Children's home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

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:

 Excellent relationships exist between young people and staff. Young people are consistently positive about the staff who look after them and can discuss ways in which they have improved because of being at the home.  All young people have made rapid progress because of diligent, creative and imaginative staff.  Care planning is highly individualised. Staff are very knowledgeable about the young people and about how they are being supported.  Young people’s achievements are outstanding. One young person is completing an apprenticeship at a local hospital and another young person has had his musical abilities recognised.  Young people enjoy positive experiences, such as performing on radio to being able to take a best friend on holiday.  The staff make sure that the home stays pleasant and comfortable for young people.  Young people increase their school attendance, do not go missing from care and relationships with their families improve because of the first class care

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

they receive from staff.  Staff give a high priority to keeping young people safe, including understanding their vulnerabilities and making sure that safeguards are in place.  Feedback from professionals is consistently positive.  The staff team is very competent, with a range of experience, skills and knowledge that they apply to their everyday practice.  Staff receive continuous training opportunities and are fully supported to make use of these opportunities, including applying research to practice.  There are two minor shortfalls. These relate to a need to increase the staff team’s awareness of radicalisation and for young people to be given a little more help in developing their independence skills.

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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 staff help each child to prepare for any moves from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or adult care, or to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional and mental resilience to cope without the home’s support and, when the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27).

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, specifically combating radicalisation (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11).

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is registered for two children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural and learning difficulties. The statement of purpose details the age range of children and young people as being from eight to 17 years of age. Education and therapeutic services are part of this home’s statement of purpose.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 22/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/07/2015 Full Good 11/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 10/12/2014 Full Good

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Outstanding

Young people have moved forward significantly in all aspects of their lives since being admitted. One young person told the inspector, ‘I think I have developed immensely, I used to be shy with no social skills and (the home) has helped me come so far. I now have friends that are outside the care system.’

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Outstanding

Diligent, creative and motivated staff never give up on young people. Staff make sure that young people make meaningful progress and have rewarding lives that are full of positive memories. Staff listen to young people, discussing the plans for their care, talking to them about how the home is run and helping them to make decisions on matters that affect them. Consequently, relationships between young people and staff are exceptional.

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Outstanding

Young people are involved in a broad range of activities. Young people told the inspector, about a recent ‘come dine with me’ competition, debating their improving cooking expertise. Young people have enjoyed trips away, including being able to take their best friend. One young person has been involved in presenting his music on a local radio station and at an awards ceremony, significantly improving his confidence in his own abilities.

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Outstanding

Staff constantly promote family contact. One parent commented to the inspector that they were always able to talk to both their son and the staff, who were very knowledgeable. They highlighted the daily email from the organisation’s school, saying that, ‘It keeps me up to date and really helps with having something to talk to him about when I call him.’

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Outstanding

Healthy living is a key component of life at the home. Staff support young people in attending all necessary appointments, with a recent medication review decreasing the levels of necessary medicines. Regular therapeutic interventions help young people with their mental health. One young person told the inspector that, ‘My therapist has helped me think more clearly about things and put things into perspective, staff say that they are proud of me and I believe them.’ Young people have stopped smoking following staff support and a drugs worker linked to the home is positive about the staff team, saying that, ‘They keep me up to date with what is going on and are always available to discuss the best ways to work with the young people.’

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Outstanding

All young people have developed significantly in their educational ability. One told the inspector that, ‘Before I came here I was working over the kitchen table, I’ve progressed to working in school classes, achieving success in GCSEs and I’m now doing an apprenticeship.’ Others attend the organisation’s school full-time and are positive about plans for the future and their educational development. Strong links are in place between the school and the home, including daily information-sharing to increase the consistency in care.

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Outstanding

The home is pleasant and homely. Young people have an input in choosing the decor, and have personalised their own rooms well. The kitchen has been updated since the last inspection and plans are in place to redecorate other areas of the home.

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Outstanding

Transition arrangements to move young people into the home are well organised. Risk assessments relating to both the new admission and those already in the home are used to examine their compatibility.

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Outstanding

Young people are supported with developing independence skills, with weekly assessments of their improvement. Although young people improve in developing these skills, they are not challenged consistently to develop in budgeting, to enhance their ability further to cope when leaving the home.

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Outstanding

Young people commented to the inspector that they feel extremely safe and well looked after by the staff team. Staff are clear regarding their role in supporting the safety and protection of young people, and well established systems are in place for recording and reporting concerns to senior staff and external agencies. This develops the safety of the young people.

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Outstanding

Staff clearly know the young people very well. They are aware of their strengths and, importantly, their vulnerabilities and the areas in which they need to develop. As a result, they comprehensively assess and plan for the young people’s behaviours and put measures in place to protect them. The risk assessments completed by the staff are comprehensive, robustly monitored and regularly assessed to ensure that they are relevant and effective.

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Outstanding

Although no specific child protection concerns have been raised at the home since the last inspection, the registered manager has challenged a social worker effectively when there were concerns relating to the young person’s welfare. This resulted in improved outcomes for the young person.

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Outstanding

Young people who have previously gone missing now do not do so. One young person commented that, ‘Staff have talked to me a lot about the risks I’ve been taking and I don’t want to go down that route any more.’ On the rare occasions that missing events have happened, recordings show that staff have been proactive in searching for, and attempting to contact, the young person. Risk assessments highlight excellent links with external professionals to decrease future missing events. Systems to search rooms are in place and support young people’s safety.

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Outstanding

Established behaviour management plans provide young people with fair and consistent boundaries. Young people understand and respond positively to an incentive scheme, and are familiar with the likely consequences of negative or challenging behaviour. They say that the rules are fair. Sanctions imposed are relevant and appropriate, including being linked to principles of restorative justice. Physical restraint is rare, with no incidents for over six months. Records concerning the incidents are clear and included debriefing sessions with the young person from an independent person, as well as reflective sessions involving the staff. This ensures that incidents are treated with gravity, and that staff and the young person have the opportunity to learn from them.

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Outstanding

The behaviour management support offered to the young people enables them to develop their coping skills, understand their behaviours and to develop strategies to manage stressful and challenging emotions. As a result, incidents of challenging behaviour have lessened to a significant degree.

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Outstanding

Recruitment of new staff is thorough and ensures that all necessary background checks have been carried out. This means that only adults with appropriate employment histories are able to work with the young people.

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Outstanding

The registered manager has managed this home since December 2009. She has extensive experience and is suitably qualified to carry out her role with a national vocational qualification at level 4 in care and management.

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Outstanding

The manager has a high awareness of the effectiveness of the provision, due to regular internal monitoring processes and visits completed by the external visitor. Issues raised are swiftly responded to. The staff team is consistently looking for ways to improve the service and a development plan includes objectives and timescales to support this improvement. One requirement was made at the last inspection, relating to behaviour management. This has been responded to through close monitoring of recordings relating to behaviours.

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Outstanding

Professionals involved with the home are consistently positive about the service provided. One social worker told the inspector that, ‘They keep me up to date with everything that I need to know, weekly reports are great. All the staff know (the young person) really well, showing that they have a high level of communication with him and each other.’

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Outstanding

When young people receive poor practice from others, staff challenge this effectively. For example, complaints are raised with team managers regarding social work practice. In one case, this led to improvements in the safe care of one young person.

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Outstanding

Clear expectations relating to the care of the young people and the objectives of the home are covered well in the statement of purpose. Staff work in line with these expectations to ensure that the quality of care stays centred on the young people.

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Outstanding

Staff are well supported by the management team. New staff are given a thorough induction and there is a good range of training courses completed to keep them up to date with current practice and research. However, no training is currently being offered to raise the staff team’s awareness of radicalisation.

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Outstanding

Staff receive regular supervision, which allows them to reflect on their practice, including how best to support the young people. Appraisals include both self- evaluation and input from young people to increase staff’s awareness of the way they work. Staff meetings are an excellent resource for staff to use research and publications to enhance their practice.

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Outstanding

Staff are aware of the need to report significant events to different professionals to keep them up to date with what is happening in the home. No such incidents have occurred since the last inspection, highlighting the settled nature of the home and the success of the 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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