Children's Home run by Courtyard Care Limited in Bolton

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

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

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people benefit from living in a clean, safe and comfortable environment. Parents and professionals report that young people are safe and supported well by the manager and staff in this home. The manager clearly understands young people’s needs and articulates the progress that young people make. Staff, who speak warmly of young people, understand young people’s complex needs well and are dedicated to making a positive difference to young people’s lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager ensures that young people receive a high level of individual support and care from a motivated and committed staff team. The manager ensures that young people’s care planning is cohesive, thorough and well thought out. Care planning, which is reviewed and updated regularly, incorporates the views of young people, social workers and health professionals. This consistent approach promotes young people’s safety and enables them to make continued progress from their individual starting points.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A particular strength of this home are the planning and transitional arrangements that the manager systematically implements to ensure that young people join and leave the home successfully. Young people’s needs are understood and managed extremely well from the point of their arrival into the home. This is because the management team completes full and thorough impact risk assessments, identifies and devises robust transition plans, and completes full and cohesive risk management and care planning documentation. This support and these detailed care planning processes ensure that young people are supported particularly well during significant points in their lives.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Positive links with health colleagues ensure that all young people’s complex emotional health needs are known, understood and managed well. Staff are acutely aware of young people’s individual health needs, and systematically respond to young people in meeting these. Staff clearly demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the young people who they support, and identify when young people are finding it difficult to manage their emotional responses in a safe and appropriate way. Staff are readily available to support young people when they need and request additional support and guidance, and support young people sensitively and appropriately during these times. Young people are offered the time and space to consider their reactions during formal and less formal discussions so that they can explore and identify alternative strategies which they can use to manage their emotional responses safely. Despite this, and the effective links that

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

the manager and staff maintain with the in-house clinical psychologist and those positive links which the manager has established with external specialised services such as child adolescent mental health services, young people continue at times to find it difficult to manage their emotional responses safely. During these times, young people do receive a consistent, co-ordinated and cohesive response from the staff to assist them with addressing their presenting behaviours quickly. This promotes young people’s physical safety and emotional well-being at critical times.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff encourage young people to engage positively with the educational opportunities that are available to them. The manager and staff are acutely aware of the need to secure a good education for young people, and so they support young people as best they can to ensure that they can achieve their full potential. Young people are escorted to and from school and are provided with additional emotional support from the home’s staff, within the school environment, when this is required. This additional level of support and the good links with education providers ensures that young people feel safe and supported within school, and enables young people to work towards achieving their goals and targets successfully.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The leadership and management arrangements remain effective. The manager continues to strengthen and develop her staff team. The manager has needed to use the organisation’s bank staff and outside agency staff on occasion to ensure that young people are cared for and supervised safely. In order to redress this and maintain a level of consistency and stability for young people, the manager continues with her ongoing recruitment drive. Safe recruitment practice and good induction planning ensures that staff are safe, suitable and well equipped to perform their roles to a high standard and deliver a good standard of care to young people. This and good training opportunities ensure that staff have a good understanding of young people’s presenting difficulties and needs, which enables the staff to support young people well during these times.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager has taken suitable steps to address both the requirements raised at the last inspection. The manager regularly updates the home’s statement of purpose to ensure that commissioners and family members are fully up to date with the operations of the home. Although physical interventions have not been required to keep young people safe within this home, this practice has been enhanced and strengthened to promote young people’s welfare and safety. This is because the senior operations manager has now been identified as the authorised and independent person to monitor and evaluate any physical interventions that the registered manager has been actively involved in. This independent oversight will promote young people’s welfare as this practice will now be more thoroughly scrutinised by someone completely independent from the incident, thus ensuring that this home is safe and suitable for young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Sufficient action has been taken by the manager to ensure that the three recommendations raised at the last inspection have been completed. Young people are now provided with the services and support that they are entitled to as the manager and staff advocate strongly for them. Furthermore, young people can now access any health input as and when this is required, as delegated consent for medical treatment is now available within young people’s full and comprehensive case files. In addition, young people are supported to consider and learn from their behaviours as their behaviour management planning has been strengthened. Staff support young people to consider and reflect on their behaviour so that young people can make the right choices. This is because staff now challenge and discuss poor behaviour management and use age-appropriate consequences and sanctions for not doing so, sufficiently.

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and accommodation for up to five children and young people. The home enlists the support from a clinical psychologist and provides care and accommodation for children who have mental health disorders and/or learning disabilities.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 06/12/2016 Full Good 04/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/06/2015 Full Good 10/03/2015 Interim Sustained 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 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 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’ 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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