Children's Home run by Cambian Childcare Limited in Leicestershire

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

The home continues to provide a good service to young people. Since the full inspection, one young person has been discharged from the home, moving to semi-independent accommodation. There have been two new admissions to the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Admissions to the home have been managed effectively and young people settle quickly. One newly admitted young person told the inspector, ‘It’s alright here. The staff are lovely, I get on with most of them.’

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Placing social workers speak positively about the experience and progress of young people, and feel that the home meets their needs. Staff have a very good understanding of young people’s needs and communication is very effective.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

All of the young people have appropriate education provision in place, tailored to their individual needs or situations. At this inspection, staff demonstrated increased focus on ensuring that young people have the opportunity to achieve their academic potential. One social worker made the following comments about staff promoting education: ‘Good cooperation between the home and school has underpinned the young person’s really good school attendance.’ Ensuring that all of the young people have a purposeful routine has helped the dynamics in the home, reducing incidents of bullying behaviour. Encouraging all of the young people to attend school regularly remains a challenge. Staff have recently introduced incentives to promote and celebrate school attendance. So far, this is proving effective for some, but not all of the young people. Staff are thinking creatively about how to support and motivate young people, including reaching out to partner

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

agencies to share ideas and enlist support.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A very positive development is the increased participation of the young people. They are contributing to how the home is run, and listening to each other. Staff have arranged for guest speakers to attend some young people’s meetings. The local youth offending service will be delivering the Active Choices programme with the young people as part of their meetings. This is a preventative programme which will cover topics such as anti-social behaviour, positive relationships, and safe use of the internet.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A core of skilled and experienced staff provides the young people with consistent and dependable care. This supports the young people to build trusting relationships with staff and promotes stability. New staff have joined the home since the full inspection. Appointments have been positive and add to the skill mix within the team. The registered manager left her post recently. Interim management arrangements are working well and have provided the young people with consistent care. The acting manager has made a good start. She has an appropriate level of experience and knows the home and the young people well. She has confidence in her decision making and has good support from senior staff.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff manage safeguarding situations and risk appropriately. Incidents of going missing from care have recently related to young people being late rather than going missing for prolonged periods. Risks associated with going missing from care are managed effectively. Staff escalate safeguarding concerns when necessary and there is good liaison between professionals. Multi-agency meetings take place in a timely manner. Behaviour management plans are utilised, with staff rewarding sensible decision making and giving young people age-appropriate opportunities, while trying to keep them as safe as possible.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Recording generally has improved, with managers quality assuring key documents and signing records as required. The recording of physical intervention still needs to improve as there are small omissions that undermine the quality of recording. A recommendation has been made to address this specifically.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home is warm, welcoming and tastefully decorated. It provides a safe environment and small maintenance issues are addressed promptly. Upstairs is looking tired and in need of redecoration. The carpet on the stairs and landing is beginning to wear and will need replacing in due course to prevent this becoming a health and safety risk.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned by a large private provider and offers medium to long-term placements for young people.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 19/07/2016 Full Good 02/09/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/05/2015 Full Requires improvement 11/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. This refers to the need to ensure that records of restraint are fully completed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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

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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