Children's home run by Clover Childcare Services Limited in North Norfolk

Outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceeds 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.

p.2

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

 Children are making exceptional progress in education.  The children, many of whom have had multiple placement breakdowns, are extremely happy and settled in the home.  The managers are excellent role models to the staff team and demonstrate passion and commitment in their care of the children.  An enthusiastic, motivated and dedicated staff team cares for the children.  The home continues to be innovative in its approach to teaching the children how to keep themselves safe. The children are becoming increasingly safer.  The managers are continually developing the service to incorporate the theories that the home’s care is based on.  Children are becoming increasingly able to self-regulate their emotions and behaviours.  Children are developing an increased sense of independence through their extra-curricular activities and are developing friendships outside of the home.  Staff display an exceptional level of understanding of the children’s

p.3

The children's home provision is outstanding because:

emotional needs and they use key work sessions effectively to address these needs.  Staff and professionals say that the manager and senior management team are extremely child focused, approachable and receptive.  Children are building good trusting relationships with the staff.

p.3

Information about this children's home

The home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.4

Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/12/2015 Full Outstanding 05/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 19/11/2014 Full Outstanding

p.4

Outstanding

The home provides medium to long-term care. Many of the children have experienced numerous placement breakdowns. The home provides a family like environment, where children feel cared for and loved. Staff, with other professionals, support the children to work through their past experiences and trauma. They help the children to develop skills that will assist them now and in their futures.

p.5

Outstanding

The interactions between the children and the staff are nurturing and caring and children experience great warmth from the team. Children grow to trust the staff and they feel loved and cared for. One child said, ‘I like living here and I like the staff.’ Another child said, ‘I trust the staff and know that they can keep me safe.’

p.5

Outstanding

The children move into the home and stay for many years. One child has lived at the home for seven years. The child who moved in most recently, six months ago, has settled in well. His social worker spoke positively about the child's introductory visits to the home. Staff went to visit the child in his previous home so that he would be familiar with them. The social worker said, ‘He is doing really well. The staff have been absolutely brilliant. They understand what he is all about. They have been supportive and they facilitate contact with parents and update me about everything.’

p.5

Outstanding

Throughout their stay children learn to build trusting relationships with staff and each other. The staff help the children to achieve this using various methods incorporating a dyadic developmental psychotherapy approach that underpins the ethos of the home. The approach supports the children to learn to recognise their feelings and helps them to identify strategies to manage their emotions. Children are increasingly learning to self-regulate their emotions and behaviours. One child has been able to identify the changes in her emotions and the increased levels of upset that she encounters when she returns from visiting her family. Consequently, she requested a reduction in the frequency of family visits. Staff recognise the inner conflict that children experience when reaching such painful decisions. They support the children by talking these decisions through using various methods, such as role play. A social worker said, ‘The staff team are amazing with the

p.5

Outstanding

children. They are good at seeing past the children’s negative behaviours and seeing each child’s potential.’

p.5

Outstanding

The children have very detailed care and placements plans. These are created in conjunction with the education coordinator and the psychologist. The plans identify the areas of focus such as helping a child to manage reintegration into school. Staff ensure that the children’s targets are produced in a child-friendly way that make clear what they need to do. The staff are flexible in their planning and they find innovative ways of engaging the children.

p.5

Outstanding

The children all achieve exceptionally high levels of attendance at school. Each child’s attainment has improved since they have lived at the home. Staff view education as a vital part of the children’s routine. They work closely with the school staff to ensure that both settings are aware of any difficulties that the children may be experiencing. This ensures that the children receive a consistent response.

p.6

Outstanding

A new log cabin provides a classroom that the children can use for home tuition and completing homework. One child who is currently having trouble at school is receiving a period of home tuition. The manager has arranged this to give her the opportunity to gradually reintegrate into school. School staff have been visiting the home to set work for her. The child is due to take her maths GCSE exam earlier than expected due to her level of ability. The home is paying for extra tuition sessions to support her in maths and English. This individualised approach supports each child to achieve their best in school.

p.6

Outstanding

Children have lots of fun both in and outside of the home. They take part in a wide range of activities in the community. One extremely talented child has recently taught herself to play piano by ear. The managers have recognised her talent and have commissioned piano lessons to help her to maximise her piano skills. The three younger children are having swimming lessons. Staff have arranged these on different nights to encourage the children to build their own friendship groups outside of the home. One child had just successfully completed stage one in his swimming lessons. He ran into the home asking the staff if he could put this achievement in to his memory box. It is evident that achievements are celebrated.

p.6

Outstanding

The children are encouraged and supported by the staff to attend both routine and specialist medical appointments. Children are encouraged to eat healthily and be active. Staff are helping two of the children to monitor their weight. One child has joined a gym and has the option of having staff attend with him. He is now a healthier weight and is able to make healthier choices at meal times. Staff recognise the importance of helping the children to form healthy eating and exercise habits from a young age. They understand the negative impact that the children’s past experiences with food, or a lack of it, can have on the children’s eating habits and their emotions. Key work sessions, focused activities and sessions with the psychologist help the children to work through issues with food.

p.6

Outstanding

Staff actively advocate for the children. A recent example relates to managers ensuring that a child has a gradual transition to foster care. The managers have fought to have the gradual transition built into the child’s care plan. This is to enable him to benefit from having the time to develop a relationship with his new carers. It will also support a gradual disengagement from the home, the staff and the children that he has formed a close bond with. Professionals say that staff challenge them in a way that promotes partnership working and supports the children through their transition into new placements.

p.6

Outstanding

One of the strengths of the home is the significant support that the staff offer to the children when they move on. This support regularly continues long after the children have moved out. Staff ensure that the children do not feel abandoned or overwhelmed with their new-found responsibilities. This benefits the children living in the home too as they are able to maintain friendships with the children who have moved on. They also know that they can expect to receive the same level of support when they move on.

p.7

Outstanding

The grounds of the home offer the children opportunities to play on the large outdoor equipment, grow vegetables and have space to run around. A second recently erected log cabin will provide a space for training and meetings. These extra spaces are being provided to prevent the children from feeling overwhelmed by the numbers of adults present on team training and staff meeting days.

p.7

Outstanding

The house has a comfortable and homely feel. Children have personalised their bedrooms to varying degrees. One child proudly showed off her bedroom walls that she has covered with pictures of family members and her favourite pop acts. This personalisation promotes the children’s individuality.

p.7

Outstanding

Each child receives one-to-one care. The high level of supervision and care means that there have been no episodes of children going missing from the home in this inspection period. Although missing from home is not an issue, the staff understand the missing from home protocols. One of the children recently went missing from school. The home staff, both those who were working and those who were off work, actively searched the local area until they found him. This demonstrates the staff team’s exceptional commitment to the children’s safety.

p.7

Outstanding

The staff work with the organisation’s psychologist and teaching staff to develop behaviour management plans that incorporate strategies to address unwanted behaviours. The staff use key work sessions to talk with the children about any worries or concerns that may be affecting the child’s mood or behaviour. Staff use focused activity sessions to talk and use play or role play to work through specific issues such as road safety, sexual health, child sexual exploitation and current societal issues such as radicalisation. Staff conduct these sessions in a way that highlights the dangers and risks. They speak to the children in an age-appropriate way about how to minimise the risks of actual and potential concerns. The children have a number of individualised risk assessments that identify known risks, such as self-harm. Staff update the risk assessments as the level of risk increases or reduces. This ensures that staff are working with the children using

p.7

Outstanding

current information and effective strategies that minimise levels of risk.

p.8

Outstanding

The manager completes a compatibility assessment when considering admitting a new child into the home. This gives the manager an overview of any potential issues that may arise should he accept the placement. It enables him to identify any actions that may be required to ensure that none of the children are negatively affected. This safeguards the children living in the home and the children who are new to the home.

p.8

Outstanding

Incident recording is comprehensive. The manager reviews and comments on how staff have managed the incidents and whether any use of physical intervention was appropriate. There has been a significant decrease in both incidents and the use of physical intervention. This demonstrates that children are becoming increasingly safer and settled. Staff now write the incident records as though speaking to the child, to ensure that it is meaningful to the child if the child reads the records in the future.

p.8

Outstanding

Staff make appropriate referrals to the designated officer and provide the relevant notifications and updates to Ofsted. Staff are fully aware of the safeguarding and whistleblowing processes. They confidently state how they would raise and escalate any concerns if they arose.

p.8

Outstanding

The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2015. He had worked in the home for a number of years prior to becoming the manager. He holds a relevant level 5 qualification. Both the managers and the senior managers are passionate about and promote the home’s ethos and the therapeutic approach that underpins their work. Staff mirror this enthusiasm through their interactions with the children and the way that they speak about the children.

p.8

Outstanding

The managers have high aspirations for the children. They set targets for each of the children, with small achievable steps and goals that they build on as the children grow in confidence. The managers ensure that they recruit staff with a similar level of passion so that the culture of high aspiration is embedded across the staff team. Staff are happy in their work and turnover is minimal. The children know the staff team very well. This provides the children with an increased sense of stability and security.

p.8

Outstanding

The home recruits staff using a rigorous vetting process. The new staff follow a thorough induction process that enables them to become familiar with the home’s approach and style. One staff member said, ‘I have received loads of training and supervision and have had time to go through the children’s plans and risk assessments. Everyone is supportive and I can ask them [managers and staff] questions.’ The staff are clear that this approach has continued throughout their employment. Children are cared for by a confident staff team who are open to continual development.

p.9

Outstanding

Staff receive regular individual supervision and annual appraisals. They are working with current knowledge because they receive regular training and refresher courses in areas such as child protection, physical intervention, medication and fire safety. They benefit from group sessions with the organisation’s psychologists. These sessions help the staff to develop a clinically informed joint approach to their care of the children.

p.9

Outstanding

The management team uses ongoing monitoring and auditing of records to drive improvement. They address the shortfalls highlighted by the independent visitor and have met the two recommendations raised at the last inspection. The manager completes a six-monthly report that highlights the strengths of the home and demonstrates the progress that the children are making. The report details any areas of development to be progressed in the coming six months. The manager has revised the format of this report to include more evaluation of the feedback received from children, their parents and professionals. This provides a fuller evaluation of the service that the home provides and the positive impact that it is having on the children’s lives.

p.9

Outstanding

The manager has allocated specific areas of development work to staff, such as reworking the format of the key work sessions to make them more child friendly. Staff are also creating an easy-to-use reference guide that will enable them to demonstrate how their work with the children runs in parallel with the work of the psychologists. This encourages the staff to actively contribute to improving practice.

p.9

Outstanding

Professionals describe a positive working relationship with the manager and the team. They said:  ‘The staff are very innovative, committed and willing to go the extra mile.’  ‘They have done a lot of great work. He [the child] had a lot of placement breakdowns previously. There has been so much improvement that he can go back into foster care.’  ‘The home has a really good manager. He still has a really good rapport with the children.’

p.9

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.

p.11

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 looked after children 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

p.11

What the inspection judgements mean

harmed or at risk of harm or result in children looked after not having their welfare safeguarded and promoted.

p.11

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

p.12

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 .

p.12

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,

p.13

Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.13

Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.13

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

p.13