Children's home run by Albrighton Care Ltd in Cannock Chase

Good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.2

The children’s home provision is good because:

 Young people are extremely well cared for by motivated, creative and nurturing staff.  Young people feel safe and settled, and are learning as much as they can about how to keep themselves safe.  Young people make excellent progress in their communication and social skills.  Young people enjoy a wealth of experiences and activities.  Young people progress well in stable school placements, as staff make sure that preparation and communication are very good.  Young people’s physical and emotional health improves, thanks to staff’s close working relationships with health professionals.  Staff plan changes and young people’s moves well. This means that young people adapt well and are able to share their home with a new young person moving in.  Young people enjoy good times with their relatives, as staff and the manager forge positive, supportive relationships with them all.  The manager, responsible individual and care coordinator provide good

p.3

The children’s home provision is good because:

support and training to staff, so that young people receive good care from new and experienced staff alike.  However, the manager’s contribution to care planning, managing the home’s location risks and young people’s independence is good, but not currently outstanding.

p.3

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.

p.4

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that a record is kept of any complaint, the action taken in response and the outcome of any investigation. (Regulation 39(3)) 06/01/2017

p.4

Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Maximise the rate at which staff help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes maximising the support given to the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)  Review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) This is with particular respect to ensuring that the arrangements for parking

p.4

Recommendations

and staff smoking take full account of road safety, planning permission requirements and neighbour relations.  Ensure that the registered person and all staff engage proactively with the placing authority to contribute fully to the relevant plans for the child’s care on an ongoing basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.3)

p.4

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to care for up to two children with learning disabilities. A small private company owns the home and has one other children’s home locally.

p.5

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 01/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/09/2015 Full Outstanding 20/02/2015 Registration Not applicable

p.5

Good

Up until a few weeks ago, only one young person lived here. Almost two years on, this is truly ‘home’, for him. His progress is excellent. His social worker said, ‘Staff provide a child-centred and needs-led approach to his care, and it is clear that his best interests are always at the heart of each decision and intervention made.’ The manager and responsible individual recently matched a second young person to him. He moved in a few weeks ago. The new young person has settled well. His peer is adapting well to sharing staff’s time and the communal spaces. This is because all staff are committed, insightful and able to provide high-quality individualised care.

p.6

Good

Young people live in a warm, nurturing, active and positive atmosphere, because staff are motivated and work well as a team. They create ambitious, achievable targets and incentives for young people. Young people respond well to them. For example, a young person’s targets for this month include shaving; doing his own zips up; learning about hospitals, doctors and nurses; improving fine motor skills through threading activities; and handling and understanding money. He has already learned to make hot drinks, put on the washing machine and keep his bedroom tidy. Last month, this young person earned six rewards for meeting last month’s targets. He chose reward activities such as a train ride, bowling, fish and chips, and a trip to the fair. He also gained personalised certificates for ‘brilliant talking, listening and working things out’. A teacher said that this progress is ‘beyond expectations.’

p.6

Good

Young people make excellent progress in their communication and social skills. For example, one young person can now say many more words and is beginning to use them more reliably in social situations. He can read a simple menu and tell the waiter what meal he wants. He can tell the hairdresser that he is going on holiday. He can tell staff that he can hear fireworks, saying ‘Fireworks, bang!’ His ability to communicate how he is feeling has really improved, as has his ability to adapt to change. This progress is down to the effective support of staff. The young person thrives on staff’s patient, careful input and their caring relationships with him.

p.6

Good

Staff prepare young people carefully for new situations using simple ‘social stories’ to rehearse what it will be like. These stories work by reducing young people’s anxiety. They are a successful tool that enables young people who have autism to get the most that they can from new and/or social situations. Young people therefore know what is happening when the real situation comes and can stay calm enough to get pleasure from it. For example, staff used a ‘social story’ to prepare one young person for going to a Halloween party. The party was at a centre that he had attended years ago and had found the experience challenging and distressing. This time, the staff said that he was ‘absolutely brilliant’, mixing with staff and dancing with the other young people.

p.6

Good

Young people also show social progress in the way that they cope with situations that they cannot be prepared for. For example, staff took one young person to his regular weekly disco, only to find that it had been cancelled. Staff explained that they could not go in because there was no disco today. They provided the young person with a few choices of what to do instead. He chose to go for a milkshake and he maintained calm, good behaviour throughout.

p.7

Good

Young people enjoy a wealth of experiences and activities, many of which help their physical fitness and improve their coordination. For example, staff take young people swimming and to local parks. They kick a football about, have running races, go bowling, and do arts and crafts to develop their cutting, threading, colouring and writing skills. Staff and young people enjoy many day trips and themed activities. These broaden their horizons, as well as developing interests that they already have, such as in trains and transport. Staff carefully plan and record the learning and progress that they observe young people making. They take many photos and create large scrapbooks for young people to look back over. Staff take every opportunity to make each day count. They say that their reward is seeing the progress that young people make.

p.7

Good

Young people progress well at school, because staff make sure that preparation and communication are very good. Staff transport young people until they are able to use the transport provided by the local authority. This means that young people are able to continue at the schools that they attended prior to placement, thus not suffering any disruption to their established routine. Staff talk to school staff about young people’s educational targets and bear these in mind as they talk to young people and plan activities. This maximises young people’s learning opportunities. During the long summer holiday, staff maintained routines and prepared one young people for the changes ahead when he entered the sixth form. Staff discussed strategies with school staff before summer term ended and again in the September term. Teachers found this invaluable, because it helped them to help the young person to manage his anxieties and frustrations. This meant that the young person

p.7

Good

adapted quickly to the different learning styles of the sixth form.

p.7

Good

Young people’s physical and emotional health improve, thanks to staff’s close working relationships with health professionals. Staff advocate well for young people and minimise delays in waiting for health appointments. They prepare young people carefully and work very creatively. For example, when possible, staff ask health professionals to demonstrate a check by carrying it out on them before doing it on the young person. This visual demonstration has really helped one young person to stay calm. Equally, staff carefully monitor one young person’s seizure activity. They now note the length of time that it takes the young person to recover from a seizure, as well as the length of time that each seizure lasts. This information informs medical staff about the impact of prescribed medications and helps to ensure that medications are tailored to young people’s changing needs.

p.7

Good

Staff plan changes and young people’s moves well. Staff adapt their practice to suit the specific needs of young people with learning disabilities. Earlier in 2016, they put the plan for a second placement ‘on hold’, recognising that the young person living here would not cope well with it. By the end of September 2016, staff and the manager knew that the time was right for him to be able to live with another young person. This was because his health had stabilised and he had progressed so much in being able to manage and communicate his feelings. He now likes to help staff and can share. For example, he showed the new young person where the dining table is and where to sit. The new young person had a short transition period, but staff made good use of it. They visited him, met his current carers and arranged for him to have tea visits. They provided his choice of meal. They decorated his room in the colours and bedding that he chose before he arrived.

p.8

Good

Staff bought a number of sensory toys that they were told that he liked. They prepared numerous simple word and widget information sheets to explain what the house is like and what his routine would be. They found out his interests and showed him pictures and simple messages from all the staff. Staff confidently use his communication cards and ‘timelines’ with him. These help him to know what is happening now and next. He has settled in well, and is eating and sleeping well.

p.8

Good

The young person who has lived here for a long time enjoys good times with his relatives, because staff and the manager forge positive, supportive relationships with them. Relatives are welcome at the home, and joint birthday celebrations are regular. Staff communicate sensitively and reliably with relatives. They make sure that the social worker’s care plan, including the arrangements for family contact, are followed. The social worker said: ‘Staff work well alongside family to support care. They are supportive of contacts, and communication between them and myself is excellent. Reports are clear, transparent, thorough and concise.’ However, the manager and staff have not made a clear and early contribution to the care plan for the new young person who moved in two weeks ago. They have not actively conveyed their initial professional assessment of his needs and what they can do to maximise his progress. They recognise that he needs contact with his

p.8

Good

relatives and an understanding of how long he is staying here, but they have not yet advocated for this. Social workers are impressed with the quality of care that they provide, but have not received the professional opinion from the manager and staff to help them make clear, long-term plans.

p.8

Good

Young people are cared for by safe and suitable staff. They are robustly vetted and share a passion to work with young people with learning disabilities. Staff ratios are high and young people do not go anywhere unaccompanied. Young people are always supervised, except when they have private time in the bathroom or their bedroom. Staff follow safe working practices and are up to date in their knowledge of child protection procedures, including what to do if they have concerns about another staff member’s care practice. This means that young people are safe here.

p.8

Good

Young people feel safe and settled, and are learning a lot about how to keep themselves safe. They do not try to run away. They have made good progress about knowing what to do in an emergency. For example, one young person has now learned the address and phone number of the home. He can recognise the car of each member of staff. He has also learned the difference between police, fire and ambulance services. Recently, when neighbourhood police visited the home, he said, ‘you’re the police – you can help, 999.’ The new young person has taken part in his first fire drill. Staff prepared him with a sheet of simple word and widget symbol instructions. This resulted in a successful drill. These examples are evidence of good progress, taking into account young people’s learning disabilities. Staff have helped young people to achieve such progress through careful planning, patience, repetition and re-checking of what young people know.

p.9

Good

Young people make good progress with their behaviour. They are much better at regulating their anxieties and coping with change. They do not show harmful behaviour to others and do not hurt themselves. This is because staff provide a safe, organised daily routine. They use detailed, regularly reviewed, individual behaviour management plans for each young person. Staff understand and interpret young people’s responses early and know what do to help them. They are warm, sensitive and alert. Staff use key phrases with one young person, such as ‘Do you need to leave?’ and ‘Have you finished now?’ This young person recognises these phrases and is able to indicate if he needs to leave the room and have some space. The same phrases, and any new ones, are shared between staff, school staff and relatives. This consistency enables young people to calm and to manage at all the places where they go. As a result, young people have not required any

p.9

Good

physical interventions since the last inspection and they have not damaged property or caused hurt to others.

p.9

Good

Young people are learning to do more themselves, and some of this means taking some risks. For example, they are learning to shave. They are proud of what they can now do, including making hot drinks. It is highly unlikely that young people will achieve independent living, but staff are committed to helping them to achieve as much independence as they can. Staff are creative, but not always as ambitious in their planning as they could be. For example, staff do not let one young person measure out the washing powder in case he puts it in his mouth. Similarly, staff have not yet thought about the possibility of teaching young people how to walk safely to local places on their own, perhaps to the letterbox or to the shop. The rate at which young people progress through taking realistic risks is still good, but it is no longer outstanding. Judgement grade

p.9

Good

The manager prioritises the needs of young people with skill, understanding and commitment. She has recently completed her level 5 diploma. This means that she will now have more time to devote to specific reading around the subjects of learning disability and autism, in particular. She continues to lead and manage the home well and in accordance with its statement of purpose. As a result, young people with learning disabilities continuously make good progress from their starting points.

p.10

Good

The manager is receptive and insightful. She is a good communicator and proactively uses the advice and guidance of others to improve the home constantly. She discusses with and takes advice from the home’s independent visitor, her independent supervisor, the registered individual and the home’s independent psychologist. Since the last inspection, the manager also consults more specifically with social workers, teachers and families. She has therefore met the requirement that was made at the last inspection. For example, she consulted one young person’s relatives about possible activities to broaden his horizons. She consulted his school about strategies to help him to move comfortably into the sixth form environment. All these people are well informed about what the staff and manager do to help young people. They comment positively about the quality of care and leadership, and the progress that young people make. For example, the

p.10

Good

psychologist said, ‘care is exceptional and the staff team is of the best’. The manager’s independent supervisor said that the young person in long-term residence has made ‘noticeable progress.’

p.10

Good

The manager, care coordinator and registered individual create a positive atmosphere which successfully helps staff to work as a team. Staff morale continues to be high. A member of staff said, ‘I really enjoy it here. I get a lot from talking to the psychologist and going to the staff meetings.’ Despite a number of staff now working at the organisation’s other home, new staff have settled in well and are a welcome addition to the team. Long-standing staff feel that new staff are enthusiastic, motivated and willing to learn. New staff have some creative ideas and communicate well with young people. For example, a new member of staff has applied her knowledge of child development to identify ways to develop young people’s fine motor skills, using games and crafts that train their small finger movements and grip. More experienced staff have implemented a clearer way to record young people’s progress. The training assessor who works with staff who

p.10

Good

are completing their diplomas in residential care services said, ‘Staff provide excellent care and support to the young people.’

p.10

Good

The manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She supports all staff well and helps them to reflect on their motivations. She ensures that staff continue to prioritise spending quality time with young people. She encourages staff and recognises their hard work. However, the manager has not given sufficient weight to the concerns of neighbours. She has not recorded a recent complaint from them or realised the importance of reviewing the home’s policies and procedures in the light of their concerns. This has no direct impact on young people, but is a lapse in management practice.

p.10

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 looked after children is safeguarded and promoted. Minimum requirements

p.12

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.

p.12

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

p.13

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 .

p.13

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,

p.14

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.14

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.14

Information about this inspection

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

p.14