Children's Home run by Bay View Child Care Limited in Lancashire

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:

 Young people make remarkable progress in this home. The care they receive positively impacts on their day-to-day lives and their future opportunities.  There is a strong emphasis on developing emotional resilience and solution-focused practice, which promotes young people’s development across all areas.  Care planning is detailed and sophisticated. It is informed by in-depth research and current theory. This enables staff to provide well-considered care, which is directly in line with young people’s individual needs.  The strength and consistency of the staff team are key elements of the home’s capacity to provide an exceptionally high level of care. Staff are trained to a high level and feel highly committed to the young people in their care; they experience a very high level of job satisfaction, which leads to excellent staff retention.  The staff team is both highly skilled and intuitive regarding its delivery of care. Staff

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

fully understand their roles in the young people’s lives and strive to deliver the best care and support possible.  Young people are extremely settled in the home and follow predictable routines with good structure and strong boundaries.  There are very few safeguarding issues, such as missing from care, criminality and drug and alcohol misuse. Risks are well understood and planned for, and young people are helped to learn from any mistakes that they make and which compromise their safety.  Relationships in the home are exceptionally positive, between the staff and young people and the young people themselves.  Young people continuously gain skills through support to develop independence and by gradually having their freedoms increased. This is enormously successful for them, yet they continue to feel a sense of ‘belonging’ in the home alongside their developing autonomy.  Leadership is strong and shows high aspirations for young people. There are good

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The children's home provision is outstanding because:

contingency plans in place in the case of absence of the registered manager.  The one area identified for development is to ensure that all staff have attained the relevant qualification by the relevant date. However, there is no detrimental impact on the young people due to this one slight shortfall.

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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 who works in the home in a care role has, by the relevant date, attained the level 3 diploma for residential childcare. (Regulation 32(4)(a)5(a)(b)) 18/02/2017

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Information about this children's home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties and/or learning difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

02/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

16/03/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Outstanding

The atmosphere in the home is one of genuine happiness and good humour. This evidences that young people are settled and have positive relationships in the home. The staff team offers highly developed and individualised care to the young people. This care is informed by specialist, research-based advice, constant discussion and in-depth consideration of young people’s needs. All aspects of the care delivered are well thought through and designed to enhance young people’s development and progress. The home focuses on developing emotional resilience, and care planning is centred around this key area. Staff are highly attuned to young people’s emotional presentation and strive to constantly offer support, which is in line with their current emotional needs. There is a high level of scrutiny of young people’s needs, which ensures that needs that are not immediately apparent are not left unmet. Staff provide some excellent role modelling to the four young people living in the

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Outstanding

home, which helps them to develop a sense of right and wrong and contributes to positive identity development. Young people show great respect to the staff and place a very high value on their relationships with them. Young people have excellent attendance in education. Many attend mainstream provision in which they are progressing extremely well. Some young people have taken GCSE exams this year and have progressed to college; the home has ensured that they have had the additional support needed to help them to settle into their new environment. When the home believes that young people’s education provision is not best suited to their needs, staff work tirelessly with a range of professionals to facilitate a change. Some young people are beginning to prepare for independence, and the home has achieved a positive balance between developing their independence and continuing to provide a close and supportive home life. Young people are highly successful in

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Outstanding

developing life skills and can manage themselves appropriately in the community. Contact with family and friends is supported in line with young people’s care plans. Some young people have had the opportunity to re-establish contact with parents and siblings whom they have not seen for a considerable amount of time. Transitions into and out of the home are managed sensitively. New admissions are considered in depth in regard to their impact on the resident group, and matching has been extremely successful. The one placement breakdown had no apparent trigger, and staff worked extremely hard to support the young person to maintain the placement until it became untenable. Staff considered the needs and feelings of the other young people when considering placement termination. When young people falter in their progress, staff are highly attuned to this and spend considerable time analysing the causes of the lack of progress. In some

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Outstanding

cases, they acknowledge that their expectations have been too far reaching, and they have, therefore, implemented shorter-term smaller goals and targets to ensure that progress is continuous, but not unrealistic. Staff adopt a solution- focused approach when progress slows and they identify new ways of working with young people to enable them to continue to progress and achieve. Young people have extensive opportunities to express their views, wishes and feelings. They all report that staff always listen to them, are always available to spend one-to-one time with them and give them opportunities to express themselves. The relationships between young people and their key workers are exceptionally strong. The home acknowledges that, at times, this can be intense and have co-key workers allocated so that young people receive support from more than one person when necessary. Direct work undertaken with young people on specific issues is clearly recorded in

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Outstanding

daily logs; these evidence the extensive and in-depth work that is engaged in, in addition to regular key-worker sessions. Young people know how to make complaints and believe that any complaint that they make will be treated seriously and have an outcome that they are satisfied with. They are also consulted and involved in the recruitment process and, thus, have their voices heard and some element of choice in who cares for them.

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Outstanding

Young people rarely engage in risk-taking behaviour. They are very settled in the home and have positive relationships with staff and so do not want to cause disruption and show disrespect by flaunting the boundaries. Young people become increasingly safe from their point of placement. They have a strong sense of safety and well-being in the home and report that staff protect them and contribute to their increasing safety. Risk assessments evidence that the staff are highly attuned to young people’s individual safety and have plans in place to manage and mitigate their areas of risk. The focus on understanding young people’s behaviour and emotional needs ensures that staff are able to intervene before young people’s behaviour compromises their safety on many occasions. Some young people have learning styles that enable them to learn best from their mistakes. This inevitably leads to their engaging in some risk-taking behaviours, for

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Outstanding

example, through experimenting with drugs. When this occurs, staff seek appropriate support and work with the young person, following the incident, about the danger that they exposed themselves to, and they put plans in place to prevent recurrence. When young people’s placements have broken down, due to risk-taking behaviours, the home has made every effort to address this in its early stages and to prevent the behaviour from escalating. When behaviours have escalated, despite interventions, timely decisions have been made, with great deliberation about the safety of the placement and the impact on the other residents. Young people are increasingly independent in the community. They continue to respect the boundaries imposed in respect of independence, which they believe to be fair. They adhere to curfews and keep in regular contact with staff, which enables their welfare to be monitored when they are out of the home.

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Outstanding

The home supports young people who need specialist input and has achieved huge success with one young person in respect of completion of a youth offending order. From the point of placement, the young person has gone from very high to low risk, which is due to a multi-agency package of work and support as well as an excellent and determined effort by the staff. Consequences and sanctions are rarely used as a means to manage behaviour. Young people are encouraged to talk about their challenging behaviour and to help to devise ways of managing situations better. Examples include negotiating a slightly later bedtime for a young person who showed challenging behaviour in settling at night, and a self-imposed sanction of an early curfew for a young person who was late returning. Behaviour management is a strength of the home. Staff have a great depth of understanding of the young people and are attuned to subtle

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Outstanding

signs that a young person may be struggling. Their emotional responses to young people are often intuitive but can also be backed up with the specialist support that they receive in respect of young people’s behaviour management. Restraint is minimal in the home and used only when no other option would keep the young person or the staff safe. Young people who have been involved in restraints report that these were proportionate and necessary. They are given an opportunity to share their views during a de-brief. Learning from physical interventions is incorporated into young people’s behaviour management plans, for example, when it has become evident that female staff are more effective in de- escalating a young person’s behaviour. Records of restraint are mainly of a high standard, although some could provide further detail of what efforts were made to de-escalate situations. From the previous full inspection, only one young person has been absent without

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Outstanding

authority from the placement; none has been missing from home. The home works closely with the police and other agencies in respect of absence, and unsuccessfully tried a number of tactics to reduce the absences of the young person prior to their placement breakdown. Staff are carefully vetted prior to commencing work, to ensure that they are suitable and safe to work with young people.

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Outstanding

The home is led by a manager who has been in post for a considerable period. He is suitably qualified and experienced. During the manager’s earlier period of extended absence, the home can evidence that effective contingency plans were in place. The manager adopts an inclusive and consultative style whereby the views of all members of staff are considered relevant and important. Staff are encouraged to discuss and challenge practice and decision-making. This results in regular discussion and debate about young people’s care, where the focus is always on ensuring that they receive the best. The staff team is highly experienced and skilled. Most staff are qualified to the level three diploma in residential childcare. Although one member of staff has not achieved this qualification within the relevant timescale, there are mitigating circumstances relating to this. Managers have a very good understanding of staff

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Outstanding

strengths and weaknesses and work to ensure that their strengths are put to best effect, and their areas for improvement supported and developed sensitively. Staff benefit from high levels of support in respect of supervision and training. In addition to basic training, the company uses a consultant to regularly support and train staff in specific, research-based areas of care, to further improve their understanding of young people’s behaviour and enhance their ability to help and support the young people. Staff retention is good, and staff report very high levels of satisfaction, both with their work with the young people and with the management of the home. Young people’s needs are clearly prioritised. They are the focus of all planning, decision-making and activities. Staff are constantly working with young people to develop their understanding and to discuss important areas, even when they are engaging in apparently insignificant activities, such as playing with the x-box

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Outstanding

together. Staffing levels are high, so that each young person receives focused individual attention. Managers have a clear understanding of the progress that young people are making and the longer-term plan for them. Progress is clearly evidenced, so that young people can see how far they have come and have an understanding of what the home is trying to achieve with them. Multi-agency working is a clear strength of the home. Staff and managers are in constant contact with other professionals to ensure a good level of communication and to deliver joined-up care. When other agencies fall short in their obligation to meet a young person’s needs, the home engages in appropriate professional challenge. Some highly positive working relationships have resulted in improved outcomes for young people. For example, the home works closely with the inclusion officer in respect of young people’s education. Strengths and weakness of the home are understood by managers. Improvements

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Outstanding

have been made to the induction process, and there is now clear evidence of the ways in which staff are inducted and their performance is monitored and developed. A development plan is in place and is wide ranging, covering a multitude of areas specific to the home and young people. Robust and comprehensive monitoring systems are in place, both internally and externally, and these ensure that levels of care and recording are kept to the highest standard. The home’s statement of purpose clearly describes the services that the home provides and it is regularly updated.

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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

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

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