Children's Home, Residential special school run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the home contribute to significantly improved outcomes for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

 Young people who have highly complex needs are welcomed into an exceptionally warm and caring environment, where highly committed, trained and skilled staff meet all of the young people’s needs.  Exceptionally skilled staff communicate very effectively with each young person in order to ascertain their views, wishes and feelings. This includes the use of both verbal and non-verbal communication, symbols and an astute awareness of body language.  Young people engage enthusiastically in taking turns at being members of the young people’s council, enabling them to make positive choices about the centre, influence the programme of activities and take responsibility for spending decisions.  Staff celebrate all progress that young people make and encourage them to strive to achieve beyond expectations. Young people take great pride in their achievements.  Creative and imaginative staff provide young people with a wide range of

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The children’s home provision is outstanding because:

stimulating and fun activities that also support their development. Staff successfully achieve a balance between keeping young people safe and enabling them to experience new and exciting activities.  The diligent staff work closely with family members and other professionals to provide detailed and highly effective risk assessments and behaviour support plans. This ensures that staff keep young people safe.  Dedicated staff ensure that they maintain a constant dialogue with family members and professionals in order to fully understand and meet the needs of each young person.  The registered manager is very highly regarded by the staff team; she is a strong and significant driving force behind the ongoing development of the service.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meet(s) 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

33: Employment of staff The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33(4)(b)) 28/02/2016

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Information about this children’s home

This resource centre provides short-break care for up to six young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. A local authority manages the service.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

13/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Outstanding

Young people enjoy an excellent experience when they come to the centre for short breaks. Staff constantly update the colourful notice boards and the walls with the latest activities and projects for young people to engage in. A wide range of communication aids, including symbols, words and pictures, ensure that all young people are able to understand information and communicate their own views, wishes and feelings. A Halloween-themed activity included a trip out to pick pumpkins, have a picnic and make preparations for a party to which family members were invited. Young people develop warm and trusting relationships with staff who give them time and personal attention. Young people are able to express that they love coming here, by pressing the large ‘smiley face’ feedback buttons by the door when they leave. They also make regular use of the stickers on the corridor notice boards, to convey their feelings

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Outstanding

and requests during their stay. These colourful stickers, which young people can hand to staff, are easy to reach and show a wide range of feelings. At the time of the inspection, one of the home’s regular food consultations was in progress, and young people are fully engaged in these consultations . The results inform the menus for the following months. Young people are actively involved in running the centre, by taking turns at being on the young people’s council. The council meets to make decisions about activities that it wants staff to provide for celebrations, such as Christmas and bonfire night. It holds a budget for new play equipment, and young people agree between themselves how they will spend the money. The minutes from the monthly meetings are displayed in the corridor for all young people, staff and visitors to read. Highly perceptive and skilled staff organise activities according to the moods and

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Outstanding

interests of each young person. Staff encourage group activities for the older young people, such as crafts, which support their social development. When younger children are present for short breaks, staff recognise that they may want to do activities by themselves, such as spending time in the sensory room or playing in the garden with a staff member. Enthusiastic staff take young people on trips out to enable them to experience a range of stimulating and exciting activities. This summer, some young people enjoyed using zip wires, climbing walls, building rafts and archery. During these activities, staff made sure that the young people were safe and that they had great fun in a supported environment. There was something for all of the young people to do, and those that did not want to take part could watch. These opportunities help young people to develop their abilities to cope with new situations and make choices. Since the last inspection, staff have

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Outstanding

begun to write to young people two weeks before their stay to ask them to indicate by Widget which activities they want to do. Highly committed staff work with young people to help them to make progress in a range of areas, including social development, life skills, personal hygiene and managing emotions. All achievements are enthusiastically celebrated by staff who notice keenly all aspects of a young person’s development. For example, staff understand the significance of a young person starting to feed him or herself or indicating a preference for a certain type of food. Staff were delighted to see one young person eat all of his food for the first time, because they had identified something that he really liked. This was a major breakthrough for a young person who seldom eats. Another young person has developed her skills to the point at which she is now ready to feed herself. Professionals and family members express great appreciation for the positive

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Outstanding

impact that the service has on the young people and their families. One parent wrote to staff to say that this is her daughter ’ s favourite place to stay away from home, and, ‘Thank you for making her stays here so special and enjoyable.’ Other parents commented equally positively that their children constantly talk about the centre and about wanting to return. The social worker for a number of the young people stated that young people mostly convey their wishes and feelings through their behaviour and body language and that they are all relaxed when they are at the home. She commented, ‘Hawthorns are very good at seeing the potential in young people,’ and described the significant progress made by one young person in managing her emotions and behaviour since coming for short breaks. She is now able to calm herself down when she becomes distressed and continue with her activities, as opposed to having to give up what she is doing, which was her previous response.

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Outstanding

Highly trained and vigilant staff keep young people exceptionally safe in the centre and when they go out on day trips and holidays. Staff write individual, detailed and effective risk assessments and behaviour support plans in close collaboration with parents and health and social care professionals. Staff regularly review and update risk assessments and behaviour support plans, send copies to the young people’s social workers and share them with parents when they visit the centre. Staff skilfully undertake risk assessments for each specific activity, enabling young people to engage safely in beneficial activities like swimming. The centre has no young people who are at risk of child sexual exploitation or going missing, and the high staffing levels ensure that young people are closely monitored and supported at all times. Staff are very aware of the significance for young people of changing from one situation to another. They carefully plan for this in order to reduce

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Outstanding

anxiety and consequently prevent behaviours that could lead to accidents. Information about the centre includes an up-to-date location risk assessment, which all staff have read. Consequently, staff are able to quickly identify and plan appropriately for any changes or additional risks in the area. Close liaison with social workers, schools and parents also provides up-to-date information about risks for young people. Staff work diligently and sensitively with young people in anti-bullying workshops to help them to understand how to know if they are being bullied. These workshops also give young people the communication tools and confidence with which to alert staff to any concerns that they may have. Consequently, young people are learning how to keep themselves safe both during their short breaks and at home. Staff demonstrate exceptional ability to learn about and implement new methods of working to keep young people safe. One young person’s highly complex needs

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Outstanding

include diabetes, which requires great skill and diligence on the part of the staff caring for him. Staff have successfully engaged in training provided by his mother and health professionals in order to acquire the skills necessary to keep him safe. His mother said, ‘Staff have been great, wonderful, have taken on board the training in diabetes and have been brilliant.’ Staff are highly effective at reassuring parents that their young people will be safe during their short breaks, thereby reducing anxiety for the parents and the young people.

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Outstanding

The registered manager holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has, for many years, provided an excellent service for young people who have disabilities. She has managed this home for over 10 years. She also manages another local authority resource centre, which was judged to be outstanding at its last inspection. Staff are qualified either to level 3 or are currently undertaking the qualification. All staff hold a first aid qualification. Prior to the inspection, the registered manager had been on sick leave for a number of weeks. It is testament to the quality of her management and the commitment of the staff that they continued to provide an outstanding service to young people in her absence. The staff team had ‘pulled together’ and remained child focused. The staff have access to clear and up-to-date written information about young people, which enables them to communicate effectively with families and other

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Outstanding

professionals on an ongoing basis. They obtain feedback both informally and via consultation documents, which staff provide for families and professionals. The registered manager uses this feedback, along with consultations with staff and young people, to regularly review the service in order to drive up standards. She is dynamic and pays great attention to detail, thereby ensuring that young people benefit from changes and innovations. Since the last inspection, the registered manager has re-arranged the collection and return-home arrangements for young people on short breaks. This means that they no longer arrive at the same time as young people who receive outreach services and who are not coming into the centre. This makes the changeover clearer and less stressful for the young people. Another innovation is that staff now write to young people prior to their short break and ask them to indicate, using

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Outstanding

Widget, the activities that they would like to do. A covering letter ensures that parents are able to offer the same choices at home. Staff training is relevant and up to date, and staff are tested on their knowledge and understanding of key practice issues during supervision. This has led to confident and knowledgeable staff who take responsibility for the service. The registered manager constantly researches new training opportunities for staff and, in July, community nurses and parents came into the centre to train staff. The nurses talked about medication, and the parents talked to the staff group to give them their perspective on living with a child who has a disability. Consequently, staff have benefited from this impactful training and have gained a fuller understanding of how short breaks support parents to ensure the best outcomes for a child who have very complex needs. Parents express their appreciation of the care that their children receive here and

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Outstanding

the quality of reports and information from staff. Parents said that they feel that staff know their young people really well. A social worker confirmed her view that ‘the registered manager is excellent and the staff are excellent.’ While the registered manager has been absent, the only significant omission in the management of the service has been a lack of supervision for a new staff member. The staff member is very experienced and considers that she has received a high level of support from the staff team. However, other managers within the local authority should have made sure that regular supervision was being offered. On her return, this is an opportunity for the registered manager to review the management and decision-making arrangements for her absence.

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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 that 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 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 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, 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

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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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