Children's home run by Holibrook House Limited

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The quality of care has remained good. The manager and staff are effective in promoting positive outcomes for young people. They are skilled at quickly establishing and maintaining positive relationships with young people. They have an in-depth understanding of young people’s needs and are able to provide good quality support that meets those needs effectively. They have continued to have a positive impact on the lives of young people. A young person said that the staff were the best thing about the home. He described them as ‘really nice people’ and said, ‘I simply like them.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young person who has been living in the home for a while has continued to make a good progress. An example of this is the 48% increase in his school attendance, in comparison with the last year. Another example is the decrease of incidents. This young person’s communication skills and confidence have significantly grown. At his formal review, he was able, for the first time, to speak up for himself and make a strong contribution to the meeting. He was very clear that he wanted to remain living in this home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The young people who have been admitted recently have settled very well. The orderly environment and the well-planned and consistent care have enabled them to start making positive changes in their lives. They have developed positive attitudes towards learning and have begun to engage more in education. Their biggest achievements so far relate to the development of more constructive and safer behaviours.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Inter-agency partnership working is effective. The manager and staff work closely with the young people’s social workers and other professionals to make sure that young people receive good help and the consistent support that they need. They advocate strongly on behalf of young people. An example of this is how they have persistently challenged the placing authority to make more comprehensive interim education arrangements for a young person, while the long-term arrangements are being finalised.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Safeguarding is strong. The manager and staff are effective at helping young people make positive choices and develop safer, healthier and more constructive behaviours. For example, a young person who came with a history of going missing frequently, has not gone missing once from this home. Her engagement in education and structured activities with staff members has reduced the outside negative influences and the risk of being exploited. Another young person stopped going missing after a joint visit by the police, his social worker and the home’s manager to the people who harboured him. Young people with a history of concerns regarding substance misuse have not shown any signs of misuse while living at the home. The reduction of the intensity and the frequency of the incidents relating to the young people’s challenging behaviours demonstrates the high effectiveness of the behaviour management practice in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

In response to the requirement set at the full inspection, all staff who do not have an appropriate qualification, have been enrolled onto a level three vocational qualification course. All staff have received comprehensive training on how to create a therapeutic environment. Through a peer review process, the home has joined the Community of Communities, a therapeutic quality-improvement and accreditation programme. All staff have also received training from a specialist nurse, in line with one young person’s particular health need. A robustly implemented medication procedure safeguards and promotes young people’s health effectively.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and the staff team have continued to build on their professional knowledge, skills and resilience. They have learnt from the placements that were not effective, to ask more probing questions at the point of referral. At the inspection, they were able to evidence that they consistently followed what is considered to be good practice, including when the young people failed to engage and ended up leaving earlier than originally planned.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home is efficiently led and managed, with a strong focus on young people’s outcomes. An independent social worker visits the home on a monthly basis, on behalf of the registered provider. The consultant provides external scrutiny of the professional practice in the home. The manager regularly audits young people’s individual files and central logs. However, some records that he has signed off lack detail. An example of this is not specifying the timescales for a reparation payment, in the sanctions-log. This has resulted in the sanction not being followed through. The current system for keeping central logs has not been consistently implemented. The system is not easy to understand and monitor. It does not lend itself easily to monitoring of patterns and trends. The keeping of central logs of incidents and behaviour control measures is an area for improvement.

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Information about this children's home

This privately owned home provides care and accommodation for up to six children, who may experience emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home aims to provide a therapeutic environment. The provider has two other children’s homes and also provides education.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 15/06/2016 Full Good 29/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 14/07/2015 Full Requires improvement 11/11/2014 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Statutory Requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person/s meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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13 The leadership and management standard

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must review the system for keeping central logs of significant events and behaviour control measures, so to enable more effective 13.—(2) (h) use of monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. 01/03/2017

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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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 focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

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 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, 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,

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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

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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

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