Children's home run by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council in Bolton

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:

 Children receive excellent, person-centred care from an enthusiastic and well supported, stable staff team that always goes the extra mile to give them enjoyable opportunities and experiences that enhance their lives.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Playfulness and good humour are integral to the home’s operation, and children relax and become less anxious in response to the sunny outlook and consistent emotional warmth that the staff team provides.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Children make better than expected educational progress because they are increasingly content and are very well supported to attend and achieve in education placements that meet their needs.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Children receive extremely good emotional support from staff who are very well advised by specialist mental health workers. Staff have an excellent understanding of children’s emotional health needs. Consequently, children develop in confidence and learn to build appropriate attachments with staff.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Partnership working is exceptionally good and results in positive outcomes for children. The manager and staff advocate extremely well for children, and produce ‘excellent’ reports for statutory and education reviews and safeguarding meetings. Other professionals report that they are ‘solution- focused, very proactive and supportive’ and say ‘it’s a really good home’.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Children’s views and feelings are central to the home’s practice. They are fully involved in decisions about their day-to-day lives and their care plans. Staff help them to reflect on incidents so that, over time, they learn better ways of managing their feelings. Children say that they are happy in the home and it ‘feels like a family’.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Safeguarding practice is very strong. The home has effective systems that promote the safety of children who go missing, and children very quickly reduce or eliminate missing behaviour. Concerns about sexual exploitation are swiftly and competently addressed, resulting in significant improvements to children’s safety.

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 The arrangements for risk assessing children in need of emergency placements have improved so that children are better matched. Only those whose negative impact on other children is likely to be minimal are admitted to the home. The changes are recent but, so far, are positive.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendations:  Ensure that sufficient staff are on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home, and that those staff are able to respond to emergency placements without overly disrupting children's attachments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)  Ensure that emergency admissions are not taken unless the home's capacity and support systems mean that it has the capability to care for children admitted at very short notice while continuing to offer high quality care to children already living in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.6)  In reviewing the quality of care provided by the home, consider the experiences of children living there and the impact the care is having on outcomes and

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Recommendations

improvements for children. Consider including a review of the service to children placed in an emergency and the impact of their presence on other children in the home, to inform the future development of the home. To this end, ensure you can access and take into account recorded information relating to children who have been cared for during the reporting period. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.2)

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Information about this children's home

This is a local authority children’s home. It provides care and accommodation for up to five young people who may have emotional or behavioural difficulties, and/or learning disabilities, sensory impairment or physical disabilities. One of the five beds is used as an emergency placement for up to a maximum of three nights (four working days).

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 04/08/2016 Interim Declined effectiveness 30/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/05/2015 Full Outstanding 31/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

p.5

Outstanding

Children benefit enormously from experiences and care that promote their development and self-esteem. Without exception, children who receive medium- to long-term care in this home make very good progress, across all aspects of their development.

p.6

Outstanding

Children who have missed significant periods of education before moving to the home are making extremely good progress and enjoying school. Those who took GCSEs last summer exceeded expectations and have gone on to access further education in accordance with their wishes. Partnership working with schools and education providers is very strong. The home ensures that any small issues are immediately addressed and that children are brought back on track straight away and before they begin to avoid engagement in education. An education provider explained: ‘They are solution-focused, very proactive and very supportive. They came in to see us when he was struggling. We’ve worked things out, and he is happier. I am optimistic he has turned the corner.’ Another said: ‘They are very responsive to us and we have good, open communication. Staff call regularly, keep us informed of incidents and appointments and check out how she is doing. Her

p.6

Outstanding

attendance is above 90% and she is an active learner, fully involved and doing better than expected, given her history.’

p.6

Outstanding

The current group of children are all engaging positively in education that meets their needs, but this has taken time to achieve for some children who have a long history of non-school attendance before coming to this home, and a poor attitude to learning. The home supports very well those children who are not in school, keeping them busy with educational activities. Through listening to children, advocating for them and perseverance, the home is successful in helping children re-engage with education.

p.6

Outstanding

Children benefit from good advice, treatment and support that significantly improve their physical and mental health. The home ensures that they have access to and benefit from specialist support, when needed. The quality of individualised care is extremely good. The stable, consistent staff team is highly skilled at developing strong and influential bonds with children. A social care professional said: ‘They have gone above and beyond in the way they manage her. Foster care placements have broken down repeatedly. This is her longest placement. I don’t think any other placement would have lasted this long. The care is brilliant. They have a very good understanding of her emotional well-being and have done very well with her.’

p.6

Outstanding

Through the positive, caring relationships that they have with staff, children reduce their anxieties and learn to trust others. This opens them up to learning, having fun and feeling valued. A child explained: ‘They never give up on me even when sometimes I step over the line. They really care about you and treat you like their own even if you’re not their own… We have a laugh.’

p.6

Outstanding

The home is very well appointed, and children enjoy living in a homely, friendly environment that provides security, warmth and a strong sense of fun. Children have a clear sense of belonging. The staff team successfully enhances children’s enjoyment of life through its positive engagement in activities with children. For example, a member of staff goes horse-riding alongside a child and another goes street dancing with other children. The whole staff team participates alongside children in annual events such as Halloween and the home’s Christmas party, and children thrive on the positive, playful atmosphere at these events. Children’s sense of security is further enhanced by witnessing and being included in positive interactions and banter between and with staff.

p.7

Outstanding

The home provides children with new experiences including holidays abroad, driving lessons and taking part in fundraising activities for charities. This helps children to build self-esteem and aim for success in life. It also helps to raise their awareness of some of the difficult challenges faced by other people in need, and enables them to make valuable contributions to society. A social worker said: ‘They’ve given him experiences he’s never had and never dreamed of. It’s opened up his eyes. It’s been so good for him to have holidays abroad with staff; having a nice time away from the routine of daily life in the home. He is quite content and more optimistic about the future.’

p.7

Outstanding

Informative, child-focused placement plans are regularly reviewed, updated and shared with placing social workers. They provide strong evidence that children have a wide variety of positive, enjoyable experiences that promote their well- being and development. Photographic evidence of children having fun in various situations supports the record.

p.7

Outstanding

Consultation with children is excellent. Children know that they are fully involved in all discussions and decisions about their daily lives and care. They actively participate in children’s meetings which influence the daily life of the home, including decisions about activities, holidays and menu planning. They have regular discussions with staff about matters that concern them, and they know that staff respect and value their views and feelings and will go to extra lengths to help them achieve their goals. Children say that they feel listened to and have no complaints. They say that they are very well looked after.

p.7

Outstanding

Contact is promoted and supported exceptionally well. Children appreciate the efforts that staff go to, to help parents re-build damaged relationships with their children and achieve a depth of relationship that will work in the long term for both children and their families. By seeing staff go the extra mile, children recognise that staff care about them, and this builds trust and promotes stronger, more powerful bonds. A social worker said: ‘He had previously invested a lot of his hopes in his family. Now he recognises that’s not on the cards and he understands it. Staff have worked really well with the family and supported contact so it is now a pleasant experience that he values and is comfortable with.’

p.7

Outstanding

The home actively advocates for children to access independent visitors, when appropriate, and successfully supports the development of friendships and a sense of identity. Children enjoy having their friends and family to visit, and staff ensure that visitors are made very welcome.

p.8

Outstanding

The home provides focused, well-planned support to young people preparing for transition to adult placements or independence. Staff expertly help children to develop self-care skills, manage their money and have high aspirations. They work closely with other professionals to draw up person-centred pathway plans that address the specific needs of each child or young person. They skilfully support children to engage with the plans so that, step by step, they increase their talents and abilities in preparation for future independent life. A social worker said: ‘He has had some ups and downs at first but now he’s investing in the placement and has started to plan for the future.’

p.8

Outstanding

Some young people who have moved on to independence come back each year to join the home for activities that they particularly enjoyed, such as the Halloween celebration. Staff and children welcome them back, and this helps the young adults to maintain a sense of belonging. They approach staff for advice and share important milestones in their lives with staff, recognising that staff continue to care about them.

p.8

Outstanding

Social care professionals report that children have been unsettled by emergency placements and drawn, temporarily, into negative behaviour. A child said: ‘I hate it when we have emergencies. We are all settled here, like foster brothers and sisters… we know they’re scared and we try to make them welcome but it unsettles the house and then I join in with them when they start trashing the house. Then they leave and I’m left wondering why I did it.’

p.8

Outstanding

Staff report that the level of disruption caused by emergency placements that was evident over the summer has significantly reduced as a result of improved matching arrangements and clear messages to social-work teams, with support from the senior management team. One child’s social worker said: ‘In the past, he was bullied when emergency placements have come in but he copes with it much better now, and there have been no recent issues.’ Judgement grade

p.8

Outstanding

Children’s safety is held paramount, and children quickly become increasingly safe at this home. Professionals responsible for children’s safety recognise this as a key strength of the home. Careful consideration is given to each child’s safety needs and the possible effects of these needs on other children, as part of the improved impact risk assessments undertaken before placement. Individually tailored risk assessments provide effective guidance to staff in how to respond to known and potential dangers such as self-harm, going missing and assaults on others.

p.9

Outstanding

Through strong and creative practice, the home provides vulnerable children with a strong sense of safety and well-being. For example, staff help children to consider the potential impact of their behaviour on others, and this helps children to behave in a socially acceptable way and reduces the likelihood of them being bullied. At the same time, staff ensure that children have opportunities to express their personalities in a safe and secure environment.

p.9

Outstanding

There is clear evidence of sustained improvement to children’s safety from the point of placement in the home. For example, those with a history of going missing reduce quickly or eliminate this behaviour as they settle into life in the home. In the 18 months since the last full inspection, there have been 20 incidents of children going missing, involving five children overall. The current group of children rarely go missing. A social worker said: ‘I am extremely impressed with this home. Before coming here, he had been very unhappy, running away and sometimes missing for five days. He has come on fantastically, in leaps and bounds. This is the first place he has ever really settled and felt truly at home. He finally feels safe.’

p.9

Outstanding

The home promotes especially well the safety of those who go missing. Staff take heed of the most recent research and guidance in caring for children who go missing. They actively search for them, stay in contact with them when possible, work closely with other agencies, parents and friends, and warmly welcome children home on their return. As well as having independent return interviews, children have the opportunity to talk to a trusted member of staff about why they went missing, and they understand that staff are genuinely worried about them.

p.9

Outstanding

By listening carefully to children, staff promote an environment that helps children to feel safe, share their worries and feelings and significantly reduce their dangerous behaviour. Children’s safety and security is a top priority in the home, and when this is threatened the home intervenes to quickly re-establish a climate of security and safety. For example, when bullying has emerged and children have felt unsafe, the home has addressed this, initially by close supervision and direct work with all involved and ultimately by reviewing a child’s placement, working with other professionals to enable a child’s planned move to a more suitable placement, and a return to a safe and secure environment for remaining children. This helps children to trust the adults who look after them and to feel that they are listened to and valued.

p.9

Outstanding

When children are at risk of sexual exploitation, for example through online grooming, the home takes immediate action to address this through a multi-agency approach, including working intensively with individual children to raise their awareness of danger and teach them to use social media safely. Working in partnership with safeguarding specialists, the home has successfully reduced the likelihood of a child being drawn into sexual exploitation. Indeed, following the home’s intervention, a child has voluntarily shared further concerning information with staff. This has led to the home taking swift action that has enhanced her safety. The child feels safe and is safe as a result of the home’s clear and relentless focus on safeguarding.

p.10

Outstanding

The home manages children’s challenging behaviour very well by providing clear and consistent boundaries and, in most cases, staff respond confidently and effectively to children’s rising anxieties. Children know what is expected of them and greatly reduce their challenging behaviour as they settle into the good routines and nurturing environment. The number of serious incidents is therefore very low.

p.10

Outstanding

The manager and staff team reflect on incidents and act on advice from a child and adolescent mental health services specialist advisor, which assists them to have a good understanding of the reasons for a child’s particular behaviour and to respond with increasing effectiveness and empathy. A mental health worker said: ‘They are OK here. They do it all: security, safety, social skills development, therapy. They build foundations for better emotional responses. They help children reflect on and change their behaviours.’

p.10

Outstanding

The home appropriately calls for police assistance when the safety of staff and children is seriously threatened. This is a rare occurrence and, the home’s good partnership work with police reduces the likelihood of children becoming unnecessarily criminalised. Judgement grade

p.10

Good

The home is extremely well managed by a competent and inspirational manager whose positivity, enthusiasm and good humour set the tone for the home. Her motivation to provide children with the best possible experiences and outcomes is infectious and transmits to the staff and children, resulting in a happy home described by both as ‘like a family’. A member of staff said: ‘[She] is really motivational and passionate. She was awarded best manager last year. She absolutely deserved it.’

p.11

Good

The manager and senior staff lead by example and have strong, influential relationships with staff and children. Staff and children feel valued, develop confidence and have high aspirations. The manager explained: ‘We firmly believe that the way to work with children is through having good, strong relationships with them and we want to promote fun and enjoyment. We try to make their lives happy as much as we can… Children make very good progress with us because we genuinely care about them. They come back and see us long after they have left.’

p.11

Good

Children’s needs are given top priority in the home. Continuous assessment and very close monitoring of their progress enables the home to respond promptly to changing needs, to resolve issues effectively and to provide consistent, high-quality care.

p.11

Good

The staff team is happy in their work. Most staff members are long-standing, having worked together for a number of years. New staff are made welcome and are soon immersed in the upbeat, nurturing environment that children and staff enjoy and benefit from. Staff are fully qualified, well trained, and benefit from good, child-focused supervision and very good support. This includes advice and guidance from a specialist advisor who meets with the team to review individual children’s emotional development. He advises staff on how best to respond to challenging behaviour and support the child in a way that meets their emotional needs. This helps staff to understand children’s complex emotional needs and stay focused on employing tailor-made strategies that help children reduce their anxieties, become more relaxed and enjoy the positive experiences offered by the home.

p.11

Good

Children’s records are mostly well maintained. Indeed, for the most part, the records are very well written and presented in a way that is helpful to children both now and in the future. Information is recorded in a positive way that reflects the high esteem in which staff hold children. They are supplemented by personal photograph albums that are made up and held safely for each child and reflect the many and varied activities that children enjoy while living at the home. A social care professional said: ‘They always produce a good report for reviews, which is really informative and helpful.’ Minor shortfalls in restraint and sanctions records mean that the records do not always fully reflect the good work of the home, including reflection on incidents by the manager, staff and children. These shortfalls have no apparent impact on children’s care and are addressed by the manager on an ongoing basis.

p.11

Good

The home meets the aims of the service, as set out in its statement of purpose. There is a conflict of interest between providing stable, long-term care for some children and emergency placements for others. A member of staff explained: ‘Emergencies can be unsettling. We know it’s not ideal… There is a hierarchy among the children and they are trying to impress the new child and to an extent they show off and their language deteriorates. They are more cheeky with staff. We have minor incidents when other children are here.’

p.12

Good

Since the last interim inspection, there have been 15 emergency admissions to the home involving nine children who have stayed between one and three days. It is not possible to judge the quality of care provided to children who access the home in an emergency as their records are not held in the home once they have left, and there were no emergency placements during the inspection. This impedes the manager from effectively reflecting on and assessing this aspect of the home’s work. A pleasantly furnished and well-equipped bedroom is set up in readiness for any child admitted in an emergency, as well as a range of toiletries and a children’s guide.

p.12

Good

For the most part, the manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home well. She recognises the negative impact that children staying in the emergency bed can sometimes have on the children in long-term placements and, since the last inspection, has taken action to address this by meeting with senior leaders in the local authority responsible for children’s residential care and children’s care planning. Early signs are that more careful matching has reduced the level of disruption caused to children living in the home by those having emergency placements.

p.12

Good

The senior management team acknowledges that the current statement of purpose is too broad. However, in the current economic climate, funding alternative provision for all children who need care in an emergency is not achievable. It remains an aspiration for the local authority. The home is allocated additional staffing to take account of its dual function. However, staff deployment is not always good enough to ensure that the home is sufficiently staffed and organised to meet the needs both of the children in long-term care and those who arrive at a time of crisis in their lives. This means that the home cannot always ensure that both groups of children get the best possible quality of care.

p.12

Good

Lessons from research that indicate the importance of multi-agency working in securing good outcomes for children have been fully embraced by this home. Partnership working is very strong, and the home embraces a multi-agency approach to children’s care. Professionals in social care, education and safeguarding all report that the home communicates with them very well and is extremely good at advocating on behalf of children to ensure that they get the best possible all-round support.

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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 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.15

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

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

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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