Children's home run by BREAK

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judges that it has improved in effectiveness . At the full inspection in June 2016, two requirements and one recommendation were raised. These have been met in full. There is a strong drive to improve the quality of care in this home and to enrich young people’s experiences. A previously identified shortfall in implementing the safeguarding procedure has resulted in a number of improvements. Staff have revisited the home’s policy and benefited from updated safeguarding training. Training in safeguarding young people who have learning difficulties has considered the specific vulnerabilities pertinent to the young people in the home. Team discussions have included safeguarding, giving it a high profile. A detailed flow chart and specific scenarios for staff supervisions give clear examples of how to respond to potential concerns.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This renewed emphasis helps staff to remain curious and vigilant. These actions have ensured that staff have a clear knowledge of how to safeguard young people effectively following disclosures or observations of concerns. The location risk assessment has been reviewed and updated to include all risks. This captures the risks specific to the home that were previously not included. These risks include car parking, traffic awareness and the rural location of the home. Additionally, each young person has an individual risk assessment for school departures and returns to the home. Young people are easily unsettled by changes in their routines. This can escalate into unpredictable behaviours detrimental to their safety. The updated risk assessment captures how each young person will be protected during these periods. The records of staff supervisions show that line managers record more detail and offer increased challenge to staff in terms of performance. There are targets that

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

are linked directly to improving outcomes for young people. The home benefits from an experienced and stable workforce that is dedicated and passionate about providing excellent care. The team willingly pools expertise and gives time to facilitate beneficial experiences for young people, such as holidays, nights away and camping trips. This offers a variety of experiences to the young people and promotes equality of opportunities. The home is extremely settled, with no significant incidents. Young people each have high staff supervision levels, in line with their specific vulnerabilities and needs. There have been no missing-from-care incidents and no complaints about the home or the staff since the last inspection. Two staff in this home are accredited to provide physical intervention training. The knowledge and expertise of these staff upskill the team. Training is bespoke and clarifies what is difficult and dangerous for the young people in the home, making

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

clear the criteria for use. This has had a positive impact in reducing the number of interventions. Two young people are in school and have 100% attendance. One young person has successfully transferred to college. Although his timetable is reduced to alleviate discomfort and tiredness, attendance is excellent. The staff work cohesively with schools and college, communicating every day to ensure that they can pick up on any emerging concerns. This has helped young people to overcome difficulties and ensures that their well-being and comfort support their learning. Staff have given excellent consideration to how they can prepare young people for adult placements. They take into account each young person’s levels of ability and cognitive understanding. The staff work very well as a team and with school staff, social workers and health professionals to ensure that young people grow in their independence and are actively encouraged to manage social situations.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home provides a welcoming, comfortable environment for young people. It is spacious enough to enable them to have routines that are not compromised by others. Excellent consideration is given to adapting the environment to accommodate individuals and to consider the needs of new admissions. There have been no new admissions since the last inspection. There are three long-term placements. Robust and rigorous transition work has been done to ensure that a suitable adult placement is found for a young person who has reached 19. A new admission has been identified and extensive work has been undertaken to ensure a smooth transition to the home. This has been fully assisted by using the short-break service next door, which is supporting the family until the bed in this home becomes available. Staff from this home go to the short-break service and support the young person to build relationships and trust prior to

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

admission. The staff have visited a number of new placements for their young person who will move on and they have facilitated work between families and the social worker to aid the moving-on process. This work has been in progress for a year. The breadth of this work is above and beyond what is expected. The levels of detail and energy involved in the process demonstrate the genuine care and commitment that this staff team has for young people. There continues to be a drive for new resources and securing better support and specialist services for young people. Young people make excellent and sustained progress in this home due to the high quality of care that they receive.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a charitable organisation and provides care for up to four children who have a learning difficulty, physical disability or sensory impairment.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

24/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

20/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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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 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 that 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. Whenever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors 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 whom 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 0300 123 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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