Children's home run by The Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education

Good

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

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

 Since the full inspection in November 2016, when a judgement of inadequate was made, there has been good progress made at the home.  One young person, whose needs could not be met, has moved to a different provision. The remaining two young people feel more settled and are doing well in many areas of their lives. Young people are receiving highly personalise care that supports their individual needs.  The registered manager, responsible individual and staff are working together effectively to make improvements to benefit young people in their care. They feel well supported by the senior leadership in the school, with whom closer links have been forged since the inspection in November.  The placing authorities of both young people feel very satisfied with how well things are progressing. They feel that communication has improved recently and that their young people are safe and making good progress.

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

 The registered manager and responsible individual have made a positive and thorough response to the shortfalls identified at the full inspection in November. They have reflected well and taken steps to ensure that lessons have been learned and improvements put into place. They are aware of the importance of providing consistently good care to all young people, and of consistently effective decision-making. While there has not been time to embed or test out some of this learning, there is sufficient evidence of improvement for the home to be judged good. There are still some further improvements needed to demonstrate consistently good practice in the management of more challenging behaviour and the subsequent management oversight of these incidents. This was discussed during this inspection, and as a result two requirements and two good practice recommendations are made.

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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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

11: The positive relationships standard In order to meet the positive relationship standard, the registered person must ensure that staff; (2)(a)(ix) understand how children’s feelings and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children. In particular, when challenging situations arise, staff must demonstrate the nurturing skills of a good parent. 12/02/2017

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person must: (2)(h) use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. In particular, the registered manager’s oversight of incident records should evidence a review of the quality of practice and record with clear details any lessons learned to improve practices to benefit young people in the future. 12/02/2017

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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 the local authority provides opportunity for children and young people to have an independent return home interview when they have been missing. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. If such independent return home interviews are not provided, the registered person should escalate their concerns to the Local Safeguarding Children Board. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraphs 9.23-9.30)  Ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by a charity that specialises in the education and care of children and young people who are deaf. The home is located adjacent to the school and college. The home was registered in July 2015 and is able to provide care and accommodation for up to three children and young people with sensory impairment, a learning disability and/or emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 08/11/2016 Full Inadequate 07/01/2016 Full Good

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Good

The two young people who live in this children’s home are making good progress. Staff know them well and ensure that their needs are addressed appropriately. Young people benefit from a wide range of positive experiences that support their personal growth and emotional well-being.

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Good

Good emphasis is placed on young people being supported to build trusted and secure relationships. Staff encourage young people to have an open dialogue with them, as well as being proactive in helping young people to maintain healthy relationships with family and friends.

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Good

Both young people attend the nearby school, which is run by the same charity. Over recent months, there have been considerable efforts made to improve the communication between home and school. It is known that this is important in helping young people to be safe as well as supporting their educational achievement. Attendance at school is excellent. There, young people are very much part of a supportive community and have a peer group with which they can communicate effectively.

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Good

Staff ensure that young people have access to a good range of social and recreational opportunities in and outside of the home. They participate in local community activities and are supported to pursue hobbies and known interests, as well as having opportunities to have new experiences. When appropriate, young people are helped to develop their confidence and practical skills in a variety of areas, so that they can successfully make the transition to young adulthood.

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Good

Young people benefit from a stable staff team which is becoming more confident, experienced and suitably trained. Across the team, there is a sense that staff are aspiring to provide young people with the best residential care experience they can. Increasingly, support from senior staff, who are becoming more confident themselves, means that when difficulties arise, lessons are learned and improvements are made to benefit young people.

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Good

The physical environment of the home continues to improve. It provides a child- friendly and attractive home, which reflects the personalities of the young people who live there. Judgement grade

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Requires improvement

At the full inspection in November 2016, a number of serious shortfalls were identified in this area. Since then, action has been taken to address these. Time has also been taken to reflect on how to ensure consistently good decision-making that more effectively helps and protects young people. While there has not been enough time or actual challenge to managers or staff to embed or test out their learning, they feel more confident and clear about their safeguarding role and responsibilities.

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Requires improvement

An area of practice requiring further improvement is in the management of young people’s more challenging behaviour. Records sometimes fail to demonstrate that staff have responded to young people in a nurturing way. It is important that the manager fully explores to what extent this is a practice or recording issue, and to demonstrate how this oversight has led to improvements in these areas. While serious incidents are regularly and promptly monitored by senior staff, their records sometimes fail to evidence their challenge of shortfalls, and what their input has done to improve standards to benefit young people. For example, what support have staff had to ensure that they fully understand the young people’s behaviour in the context of their past experiences and present emotional well-being? Another area that can be improved is the use of sanctions. While some restorative measures are used, this approach could be explored more fully to replace some of

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Requires improvement

the less meaningful sanctions used. A management review should aim to seek the best possible ways to help young people understand why their behaviour is unacceptable and what the natural consequence of it might be.

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Requires improvement

Young people rarely go missing from this home. There have been a couple of incidents when young people have evaded staff supervision. Staff are clear about the procedures to follow when this occurs. Since the last inspection, the registered manager has ensured that the placing authorities are aware of their responsibilities to carry out an independent return home interview once a young person returns home. A written procedure has been created and shared with the placing authority. The registered manager is fully aware that in the event of an independent return home interview not being provided to a young person, then this concern should be escalated to the Local Safeguarding Children Board.

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Requires improvement

Important lessons have been learned about risk assessing young people’s behaviour and taking effective action to reduce such risks in a timely way. The home and school team are establishing a better working partnership to ensure that in future a more effective response is made when risks are identified. Work has been commissioned to make some physical modifications to the external physical environment, where particular risks to young people have been identified. Communication between the school and the home is improving. Verbal handovers are supported by two-way electronic communication. The responsible individual, who is based at the school, now accesses all safeguarding information relating to the young people who occupy the children’s home. These combined measures mean that there are fewer opportunities for important information not to be passed on and for correct child protection procedures to be followed in a timely way.

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Requires improvement

Since the full inspection in November, two shortfalls have been addressed in respect of the registered manager receiving training in safer recruitment and staff supervision. In addition, the registered manager has had mentoring support in management and safeguarding. As a relatively new registered manager, this support has been welcomed by the manager who is keen to achieve consistently high standards of care and protection for young people under his care.

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Good

The registered manager and responsible individual have a close working relationship. Together they have sought to address shortfalls and are committed to providing a good quality children’s home. They have been joined by a deputy manager, whose skills and experience they feel complements the team. They have also welcomed the additional support provided by the senior leadership in the school and the increased opportunities to meet to resolve issues quickly.

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Good

A fundamental shortfall identified at the inspection in November was the failure of leaders and managers to escalate serious concerns effectively to a young person’s placing authority with sufficient tenacity to achieve a timely resolution. As a result, one young person continued to be at risk of serious harm, before eventually leaving the provision just after the inspection in November. The senior leadership team has reflected on this a great deal. They have created a detailed escalation procedure, which clearly sets out the action to take within specific timescales. The leaders and managers feel they have learned lessons from this experience and are aware of the importance of demonstrating strong leadership skills to act in the best interests of young people.

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Good

The use of agency staff in the home has ceased. There is a full complement of staff, supported by bank staff who are suitably trained and supervised. All staff either have suitable qualifications or are part way through a level 3 diploma for residential childcare, while the newly appointed deputy manager is due to commence a level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. Quality monitoring processes are being reviewed and improved to ensure that they provide an effective management tool in developing and improving the quality of the service to benefit young people. Internal processes are being developed to ensure that information is appropriately shared and timely action is taken. The home provides social workers with a copy of specific incident records, rather than a summary. Social workers have welcomed this development, as it provides them with an improved opportunity to monitor all incidents that happen in the home.

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Good

Following the full inspection, the independent visitor’s reports include an evaluation of whether young people are safeguarded and the conduct in the home promotes their well-being.

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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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