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

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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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

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

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The children and young people have made good progress since the full inspection on 10 October 2016. They appear happy and relaxed in their home. During the inspection, some children were extremely confident and helpful in showing the inspector and a new member of staff around the home. They conducted the tour very professionally, explaining which areas of the home had been redesigned and how they had contributed.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The staff have supported the children and young people well to help maintain their educational placements. For some young people, this has meant a gradual increase in school hours to help them to adjust to the classroom environment. Although some children only attend for approximately 10 hours per week, this is a massive achievement for them in comparison with their starting points.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Another young person is now attending full time at a specialist independent day school, where they are making good progress. The most recently admitted child has been able to increase their hours in school since their arrival in the home, which is a significant improvement in a relatively short period of time.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The children and young people enjoy very positive, warm relationships with the staff. They receive regular and productive key worker sessions, which help them to express their views and talk about any matters that may be troubling them. Key worker sessions are linked to the children and young people’s individual behavioural targets, which helps them to make progress.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The children and young people have been fully involved in the home’s redecoration and plans for improvement. One child organised a Christmas concert, involving all her friends and the other residents. The children and young people sang and thoroughly enjoyed themselves.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The home continues to provide interesting and educational activities. Some children lack confidence in sports and are not yet ready to have formal instruction, for example in swimming and trampolining, but the staff work with them individually to develop trust and help them to reach a point where they feel more relaxed. Some children and young people have experienced travelling on a mini-break with staff and staying in a hotel. This was a new experience for them and was good fun, but it also helped to develop their life skills.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The registered manager has begun to undertake life story work with some children, to help them to understand their individual histories. The staff have worked very well towards improving the quality of family contact, so that it is a rewarding experience for children. This has enabled one child to spend part of Christmas with their family, which was a tremendous achievement. For another child, the staff’s involvement in placing a structure around family contact has helped to bring about an improvement in behaviour and well-being, with a consequent reduction in incidents.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The children and young people’s healthcare needs continue to be well met. One child has actively requested therapeutic support and the home has identified equine therapy as a possibility. The child has had to join a waiting list for the local child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS), due to high demand for this resource. Some children find it difficult to ask for help and it is really positive that this child has had the maturity and insight to do this. Therefore, a recommendation has been made for the home to continue to work with the placing authority and mental health professionals to enable the child to access a more immediate therapeutic resource that will not have a negative impact on the planned work from CAMHS.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The children and young people who were living in the home at the time of the full inspection have been very supportive when a new resident was admitted. This child’s introduction to the home was rapid, because they had to move quickly from an emergency placement, but the registered manager and practice manager still visited him before he moved in. The child was not able to visit the home and meet the staff and other residents before he moved in, but the transition was still well managed and went smoothly.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

All three of the children and young people are learning to manage their own behaviour. This has led to a reduction in the number of incidents and physical interventions in the home since the previous inspection, although some young people continue to have incidents in school. For example, none of the children and young people have gone missing, which is a very good achievement.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The manager and staff have advocated for the children and young people in order to help them to obtain the services to which they are entitled. During the inspection, the deputy manager was contacting educational professionals to challenge a decision that had resulted in one child being sent home from school.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The home continues to be very well managed by an experienced, qualified person. She is well supported by her practice manager and the company’s senior leaders. Management monitoring is effective and during the inspection, the very able practice manager was deputising to cover the manager’s planned absence on leave. The home makes good use of its independent visitor, who prepares regular monthly reports. These are evaluative and help the managers to drive further improvement.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

At the full inspection, a requirement was made with regard to the need to ensure that the home only admits young people whose needs fall within the terms of the home’s statement of purpose and conditions of registration. The only admission since then has been appropriate and the current mix of young people in the home is positive.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

This requirement also concerned managing children’s access to social networking sites where there is a lower age restriction. The children and young people do not access social network sites at all. They may only access the internet under staff supervision. This allows them to use the internet for homework and other legitimate purposes, but reduces the risk of inappropriate contacts with potentially harmful adults.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Four recommendations were made at the full inspection, all of which have been met. One recommendation concerned the need to adhere to risk assessments written to help protect any pets brought into the home. The practice manager explained that the situation was carefully managed at the time, but currently, the children and young people do not have any pets. The company is reviewing its policy regarding keeping pets in children’s homes, because unless this is very carefully managed, it is not always in the child’s, or the pet’s best interests.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The home was, at the time of the previous inspection, undergoing a transition to electronic recording for all the health and safety checks. This had resulted in inconsistency in where these checks were recorded, because some were still in paper log books. The registered manager now records all health and safety checks on the home’s electronic system, so that the staff know where to find these records and can update them accordingly.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The third recommendation concerned the need to record the outcome of any complaint, so that there was a transparent history of the investigation. The home’s electronic recording system has now been adapted to support this process. There have been no complaints since the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The final recommendation concerned the need to ensure that any young people who have been missing receive a ‘return home’ interview within the specified timescale of 72 hours. It has not been possible to test the home’s progress fully, because no young people have gone missing. However, the placing authority does have an arrangement with a children’s charity to conduct independent interviews.

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and operated by a private provider as part of a group of services located in the south of England. The home is registered to accommodate up to six children and young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 05/10/2016 Full Good 18/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/12/2015 Full Good 23/02/2015 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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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 Ensure that when a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required, and challenge them through Regulation 5 – engaging with the wider system to ensure that children’s needs are met, if this doesn’t happen. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)

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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 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. 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 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

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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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