpersonal skills have helped them to build trusting

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Good

relationships with the young person. They show her that they are empathetic to her situation, interested in her welfare and show her unconditional positive regard, regardless of the complexity of her needs and the challenges that arise. The registered manager said, ‘She constantly surprises me with her generosity or with a kind word.’ Staff are ambitious for her to do well and to have the same chances as other young people to reach her potential. They recognise the impact of her life experiences and background on her willingness to accept help from authority figures, such as social workers, independent reviewing officers and teachers. Staff have worked sensitively and consistently with her so as to encourage her to make the most of the support that is available to her. The registered manager and staff encourage and support the current young person to share her views, wishes and feelings. She actively takes part in the decisions

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Good

about her daily care and plans for her future. She feels able to talk to staff at any time and knows that they are interested in her ideas and opinions. She makes decisions about the food that she eats, the clothes that she wears, how she spends her spare time and how her home is decorated. The young person is also very much involved in decisions about her future such as, where she will live and the support that she will need. The registered manager and staff support her to express her views constructively. They supported her wishes to stay overnight at her friend’s house and this helped her to accept that they needed to carry out some checks to make sure that it would be in her best interests. This provided her with a clear message that the staff and her social worker did not want to prevent her from doing the same things as other young people, but wanted her to do things safely with their help. The registered manager and staff are very good at

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Good

helping the young person to think about the implications of her wishes to move out into her own accommodation and what is the best way for her to achieve this. The young person now recognises that it is a good idea not to move out until she has the right accommodation and that the best support is available to help her make it work. The registered manager, staff, her social worker and independent reviewing officer are working effectively to plan the present young person’s future. They are committed to try to maximise the young person’s skills, abilities and opportunities to make her transition into adult life as successful as possible. The staff are supporting her to develop strong practical skills in shopping, cooking, housework and managing money. The key priorities now are to help her build her emotional and social skills and promote her economic well-being through suitable employment and training.

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Good

The current young person has struggled throughout her education. The staff have worked extremely hard to build the young person’s participation and motivation to learn. The social worker said that, ‘Staff have worked hard to support her to finish her education and are trying hard to help find training and employment.’ The registered manager worked tirelessly with the young person and her teachers to tackle the barriers to her learning and assertively ensured that the school provided the young person with suitable support and opportunities to gain qualifications. As a result, the young person achieved functional skills entry level 3 qualifications in mathematics and English and vocational qualifications in hair and beauty, health and safety at work, manual handling, first aid at work and food hygiene. She now has a direction and is keen to start a hairdressing apprenticeship. The staff are encouraging her to work with the careers and training service to consider taking

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Good

part in further training and work experience to build her skills and confidence, and to increase her chances of getting an apprenticeship. The registered manager and staff encourage and support the present young person to take an active part in looking after her day-to-day health. She enjoys a healthy and balanced diet, she gets plenty of exercise and has good personal care routines. She is in very good health and has a good understanding about healthy lifestyles, including food hygiene and sexual health. She feels comfortable talking to staff about her health and gets the best possible advice to help her make informed decisions. The staff work well with community and specialist health services to closely monitor and promote her health and emotional well-being. They ensure that she gets suitable medical attention and treatment when she is feeling unwell or is concerned about her health. The current young person lives in a comfortable and pleasant family house. Its

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Good

location and layout are designed to meet the young person’s individual needs. The warm and welcoming atmosphere and high standard of decoration show that staff care for her and value her as an individual. Any repairs are carried out promptly to maintain the high quality of accommodation. She has plenty of personal space, and her bedroom and bathroom are tidy and decorated to reflect her personal style and choices. The house is ideally placed for easy access to shops and other facilities, and for the young person to see her friends and family. Judgement grade

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Good

The current young person lives in a safe place where her welfare is given the highest priority. The registered manager and staff have created a strong safeguarding culture where the young person is always listened to, and her views and worries are taken seriously. The registered manager and staff have a good understanding of any signs that may indicate that the present young person is at risk of harm, including from abuse, neglect, child sexual exploitation or bullying. They work collaboratively with her family and friends and social worker to understand and manage risk and to protect her. Their effective management of risk has helped her become increasingly safer and to take controlled risks that promote her development. The registered manager and staff take reasonable precautions, as reasonable parents do, to ensure that the young person is safe from harm in the community. They provide her with good advice and guidance about personal safety, they know

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Good

where she is going, who she is spending time with and what they are doing. Staff know her friends, always give her lifts and go to pick her up when she has been out. When the young person wished to stay overnight with friends, the manager and social worker carried out a thorough assessment to make sure that she will be well cared for and safe. They carefully balance potential risks to the young person’s safety and promoting her independence appropriate to her plan, age and understanding. This is enabling her to make good choices and take responsibility for her own safety. She always keeps in touch with staff when she is not at home and to the agreed arrangements, which has meant that she has not gone missing. The arrangement for staying with her friend is working out well. She now stays there regularly, and is becoming part of a wider social group. The registered manager and staff have a detailed understanding of the current

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Good

young person’s history and its impact on her relationships with adults and other young people. They encourage and support her to build and sustain friendships and to understand what makes a healthy, nurturing and respectful relationship. This includes helping her to see and understand other people’s views and feelings, and to learn skills to sort out problems constructively. The registered manager and staff promote positive friendships and are always alert to the signs that the young person may be involved in damaging relationships. The social worker said that, ‘They have made it their business to understand her friendships and relationships.’ The young person is open with staff about her life, including telling them about any difficulties with her friends or family, and looks to staff for support. The staff provide the young person, her friends and family with a great deal of excellent emotional and practical support around seeing each other. They understand the

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Good

nature of the relationships and take every effort to make sure that the young person has safe and positive experiences. The registered manager and staff’s behaviour management strategy is based on effective communication, understanding the present young person’s needs, reasonable expectations and reinforcing positive behaviour through praise and rewards. They provide the young person with clear and consistent boundaries that help her to feel increasingly emotionally secure and resilient. Their nurturing and reliable approach is meeting the young person’s emotional and behavioural needs. They are excellent role models and are helping her to build and practise her skills to resolve disagreements positively. The social worker said that, ‘The staff deal with the problem and move on.’ This is helping the young person to understand that people can disagree and work together to sort things out without any lasting ill

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Good

feeling. She is getter better at overcoming problems when she and her friends have fallen out. The young person’s behaviour is usually very good, but at times she can struggle to manage her feelings and control her behaviour. Staff’s calm and consistent approach means that challenging situations are resolved through discussion and negotiation without the need for staff to use restraint or involve the police. They know her extremely well and the best ways to support her when she is feeling angry or upset. For example, they remain unflustered, listen to her to find out what is upsetting her and give her time and space to calm down. However, they remain attentive and ensure that she knows they will try their best to help and support her. The independent reviewing officer said that the staff, ‘Provide her with the reliability she needs. They stick with her through difficult situations and are there for her when she is ready to talk.’ This positive way of working with the young

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Good

person does not reinforce her negative feelings about herself, but gives her the chance to reflect on what happened with people she trusts, and the opportunity to sort things out. The social worker said that the young person, ‘Struggles to self- regulate her emotions and self-soothe, but we are starting to see some positive movement. I believe this is because of her consistent relationship with staff.’

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Good

The registered manager has been in charge of the home since March 2014. She has considerable residential childcare and management experience. She has a suitable management qualification and is developing her knowledge and skills further by working towards the level 5 diploma in leadership and management of children’s and young people’s residential services. The registered manager has an excellent understanding of the present young person living in the home and actively prioritises the young person’s welfare and focuses on improving her life, in line with the objectives of the home’s statement of purpose and her placement plan. The registered manager and staff work in close partnership with the people in the wider support system in meeting the current young person’s needs. They have developed excellent working relationships with the young person’s family and friends, social worker, school, careers adviser and health workers. They work

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Good

together productively to ensure that the young person gets the support and services that she requires. The social worker said that ‘we have a two-way relationship with excellent communication’ and that the registered manager and staff ‘engage really well with the young person’s mother’. The registered manager’s confident and effective leadership has embedded a very child-focused and compassionate ethos throughout every aspect of the home. Experienced, dedicated and resilient staff provide the present young person with a high standard of support that is helping her to make significant progress. They look after the young person on an individual basis that is delivering continuity of care, which promotes positive and consistent relationships. Suitable safeguards monitor the staff’s practice of working alone with the young person and that this arrangement meets her needs while managing the assessed level of risk.

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Good

The registered manager ensures that staff have the right personal qualities, enthusiasm, experience, skills and values to work with vulnerable young people. New staff go through a rigorous selection procedure and their suitability is carefully checked to safeguard young people and minimise potential risks to them. The registered manager makes sure that she has all the available information to make decisions about employing a person, including verifying by telephone with previous employers information about a person’s practice, experience and abilities. However, she does not always record the date and outcome of these telephone calls as evidence of the person’s suitability. The staff work cohesively and consistently. They share information about the current young person’s care openly and efficiently to ensure that she gets the best possible support. They are extremely well supported and guided by the registered

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Good

manager. They receive regular formal supervision that enables them to reflect on their work with the young person and have their performance monitored and assessed by the registered manager. Staff are also well supported to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to young people’s feelings and behaviour. The staff have suitable qualifications equivalent to the level 3 diploma for residential childcare. The registered manager enrols new members of staff on the qualification soon after they start work at the home. More experienced staff are also supported with opportunities to gain further qualifications, including in social work. However, staff have had few opportunities over the last 12 months to update their knowledge and skills through training programmes tailored to the individual needs of the present young person. The registered provider’s and manager’s ability to understand the home’s

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Good

effectiveness and the quality of care provided is impeded by a lack of in-depth scrutiny. The quality of the monthly monitoring by an independent person does not provide consistently rigorous analysis of practice and the management of the home. Invariably, the reports are too brief and descriptive, include a lot of the same information in each report and do not make recommendations for improving the home. None of the reports include the views of the current young person about how well she is being supported. The registered manager’s review of the quality of care does not provide a comprehensive assessment of how well the young person is being supported in line with the quality standards, and the impact that the quality of care is having on her life. This lack of detailed assessment does not help the registered manager and provider to identify accurately areas of strength so that they can identify, share and build upon good practice, or indeed identify possible

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Good

weaknesses and the actions required to make improvements in 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 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 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 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

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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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