Children's home run by St Christopher’s Fellowship in Wandsworth

Good

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 The staff understand the child’s individual needs and are committed to working with him to help him to make progress.  The child takes pride in his home. He is involved in choosing the decor and completing chores around the home.  There is a wide variety of activities both in the home and community for the child. The staff support and encourage new interests and hobbies.  The staff see education as an important part of the child’s day and support him to attend. The communication between the staff and the school is good.  The staff facilitate regular house meetings to gather the child’s wishes and feelings and subsequently act on them.  The staff, in consultation with the social worker, support the child to learn to manage appropriate risk.  The child says that he feels safe in the home and that he can talk to staff if he is worried or upset.  The staff understand the importance of the child building and managing

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The children's home provision is good because:

positive friendships in the community and support him to do this in a safe way.  The staff are consistent with boundaries and they challenge unwanted behaviours.  There is a comprehensive placement plan that supports the staff to work with the child. However, the child and social worker do not comment or sign this to say that they understand or agree with the plan.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Support the child throughout his care and give opportunities to discuss the impact of the care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 18, paragraph 3.31) In particular, this relates to ensuring that children and social workers have the opportunity to comment and sign the child’s placement plan.

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Information about this children's home

The children’s home is managed by a charitable organisation. It provides care and accommodation for one child aged between 10 and 18 years, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 02/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/08/2015 Full Requires improvement 24/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/01/2015 Full Good

p.4

Good

The dedicated staff team has built good relationships with the child. They know and understand his needs and support him to make progress. The staff have a good knowledge of why he is in care and his current plans. The child could also explain why he is living at the home.

p.5

Good

The staff provide a wide variety of activities both in the home and in the community and the child is fully involved in organising these activities. He attends a local football club that has supported him to build and maintain positive friendships in the community. The staff support him to visit his friend’s home and his friend has visited the home. This enables him to develop his friendship in a safe environment. The child was involved, with the sister home, in the ‘great bake-off’ competition, where he won best-looking cake. He has been involved in the company’s football tournament and attends events at the sister home. The social worker commented that this has helped to build his self-esteem and has promoted his interaction with his peers. The photos of events around the home provide positive reminders of his achievements.

p.5

Good

The staff are proactive in supporting the child with new interests and hobbies. For example, he recently showed an interest in learning the guitar. A member of staff has begun to teach him to play and they are looking at writing songs together. This shows him that the staff support him to take up new skills and interests.

p.5

Good

In October 2016, the child and the manager entered and completed a 10 kilometre run for charity. The staff had the child’s shirt and medal framed and hung on his bedroom wall. This further promoted the child’s sense of achievement.

p.5

Good

The child has made good progress since moving to the home. The staff act as good role models. They celebrate his achievements and positive behaviours with him. During the inspection, staff were observed to have appropriate ‘banter’ with him. The atmosphere in the home is very relaxed. The staff set clear boundaries and expectations that help the child to develop his social skills.

p.5

Good

The staff understand the importance of education. The communication between the staff and the school is good. A member of the school staff said that staff in the home work well with them and that they support the child to achieve 100% attendance and work with them to resolve any issues. The child’s behaviour has significantly improved in school and he has developed some very positive friendships. The child said that he likes school and he acknowledges that his behaviour has improved. This has helped him to build his confidence and self- esteem.

p.5

Good

Transitions into the home are planned well. The child spoke about how he was able to visit before moving in, even though he had previously lived there. The staff put up photos of him from when he had previously lived there. This showed him that they still have memories of his previous stay and it has helped to make him feel welcome. The child-friendly children’s guide informs him how to complain and explains the rules and boundaries. The child has gone through this with staff and added information such as his key worker’s name, the child’s day-to-day routine, his likes and dislikes and the contact number for his social worker. He has benefited from and fully engaged in this induction to the home.

p.6

Good

The staff support the child to develop his independence skills in accordance with his age, understanding and ability. The child cooks meals three times a week and goes shopping with the staff. He plans the menus and is learning about healthy eating and budgeting. He says that he likes learning new independence skills, such as using public transport. The child is registered with the local doctor, dentist and optician and has attended all routine health appointments. As part of his independence, he calls and makes his own health appointments. Building on these skills is helping him to prepare for adult life.

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Good

The child benefits from positive family contact. The staff support this in agreement with the social worker. The staff have built a positive relationship with the child’s mother and siblings and this contributes to positive contact experiences for the child.

p.6

Good

The child is due to start a Saturday job in the local community. The social worker supports this and the staff have completed key work sessions with the child to ensure that he understands the expectations of both the work place and the staff.

p.6

Good

The staff are guided by the child’s placement plan to help them to work with him effectively. The managers regularly review the plans and the staff sign to say that they have read the updates. However, there is no evidence that the child reads or agrees to the plans or that the social worker is in agreement with the plans. This does not help to ensure that all parties understand and agree the plans.

p.6

Good

The weekly house meetings enable the child to express his views and wishes on a regular basis, in addition to the general day-to-day discussions. The topics at the meetings include decorating, requests by the child and menu and activity planning. The child comments and signs the minutes of each meeting and the manager responds to the child in writing within a few days. This shows the child that staff take his views and wishes seriously.

p.6

Good

The staff produce monthly newsletters with pictures of the child’s activities and achievements. These newsletters will go with the child when he leaves to provide him with good memories of his time in the home. The home is in a rural location. It has a good size garden where the child spent time in the summer growing vegetables and plants as well as painting the garden furniture. The house has recently been redecorated and the stair carpet has been replaced. The child fully contributes to decisions about the decor and he has personalised his bedroom to reflect his tastes.

p.6

Good

The staff challenge unwanted behaviours and reinforce boundaries appropriately. They follow up incidents with a key work session to openly discuss the behaviours and support the child to look at how he could do things differently in the future. Negative behaviour, in the home and at school, has decreased. Both the social worker and the school comment that they have seen an improvement in the child’s behaviour.

p.7

Good

Staff have used three sanctions since the last inspection. These are fair and proportionate. The manager comments and evaluates each sanction record and the child comments and signs. This helps him to reflect on why sanctions have been used and to raise any concerns. There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection.

p.7

Good

Daily information plans are comprehensive and incorporate behaviour management plans. These give the staff a good insight into how to support the child, the potential triggers of unwanted behaviours and the strategies to use. This means that all of the staff are working in a consistent way.

p.7

Good

Regularly reviewed comprehensive risk assessments outline the risks in both the home and the community and the strategies for managing these risks safely. The staff understand that the child needs to learn to manage risks in line with his age, understanding and ability and in consultation with the social worker. This means that staff are not working in a risk-averse way.

p.7

Good

Health and safety checks are completed and there is an up-to-date area risk assessment in place that outlines potential risks in the area and actions to reduce the risks. The manager has used information from the local police web site and has written to local services in the area to gain further information.

p.7

Good

The staff spoken to have a good understanding of safeguarding. They have all attended the relevant training. This equips them to respond effectively if safeguarding concerns arise. There have been no incidents of missing from care since the last inspection. The staff understand the missing from care protocol and the potential risks.

p.7

Good

The manager has been in post since March 2016 and registered with Ofsted in July 2016. He has a level 3 qualification and is working towards a level 5 qualification. He has the relevant experience to manage the home.

p.8

Good

The manager has met the one requirement and one recommendation from the last inspection.

p.8

Good

The staff have completed all of their mandatory training and eligible staff have completed their level 3 qualifications. The remaining staff have been registered.

p.8

Good

Regular staff meetings provide the opportunity to discuss the child and strategies for working with him. This supports the staff to work in a consistent way. The staff receive regular appraisals and supervision that they say are supportive and help them to look at strategies for working with the child and to review their professional development.

p.8

Good

The manager monitors the care practice and the child’s progression. He uses reports from the independent visitor as part of the monitoring systems to help to drive improvement. Monthly reports are sent to the social worker outlining incidents, achievements and progress. The social worker commented that these reports are informative and that communication from staff is excellent. A local police officer attended a recent staff meeting to explain her role to the staff. This positive partnership working provides additional safeguards for the child.

p.8

Good

Recruitment processes are robust and all checks are in place and verified before staff begin to work in the home.

p.8

Good

The child knows how to complain. He explained that he could do this in key work sessions, house meetings or just by talking to the staff. He feels safe living in the home and says that he can talk to the staff if he is worried or upset about anything. There have been no complaints since the last inspection.

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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’. 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

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What the inspection judgements mean

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 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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