Children's home run by Beaufort Care Group Ltd in Barnet

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has improved effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The children and young people continue to benefit from high quality care from an experienced, well-managed team. Consequently, the home has achieved very positive outcomes for most of the children and young people who have lived there since the previous inspection. Some of the present residents were in the home during part of the inspection, and were relating to staff in a relaxed and friendly way. One young person had participated in their review that day, and the other child was playing games on the computer in the dining area. Both indicated that they were content with life in the home and pleased about increasing levels of contact with family members, in line with the local authority’s plans. The registered manager and staff are passionate about the importance of education. They challenge other agencies assertively to remove the barriers that obstruct the children and young people’s progress. Consequently, all of the children

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

and young people currently in the home attend educational provision. One attends school full time, while others are at an early stage in their reintroduction to education after a period of exclusion. This means that not all of the young people attend school for a minimum of 25 hours per week, but their hours are increasing. A second young person will, by January, have built up to attending full time.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff have helped a third young person to identify his interests and skills and to relate these to his educational needs. Although he was out of school when he first arrived in the home, he has been attending an alternative educational organisation, which is a productive use of his time. This young person has a college place from January to study vehicle mechanics alongside core academic subjects.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The children and young people enjoy a wide range of constructive and fun activities. On the day of the inspection, the whole staff team and all the young people were looking forward to a trip to see the pantomime, ‘Cinderella’, which was planned for that evening. Other activities include go-karting, ice skating, football and swimming. The home encourages the young people to have high aspirations. One young person plays for a local football team and another skates to a very high standard.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

All the young people are healthy and are learning to manage their emotional and behavioural difficulties. The staff provide good-quality, dedicated key worker time to enable the children and young people to talk over anything that is worrying them.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The group of young people has changed since the previous inspection. One young person has arrived from another home in the same company and three young people have been admitted from elsewhere. Whenever possible, the manager ensures that a new child or young person visits the home in advance. In an emergency, this is not always possible, but he did visit one child in his foster home and took the children’s guide with him. The photos in the guide enabled the child to gain some idea of what to expect when he moved to the home. The registered manager is strongly driven to improve the home. He is an experienced professional who sets very clear expectations for his staff. His open and transparent approach helps the children and young people to understand what they need to achieve and how they can reach their behavioural targets. Day-to-day management monitoring is strong, which ensures that the home is safe, secure and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

provides a good quality environment for the young people. The home also receives regular visits from the independent visitor, which result in useful and productive reports. This process means that the home continues to improve and develop between inspections. The manager regards it as a challenge to obtain services and positive outcomes for each individual child. He said that one young person arrived with no education, no family contact and no mental health provision, but now has all three of these important elements in place to improve the quality of his life. The home cares for some very complex young people, some of whom have shown challenging behaviours. The registered manager is reluctant to end any placement and will not do so without very good cause, but since the previous inspection, he has had to give notice on some young people’s time in the home. This has always been after considerable perseverance and reaching the conclusion that some

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

children and young people cannot be kept safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the departure of some young people, there are very few episodes of going missing. When the children and young people leave the home without authorisation, staff take swift action to find them and call the police if needed. There has also been a substantial improvement in children and young people receiving ‘return home’ interviews, which was the subject of a recommendation at the previous inspection. A worker from a leading national children’s charity, to whom the local authority contracts this work, contacted the home during the inspection to arrange a visit to one child.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Because of the children and young people’s complex needs, there have been many incidents in the home since the previous inspection. The inspector saw a sample of incident reports and found all to be well recorded. Incidents and restraints have decreased for most of the children and young people since they arrived. One young person who had a high number of incidents has shown a substantial reduction over the past four weeks, which is a very good achievement.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager manages risk well and does not hesitate to take effective action if he considers that the children and young people’s situations are changing. He is also well able to assess potential risks resulting from new admissions to the home. Consequently, the present group of children and young people are well matched. The manager works hard to establish and maintain productive professional relationships with other agencies and services. The local police force has produced a new protocol for young people who go missing, and the home took part in the feedback process. The home’s location, within a short walk of the local shops and the sea, is very positive for the young people. Recent improvements have been made in response to an inspection requirement, and these have further enhanced the home. There is a newly refurbished family-style bathroom, which reflects the standards that the children and young people should expect. The inspector was not able to view any

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

bedrooms on this occasion, but was advised that the bedroom furniture is due to be upgraded in the near future. This requirement is regarded as met. Previous concerns about medication recording have been resolved. The registered manager conducts rigorous and frequent audits of the home’s medicines records. This includes the controlled drugs book, which was the subject of a requirement and a recommendation at the full inspection. The staff now double sign all medication entries, which is good practice.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the previous inspection, the home was required to notify Ofsted of all significant events. There have been 140 incidents since the previous inspection, and a number of appropriate notifications. The registered manager maintains a good relationship with the regulator and will consult the inspector if there are any major changes of circumstances. This requirement is met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The recommendation relating to the improvements needed to the bathroom facilities has been met. Some work is still planned to the children and young people’s bedrooms, but this is now on the home’s development plan.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There were two recommendations to work with a particular local authority to promote a young person’s education. This young person had been out of school for some time and the home has been extremely assertive in trying to resolve the matter.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Another recommendation related to the home’s statement of purpose. This has now been updated to amend the previously inaccurate information about the purpose of the door alarms. Staff recording of incidents, restraints and medicines has much improved, although the manager still strives to develop these skills in his team. The recommendations relating to these previous shortfalls have been met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Despite the overall improvement in independent return-home interviews, one current resident has not received a visit to discuss his episode of going missing. This child’s age, size and circumstances make him very vulnerable. His whereabouts were unknown for a period of two and a half hours. The registered manager has contacted the social worker to ask when the return home interview is likely to take place. It is the local authority’s responsibility to arrange the visit in order to be satisfied that he was not at risk of harm while away. The recommendation has been repeated.

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Information about this children's home

The home is one of five owned by a private company based near the south coast of England. This home is registered for up to four children and young people of either gender who may have emotional or behavioural difficulties. The home may, on occasion, accommodate a young adult who has reached the age of 18 while living there.

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Information about this children's home

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 14/04/2016 Full Good 20/11/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/06/2015 Full Good 12/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

Ensure that the (return home) interview should be carried out within 72 hours of the child returning to their home or care setting. This should be an in-depth interview and is normally best carried out by an independent person (that is someone not involved in caring for the child) who is trained to carry out these interviews and is able to follow up any actions that emerge. (Department for Education: ‘Statutory guidance on children who run away or go missing from home or care’, paragraph 32, January 2014).

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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

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

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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