Children's Home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Gloucestershire

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 effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Following the last inspection, one requirement was made in relation to ensuring that young people have access to appropriate levels of education. Whether at home, college or through vocational learning, all young people now receive appropriate opportunities to learn. Young people are learning in accordance with their care plans and abilities. This requirement is therefore met.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Also, a recommendation was made to ensure that staff members have sufficient learning and training opportunities. All of the staff have now completed training in life-story work. Staff are now skilled and sufficiently knowledgeable in an area that helps young people to understand who they are and their life history. The staff comment positively on their training and its impact on young people. The production of well-crafted life-story books, with the support of other professionals including social workers and therapists, has helped young people to begin to make sense of their lives and their time living in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A skilled and experienced registered manager leads a qualified and compassionate team that receives supervision regularly. The staff team has remained stable for a number of years, agency staff are rarely used and the one vacancy remaining is soon to be filled. Because of this consistency, strong, positive relationships have formed between the young people and the adults. Young people identify with adults whom they can trust. The young people are supported effectively in modifying their more challenging behaviour. As a result, physical interventions are rare and consequences for incidents are appropriately used.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Over the past months, the home has in part undergone redecoration and refurbishment. Young people, with the support of the staff team, have contributed and worked alongside the staff in making the necessary changes. They are living in a home that is welcoming and comfortably furnished. Young people are consulted with and included in decision making, and evidence of artwork completed by young people, displayed proudly throughout the home, is just one of the ways that young people’s involvement is achieved. However, some decoration, in particular in the young people’s bedrooms, remains unfinished. Damage caused by some young people in the past is evident in some rooms. The manager recognises the importance of completing this work to ensure that young people are living in a homely and pleasant environment. A recommendation is therefore made to ensure that this work is completed as soon as possible.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff are sufficiently trained and vigilant about each of the young people’s vulnerabilities. Risk assessments are routinely reviewed, and amended according to the young people’s increasing levels of independence. Young people rarely go missing, but when they do the responses are swift. Staff use a range of records and their knowledge of the young person, for example patterns of behaviours and risks, to formulate their response. This means that young people continue to be kept safe.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are attending and accessing various educational and learning resources. Records scrutinised during the course of the inspection highlight the good efforts that each of the young people are making. For example, one young person has successfully completed a building course and another is now engaging positively with tutors. From their starting points, all the young people are doing very well and, as a result, growing in confidence and self-worth.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people have a strong advocate in the manager. She works hard to improve the outcomes of the young people and recognises the important role each young person plays in the development of the home. A PowerPoint presentation and a set of questions produced by young people are now used routinely when recruiting staff. This means that young people feel empowered, listened to and valued, and play a central role in deciding the most appropriate person to care for them.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has effective monitoring systems in place. She draws upon constructive and comprehensive regulation 44 independent visitor reports to inform her own quality assurance of the home. When improvements are identified, the manager is swift to disseminate her learning to other children’s homes across the company. A well-organised office and a secure IT system are in place. However, during the course of the inspection, a number of statutory documents were identified as being out of date. These relate to copies of the most recent children looked after review reports and pathway plans. While it is recognised that the home has its own versions of these documents, a requirement is made to ensure that the up-to-date reports are made available to the home by the local authority to enable cohesive planning and an understanding of how to meet the young person’s needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and one of a number of children’s services operated by the provider. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 27/09/2016 Full Good 03/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/06/2015 Full Good 03/12/2014 Interim Sustained 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 within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36(1)(a)) 31/03/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  The registered person must ensure the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than an ‘institutional’ impression.

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Recommendations

In particular, this relates to the continued re-refurbishment of children’s bedrooms to ensure that all historical damage to doors and frames is removed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 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 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

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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