Children's home run by Good Foundations Limited

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 thrive and continue to grow in confidence and they are all making exceptional progress.  Young people benefit from secure attachments with staff and constant support from a consistent, committed and stable staff team. Young people trust staff and accept the support and guidance provided to them.  The manager and staff always prioritise young people‟s wishes and feelings. Their committed approach to young people‟s participation ensures that all young people are actively involved in decision-making processes.  Highly effective care planning and partnership working are ensuring that young people‟s outcomes continue to improve in all areas of their lives.  Staff‟s high aspirations and innovative ideas are maximising young people‟s learning and training opportunities.  Excellent partnership working with specialist health services is consistently improving young people‟s emotional health, behaviour and resilience.

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

 Young people are safe. A dedicated team that receives bespoke training on matters such as child sexual exploitation, drugs and missing from care protects them.  Young people and staff are fully supported by a proactive, strong and dedicated registered manager. He leads by example and ensures that the team is stable, supported and competently trained. He demonstrates eagerness and a capacity for continued development of the service.  Young people flourish from living in a well-maintained, stable, safe and caring home environment.

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Recommendations

There are no recommendations made at this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

This home is for four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is a privately owned children‟s home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

09/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

30/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Outstanding

This children‟s home provides highly effective services that contribute to significantly improved outcomes for all young people. Consequently, taking into account young people‟s starting points, all are making exceptional progress in all areas of their development, including education, health and their behaviours. Staff consistently deliver exceptionally personalised care plans and intervention programmes that encourage young people to flourish. Staff are extremely motivated and have high aspirations for young people. Promoting positive outcomes is central to the work and ethos of the home. One young person said, „When I moved here, I was addicted to drugs and was committing crimes, but now I have sorted my head out. The staff have changed my life and I would not have done it without their support.‟ Consultation with young people is exceptional in all aspects of their care. Staff undertake regular and effective one-to-one key -working sessions with young

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Outstanding

people. These are very detailed and address a range of topics relevant to the individual young person, including their overall progress and experiences. This includes risks in the community, drug and alcohol misuse, gang affiliation and education. One young person said, „They [the staff] never give up on us. When we do something wrong, there is no shouting; they just talk to us. I feel disappointed in myself and feel like I have let them down. They just say, “That was yesterday; this is today.”‟ All young people living in the home attend full-time education or training. For all young people, attendance has improved significantly since their coming to the home. Young people take pride in their academic and vocational achievements. One young person said, „No one would have thought I could get a job and get up every day to go. Although it‟s hard work, I actually like it.‟ All young people have made outstanding educational progress, taking into account their starting points.

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Outstanding

Young people speak positively of their education and recognise the persistent efforts of staff to improve their attendance and achievements. For example, one young person had poor school attendance, prior to moving to the home. He is now working towards his GCSE qualifications and has requested a maths tutor to assist in the improvement of his predicted grades. He said, „I will get the exams I need. I want to go to college and university, and all the staff continue to help me every day.‟ All young people‟s healthcare needs are documented in their plans. Healthcare plans fit together with key-work sessions and are supported by external healthcare professionals, who work individually with young people. They are provided with valuable information to assist them in making informed decisions and choices in their lives. Topics such as gang affiliation, substance misuse, sexual health, sexual exploitation and managing relationships are a sample of some of the excellent work

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Outstanding

undertaken with young people in key-worker sessions. The home also ensures that there is information and guidance to support them to achieve healthy lifestyles, including food choices, nutrition and hygiene. Staff are persistent in ensuring that young people‟s physical and emotional needs are well met. As a result, young people make positive health choices that improve their own health, including eating a varied and healthy diet and getting fit through physical exercise. Staff work closely with families, and this is a considerable strength of the service. Young people verbalise their wishes and views in relation to all contact arrangements. Staff work closely with placing authorities to ensure that the wishes and feelings of young people are included in all plans. This includes their care plans, transition plans and pathway plans. Furthermore, staff work with families to equip parents with the necessary skills to continue to support and develop their

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Outstanding

young people. One parent commented, ‟They [staff] are, in my eyes, fantastic. I get daily updates and think of them as part of my extended family. I dread to think where [young person] would be without the help and advice the staff give him. They have also helped us [as] a family understand how best to support [young person] to help him get it right in life.‟ This demonstrates that young people‟s relationships with people who are important to them are re-established and progressed. Young people have excellent relationships with staff and benefit from the family atmosphere in the home. They are encouraged to recognise their ambitions and aspirations and are inspired and stimulated to achieve these. Partnership work between the home and other agencies is outstanding. All feedback received through both questionnaires and direct discussions confirmed the „outstanding work‟ completed by the staff team and their „commitment and high aspirations‟ for

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Outstanding

all young people. Young people also said, „This is by far the best children‟s home I have ever lived in‟, „ Staff never give up‟ and, „Although we keep making the same mistakes, staff always say, “Tomorrow is a new day.”‟

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Outstanding

Young people live in a very safe environment and are protected from harm. The staff consistently apply excellent safe caring practices. Consequently, vulnerable young people said that they feel safe and happy living in the home and they have a strong sense of safety and well-being. The staff give young people‟s safety the highest priority and they are very well trained in safeguarding. They are able to recognise the signs and symptoms of abuse and risks relating to gang affiliation, criminality and child sexual exploitation. They know exactly what they need to do when they have concerns about young people and take decisive action to safeguard all young people in their care. The home has excellent relationships with all safeguarding agencies, including the police. If young people go missing, staff ensure that they liaise effectively with police in the respective areas, social workers, and young people‟s families, to

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Outstanding

coordinate searches and contact. Strong relationships with young people enable staff to be successful in locating them, counselling them and providing for their safe return. Staff continue to report all serious incidents that impact on young people‟s safety and follow up on all safeguarding concerns. If the managers do not agree that appropriate action is being taken to safeguard young people, this is challenged. For example, when young people who have had known risks of criminality and child sexual exploitation have been classed as „persistently missing from care‟ and graded as „low risk‟ by other agencies, managers have escalated this to both the local authority and the police. They have requested strategy meetings to discuss whether the plans in place are safeguarding young people. One police officer said, „The home is one of the best I have ever worked with. They will appropriately challenge when they have concerns about decisions made and they only ever have

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Outstanding

the children‟s best interests at heart. I feel they are an excellent advocate for all young people in their care.‟ The staff ensure that comprehensive risk assessments and safety plans are in place for all individual young people. They effectively balance the need for protection with enabling young people to take reasonable risks, as part of their growth and development. They involve young people in devising the plans and encourage young people to let them know how best to help them to feel safe. For example, staff have completed direct work to help young people to understand what action they will take if they fail to return home. This includes continually ringing them, visiting their family and friends and searching all known areas that they may frequent. Young people agreed with staff that they prefer to receive a text message instead of a phone call, due to peer pressure from their friends. This has

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Outstanding

worked really well and, although there are still a high number of missing-from-care incidents, they are for shorter periods. Young people respond to the text messages sent. One young person said, „I could not believe it when I first went missing here. I kept telling the staff I had lost my phone, so every day they gave me a new cheap one. When I didn‟t answer, the staff turned up in the park with my mates to find me. I agreed they could text me instead and I tell them I‟m OK. Although it did my head in, I know it‟s because they really do care and not just because they have to. No one has ever done that for me before.‟ An outstanding piece of work has been completed with young people on criminality and the potential long-term impact on young people‟s lives and employment opportunities. Young people have responded well to the advice given, and there has been a dramatic reduction in young people being arrested and charged with

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Outstanding

criminal offences, since moving to the home. Feedback from the youth offending service, family members and a district judge highly commended the home, manager and staff on the exceptional work completed with young people. One youth offending worker said, „I still cannot believe the 360 degree turnaround in his attitudes and behaviours. He has responded well to the support and is like a different person.‟ One young person said, „[Key worker‟s name] would sit and talk to me about the decisions I was making and he would say, “We can help and support you, but only you can make the final choice.” He was right.‟ Young people‟s behaviour is usually excellent and it has significantly improved over time. They get on very well with staff and each other. They benefit from a nurturing and structured environment where positive behaviour is actively promoted through praise and rewards. Young people said that they feel fairly

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Outstanding

treated and reported that they can openly discuss any concerns that they may have and they will „always be listened to‟.

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Outstanding

Young people live in a highly effective and efficiently managed children‟s home. Every effort is made to ensure that they receive the best possible care, to support their individual needs and promote their well-being. The registered manager is experienced and continues to undertake a national qualification to enhance his management skills. He is a positive and enthusiastic leader and manages the home effectively, with the support of his senior care worker and the responsible individual. An experienced, stable and committed staff team cares for young people. All the staff have worked together for some time. This continuity of staffing has promoted young people‟s attachments. The skills within the staff team match young people‟s needs exceptionally well. The numbers of staff on duty are sufficient to promote young people‟s safety and welfare in the best possible way. Staff all reported that they are well supported by both the registered manager and senior care worker.

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Outstanding

They have a very detailed understanding of their roles and responsibilities and the high expectations for providing excellent childcare practice. They routinely receive effective, professional supervision, and regular team meetings are held to review practices in the home and the progress and experiences of young people. Staff are suitably qualified. They receive high-quality training to build their individual skills and knowledge relevant to the young people they are caring for, for example behaviour management, substance misuse and child sexual exploitation. Staff effectively apply their learning to their day-to-day work with young people. One staff member said, „I recently did some research around child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Although I thought I already knew a lot, this opened my eyes to factors I had not really considered. It also gave me room to think. I have talked to the rest of the staff about how we can support young people to

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Outstanding

learn more about the risks in the community, so they also get a better understanding.‟ Young people‟s written records are a very detailed picture of their experiences and progress. They include a narrative of young people‟s daily lives, staff observations of young people‟s mood and behaviour and analysis of their progress. These comprehensive records provide an insight and understanding of young people‟s lives and contribute to the planning for their futures. Staff develop with young people achievement files and life storybooks, containing photographs, which provide a clear picture of their experiences and achievements while they are living at the home. They provide an excellent source of discussion with young people about how much progress they are making and help them to understand their lives. Staff encourage young people to read what is written about them and make their own comments. Parents and professionals involved in young people‟s lives said that the home

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Outstanding

exceeds their expectations of the quality of care provided. Staff are extremely supportive of their roles and always contribute to a holistic approach to meeting individual needs. Placing authorities are equally complimentary about the home and said that staff are highly skilled in offering safe, individualised and developmental care to young people. The manager and senior care worker are not complacent and use effective monitoring systems by which to understand the strengths of their service and identify any areas for development. They successfully use the development plan to make improvements to the service provided, to ensure that all young people receive the highest quality of care.

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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, 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,

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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

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

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