Children's home run by Staffordshire County Council in Stafford

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’s provision is outstanding because:

 Young people love coming here and are welcomed into a ‘home from home’ for their exceptionally enjoyable short breaks.  Throughout their short breaks, dedicated staff support and encourage young people to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and to make choices about their rooms, food and activities.  Highly skilled and trained staff instil confidence in parents that they fully understand and will meet their child’s complex needs.  Enthusiastic staff are constantly working to provide young people with activities that are fun and that provide them with new and exciting experiences.  Young people make progress in many areas of their development. Staff work closely with family members to maximise the benefits to young people by using the same routines and expectations as at home.  The young people’s council influences the way the decisions are made about them at the centre and the facilities that staff make available to young people

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The children’s home’s provision is outstanding because:

during their short breaks.  Highly trained staff provide close monitoring and vigilance, which are required to keep young people safe. The staff also work creatively with young people to help them understand how to keep themselves safe.  Staff collaborate effectively with health, education and childcare professionals to ensure that risk assessments and behaviour management plans are accurate and have a positive impact for each young person.  The registered manager is passionate about the service and expects high standards of commitment, flexibility and skill from her staff.  The registered manager regularly reviews the service in consultation with young people, family members, staff and professionals to help develop the service and drive up standards.

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Information about this children’s home

The local authority manages the centre and provides residential short breaks for children and young people with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and sensory impairment. The centre also provides outreach services to support children, young people and their families.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 09/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/12/2015 Full Outstanding 19/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/12/2014 Full Good

p.4

Outstanding

When young people arrive, staff warmly welcome them into the spacious, colourful and comfortable centre, which immediately puts them at ease. The reception area is decorated with photographs of young people and staff and includes a range of big ‘smiley face’ buttons by the door. Young people and visitors press these to express their feelings about the centre as they leave. In the corridors, there is artwork and there are further photographs of young people on an activity holiday in the summer, doing archery, rafting and going on zip wires. These are now making way for pictures of the Christmas activities that the young people have chosen, which include a trip to see reindeer, tobogganing and to a pantomime. Young people take turns to sit on the young people’s council, which, for example, makes decisions about how activity money is spent, independent of the adults in the centre. This means that young people are closely involved in planning and taking part in a wide

p.5

Outstanding

range of stimulating and exciting activities. Attentive staff ensure that these events are recorded for young people and their families to enjoy both at the time, and to look back on as happy memories.

p.5

Outstanding

Staff quickly support young people to communicate their choice of themed bedroom and to settle in and relax. The themed bedrooms are in excellent condition and provide young people with a warm, secure space in which they can feel at home. Staff have recently updated the rooms to include a cityscape theme for older young people and a pretty butterfly room. Staff have cleverly decorated the rooms to emphasis the theme, while avoiding sensory overload for young people who have autistic spectrum disorder. Staff are very aware of young people’s needs for calming environments as well as stimulation.

p.5

Outstanding

The centre is exceptionally clean and well maintained. Young people have the option to spend time with their peers, or to find valuable spaces, such as the sensory room, when they want to be quieter. The two large sitting rooms have comfortable sofas where young people can watch television or listen to music with staff. Outside, the large garden has space for a climbing frame, a summerhouse and a picnic table. Young people can benefit from being out in the fresh air, climbing, running around and having fun.

p.5

Outstanding

Experienced and highly skilled staff use a range of communication methods to engage young people effectively and support their development. Staff display minutes of young people’s council meetings on a board in the corridor, where all young people can see and understand them. These are recorded in both words and pictures. In addition to using speech, Makaton sign language, symbols and Widgit, the patient and perceptive staff develop an in-depth understanding of each young person’s body language. Staff use this knowledge to ascertain and understand young people’s views, wishes and feelings. Young people can work with staff in a quiet room, which has a large ‘feelings’ floor mat where they can sit and point to the faces around the edge, to indicate their feelings. Young people can also use the well-equipped and spacious craft room to express their feelings to staff.

p.5

Outstanding

Young people make sustained progress, which is often beyond expectations. Highly supportive staff help them to achieve individual targets, such as laying the table and wiping the table after meals, or participating in activities with other young people. Many of the young people are keen to join the children’s university, which a staff member runs and organises. They accumulate points towards their bronze, silver or gold awards by, for example, going out and walking around to develop their coordination, or learning about the things that are in shops. Young people also gain points for art, crafts and sensory activities, like using playdough, playing board games and role-play. The young people love attending graduation ceremonies at the centre, to which staff invite parents, when they receive their certificates, wear caps and gowns and enjoy a celebration.

p.6

Outstanding

The attentive staff are highly motivated to help young people be more independent and make real changes to their lives. One young person has made significant progress to manage her own behaviour. She used to be violent towards staff when she first came for short breaks, but has recently been able to go on a holiday from the centre. Other young people make good progress in toileting, communication, social skills and education.

p.6

Outstanding

The parent of one young person commented that her son was doing more work at school since coming for short breaks. Another parent sent a card to staff saying, ‘Thank you for all your help and support over the last year, she has a fabulous time and I'm sure she will take many memories away from it – you do make a difference!!’

p.6

Outstanding

Highly trained staff work with young people, using a range of communication tools to help them understand bullying and have the confidence and skills to defend themselves and to make complaints . Anti-bullying workshops are held regularly with young people and include a quiz to help them identify bullying and talk about what they would do if they were being bullied. Young people also do worksheets, which help them to understand who can be bullied, the ways in which they can be bullied and how it feels. One young person’s worksheets showed that he had understood that kicking and punching, ignoring and taking lunch money were all types of bullying behaviour. An anti-bullying post box in the corridor provides young people with an alternative way to make disclosures if they are experiencing bullying.

p.6

Outstanding

Detailed and thorough risk assessments and behaviour management plans for each young person ensure that safety is the top priority. These include the risks of young people going missing, which are significantly reduced by the high staffing levels and monitoring of young people’s whereabouts at all times. No young person has gone missing since the last inspection. At handover meetings, staff diligently read aloud the risk assessments and behaviour management plans to ensure that all staff on shift are fully informed and able to protect the young people. The staff and registered manager regularly review and update risk assessments as more information becomes available about the young people and their circumstances. The nature and complexity of the young people’s needs require staff to constantly question if they have all of the information they need to keep young people safe.

p.7

Outstanding

Risk assessments and behaviour management plans also include a reflective element, which requires staff to identify the benefits of the plan for each young person. These can include, for example, enabling a young person to access community resources such as the park and leisure centre, to reduce anxieties and triggers, and to develop the skills to keep themselves safe. One parent, whose son has recently begun to have seizures, commented that the staff had kept him safe and that he can safely have a bath at the home, which is a treat for him.

p.7

Outstanding

Staff work closely with a range of health, education and childcare professionals and families to ensure that they protect young people by gathering information and developing new care skills specific to each young person.

p.7

Outstanding

The registered manager ensures that the home is well maintained so that young people can move about independently and that staff can move them, when necessary, in a consistently safe environment. The registered manager also ensures that the centre's specialised equipment, such as hoists and beds, are maintained to a high standard. Young people and staff take part in fire drills so that they can respond appropriately and safely in an emergency. The registered manager ensures that staff recruitment is safe and that all necessary safeguarding checks are thoroughly undertaken prior to employment.

p.7

Outstanding

When a safeguarding issue arose in the summer, which staff had not encountered before, the registered manager acted rapidly to respond fully to the matter with parents, staff and childcare professionals. A young person sustained an injury to his skin during a short break, and the resulting placing authority child protection enquiry concluded that no further action was required as the injury was accidental. The young person has now returned to the centre to resume his short breaks, which he enjoys, and staff are fully meeting his health needs. His parent has renewed trust and confidence in staff to keep him safe. A childcare professional commented that the registered manager had done everything possible to respond to the incident and to improve staff practice, saying, ‘Her response has been rapid and robust.’

p.7

Outstanding

The registered manager responded effectively to the incident by working very closely with the family, the local authority and health professionals. She debriefed staff, and immediately reviewed and updated the young person's care plan and risk assessment. She instigated additional staff training in careful recording and commissioned training by a nurse who specialises in how to treat delicate skin. The manager has also created a core group of experienced staff to care for the young person and provide him with consistent care so that his highly complex health needs are met. In the context of the past year, and the consistent level of safety that young people experience, this isolated incident does not diminish the outstanding service provided by this centre. There have been no widespread safeguarding issues and young people have benefited immeasurably from the opportunities afforded to them to explore new physical experiences, such as the activity holiday, in complete

p.8

Outstanding

Parents and professionals have total confidence in the high level of safeguarding at the centre. One parent said, ‘The centre has always kept him safe. There has never been any doubt that he would be anything other than safe here. He relies massively on the rigid routine and they have always provided that.’ Another parent said, ‘I can't praise them enough, they have helped with the transition between school and the car, by suggesting that he leaves his class before the other young people. This makes it safe for me to drive him home, as he is calm.’

p.8

Outstanding

The registered manager holds a level 5 qualification in management and has over 25 years’ experience in childcare. She has managed this service for over five years, during which time she has taken it from good to outstanding. She also manages another similar provision, which is similarly outstanding. Staff either hold a level 3 qualification or are working towards the award.

p.8

Outstanding

The registered manager is dedicated to and passionate about meeting the needs of children with disabilities. She ensures that the service provides consistent, nurturing care, which meets each individual young person’s needs. She provides strong leadership to her child-focused staff, which enables them to continue to maintain a high quality service during a recent period when she was on sick leave for a number of weeks. The registered manager demands the highest commitment from staff and makes sure that they are clear about their roles and responsibilities and that they work as a highly effective team. One staff member commented, ‘Staff work together well, we are a good team.’ Regular staff supervision is supportive, but also includes the challenge of competency testing. This competency testing enables the registered manager to assess individual staff members’ knowledge and understanding and their learning

p.8

Outstanding

and development needs. The registered manager assesses the many different learning styles of her staff and uses these assessments to make their learning both efficient and effective. She satisfies herself that staff are confident as well as competent and emphasises the importance of reflection in developing and maintaining good practice. Staff attend monthly team meetings where they are able to contribute to discussions and decision-making about the service.

p.9

Outstanding

Training is wide-ranging and relevant and has been ongoing since the last inspection. This has included the designated officer visiting the team to discuss its role, and training by parents to help staff understand parents’ experiences and fears about entrusting their child to the centre. Staff learned what the difficulties are for parents of disabled children and how they can help to reduce these. After undertaking training in careful recording, staff now include significantly more detail in their records. For example, records now include details about how young people communicate their wishes and emotions, how much time they spend in a chair and how they enjoy their experiences. In response to a serious incidents briefing, staff have enhanced their ability to analyse events and see what they could have done better and what a similar situation will ‘look like’ next time. The local authority health and safety advisor delivered a briefing on accident records and the registered

p.9

Outstanding

manager has commissioned tissue viability training.

p.9

Outstanding

Young people are closely involved in decision-making in the centre and the registered manager constantly supports them to take ownership of their experience. The young people’s council forms a lively and creative part of this approach and young people are now discussing putting in place a 12-month plan for their activities and meetings. Communication and consultation with young people is key to the success of the service. This is based on the registered manager’s belief that young people should be empowered to be assertive and to feel that their views are valued. Young people are involved in the recruitment of new staff, meeting with them and engaging them in activities. The registered manager values young people’s opinions of the interviewees very highly.

p.9

Outstanding

Several of the staff have worked at the centre for many years, and young people and families know and trust them. Parents praise the centre staff for their communication, attention to detail and ability to put parents and young people at their ease during the short breaks.

p.9

Outstanding

The registered manager is innovative and committed to driving up standards. Since the last inspection, she had arranged a consultation open day for parents, which was held in November. In response to feedback, she has also included additional facilities to enable working parents to contribute to the day, such as an online survey and the opportunity for parents to speak to her on the phone. There is also a ‘sibling day’ arranged, when young people can bring a brother and/or sister to look round the centre. Further innovations to inform the development of the service include exit interviews for parents and young people when they stop using short breaks. The registered manager has developed a newsletter, which parents have said makes them feel that they are working in partnership with the centre.

p.9

Outstanding

Development work with social workers and team managers has resulted in higher levels of attendance by young people at their reviews, during which they contribute to the discussions and decision-making. Staff support them to communicate their views, wishes and feelings in their own individual way.

p.10

Outstanding

When young people leave the service, the staff work closely with young people and families to help them to identify and settle into new placements. The local authority placement team has recently complimented the centre on the quality of work by staff on the profiles of young people, to assist them in finding suitable future placements.

p.10

Outstanding

The registered manager never stops working to improve the service and this is reflected in the outstanding care that she and her staff provide to young people.

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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 result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s

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Information about this inspection

Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after 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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