Children's home run by Nottingham City Council in Nottingham

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 sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home continues to provide a good service to young people. There have been no new admissions to the home since the last inspection. Young people living in the home have remained settled, and staffing has remained consistent.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff provide good quality, individualised care to young people, ensuring that they meet their differing needs. The stability of the home supports young people to develop trusting relationships with staff. Young people speak openly with staff and have a good relationship with the registered manager. Young people say that they like living in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since being at the home, one young person has made particularly good progress at school. His social worker commented on the pivotal role that staff have played in this good outcome. ‘The staff are really good at keeping in touch and have excellent communication with me. They have a good relationship with his school and network really well.’ Staff attend all school meetings and fully support the young person to feel confident about his education.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff work in partnership with a range of professionals to meet young people’s health needs, and access specialist support when needed. This is particularly evident in responding to concerns around young people’s emotional health and well-being. Risk management plans are well written and easy to follow. Staff update risk management plans regularly, and in response to any incidents that might change the level of risk. Staff, along with partner agencies, continually keep the care of young people under review to ensure that the home is meeting need and providing safe care. Communication is very effective. Professionals working with the home speak positively about proactive information sharing.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Incidents of going missing from the home are managed effectively, with staff following multi-agency procedures. Independent return interviews take place, providing young people with the opportunity to debrief after an episode of going missing. This enables young people to talk to someone not involved in their care about anything that might be troubling them.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Staff provide young people with clear, consistent boundaries. They use effective de-escalation techniques and are skilled in anticipating potential triggers. When difficulties arise, staff promote a restorative approach where possible. Staff rarely use physical intervention to manage behaviour. In situations where physical intervention becomes necessary, staff use this proportionately and safely. Recording of physical intervention is usually good, but on occasion has not been sufficiently clear. A recommendation has been made to ensure that staff clearly record the holds employed and the duration of any hold.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people are supported to develop skills to regulate their own behaviour and to make safer choices. Staff actively encourage young people to develop skills to live as independently as possible as they enter adulthood. This includes helping young people to learn practical self-care tasks, as well as enabling them to take age-appropriate risks in the community. Risk to young people is thoroughly assessed and specialist support is in place to address specific risks and vulnerabilities, such as child sexual exploitation.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The recommendation made at the full inspection is met. This referred to staff training, and all staff receiving appropriate and timely training. Staff have access to a broad range of developmental opportunities and there is a clear schedule for mandatory training. All staff have received training in managing self-injurious behaviour.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager uses robust monitoring systems to ensure that she has good oversight of the day-to-day care being provided. The manager seeks to identify any trends or patterns, for example in relation to risk-taking behaviours, how staff manage behaviour, or young people’s engagement in education. This is essential as the manager is dual registered, managing another home alongside this home. This places a greater emphasis on having systems in place to monitor progress while away from the home. The manager is appropriately skilled and experienced and continually seeks to make improvements to the care provided.

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children’s home which provides care and accommodation for up to two children or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 05/10/2016 Full Good 08/12/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/07/2015 Full Good 27/01/2015 Interim Declined in effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:  Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. This is in particular reference to recording more detail following a physical intervention. Consider making the information clearer and more accessible for a young person to understand. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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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