Children's home SC474863

home are

The children's home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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The children's home provision is good because:

 There has been a delay with the manager’s application to register with Ofsted. In line with Ofsted’s policy and guidance, this limits the judgement on the impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers to inadequate. However, the manager has managed the home over the past 10 months very effectively. She has provided strong leadership and effective management and ensured that young people’s experiences and progress are good.  Young people settle well and quickly develop very good relationships with staff and each other.  Young people experience a highly nurturing home environment that has supported their emotional development.  Firm and clear boundaries and routines have provided young people with the predictability and stability that they have needed to thrive.  Young people’s attendance and attainment in education are very good and they develop aspirations for their futures.  Young people take part in life-enriching activities and pastimes at the home

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The children's home provision is good because:

and in the community.  Young people learn appropriate coping strategies and their behaviour improves. They take responsibility for their actions.  Staff work highly effectively with young people’s families. Parents commend staff for the support that they provide to their children.  Safeguarding practice is good and young people are kept safe.  Highly effective working relationships with other professionals underpin the success of the work with young people.  The manager and staff team put young people’s needs at the forefront of practice and are fully committed to ensuring that each young person reaches their full potential during their time in the home.

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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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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. (Regulation 32 (1)) This is with specific reference to including within the staff recruitment procedure guidance for appointing officers about the verification of references and includes the circumstances under which overseas checks should be carried out on applicants. Additionally, when an applicant supplies a CV it should be ensured that the reasons for leaving each employment that involves working with vulnerable people are documented. 26/05/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must without delay notify HMCI of any significant event in line with the regulation. (Regulation 40 (1)) 26/05/2017

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) With specific reference to ensuring that how any potential risks to new and existing young people will be managed are fully documented.  Ensure that any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)

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Recommendations

This is with specific reference to ensuring that young people have the opportunity to talk to someone who has not been involved in the incident.

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned and run by a private organisation. It is registered to accommodate and care for up to five young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 27/05/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/02/2016 Full Good 14/09/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/02/2015 Full Outstanding

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people living in the home are

The manager considers all referrals to the home and carries out a viability assessment. Strategies to minimise potential risks to young people already living in the home are not all fully documented. For example, in one case, risks relating to bullying and violence were identified, but the proposed strategy to support the new young person was vague. There was no guidance about how the risks to him from other young people, who also scored highly in this area, would be minimised. Arrangements to introduce young people to the home are strong and consequently young people coming to live in the home settle in exceptionally well. The manager or staff meet with the young person, and where appropriate their parents, before a placement is accepted. Young people are provided with good-quality information about the home and make a visit to the house before their admission. Staff and young people make a real effort to ensure that there is a warm welcome to young

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people living in the home are

people visiting the home and this ensures that new young people are reassured about where they are going to live. The warm, caring and nurturing environment provides young people with the safety and security that they need to build helpful and trusting relationships. Young people very quickly make very good relationships with all those living, and working, in the home. Any disagreements are quickly resolved because young people have developed respect for the views, wishes and feelings of others even when these are at odds with their own. Young people said that they ‘love it here’. Social workers, educational professionals and parents highlighted how the nurturing environment has had an extremely positive effective on the young people. Young people are held in high positive regard and are treated with dignity and respect. Through this, young people have learned to respect those around them. Staff are highly attentive towards young people and spend good-quality time with

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people living in the home are

them. Any achievements, however small, are celebrated by all. Young people’s self- esteem and confidence have improved as a result of their successes and they have developed aspirations for their futures. Young people have also developed a strong sense of belonging. One young person said, ‘This is our home you know. We are like family.’ As young people develop in their self-awareness they have begun to understand their emotions and feelings and are able to take a more meaningful part in the day- to-day, and more complex, decisions about their lives. Young people feel confident about talking to staff if they have worries or concerns and are able to express their views in appropriate ways. These views are listened to and acted upon. Young people do exceptionally well in their educational attendance and achievement. Young people who have been out of education for some time are being supported to engage in their learning and are working towards reintegration

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people living in the home are

into mainstream education. Young people are supported to take responsibility for doing their homework. Staff support young people and their parents, where appropriate, to attend all meetings at school. Staff use the strong links that they have developed with educational professionals to ensure that young people are provided with an educational facility that meets their needs and style of learning. Staff are strong advocates for young people and are highly ambitious for them. Young people are in good health and attend all routine health appointments. Staff have good working relationships with health professionals. Staff are proactive in highlighting any health issues and ensure that appointments for these are made and attended. This means that young people get any specialist help that they need in a timely way. Young people begin to take responsibility for their own health. For example, one young person has successfully given up smoking and substance

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people living in the home are

misuse and another young person is losing weight. The arrangements for medication are safe and ensure that young people get the medicines that they need. On a day-to-day basis, young people are kept occupied doing things that they enjoy. They have very good access to a range of social, educational and recreational opportunities in, and outside of, the home. Activities are carefully thought through. For example, a current favourite is boxing through which young people are developing their skills in self-discipline. Activities connected to charity events have provided young people with opportunities to have fun while also supporting local and national charities. This also provides them with a strong sense of community spirit. In the house they play on their games consoles, do arts and crafts and just enjoy spending time with each other, staff and the manager’s dog, who is a regular visitor to the home. Some young people are becoming skilful in

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people living in the home are

their cooking abilities. The inspector enjoyed an omelette and cookies cooked by young people during the course of the inspection! Young people also occasionally cook for all those in the house and use mealtimes as a social event. Young people have fun with friends they have made in the community. Sometimes, these relationships are not appropriate and staff are effective in discouraging these friendships. The environment provided to the young people is of a high quality and young people take pride in their home. They are fully involved in choosing the decor and enjoy helping to keep the premises well maintained, keeping the house clean and tidy and helping with the decorating. Young people benefit from seeing their family, where it is safe and appropriate. Staff have developed excellent working relationships with parents. Staff are highly supportive to parents, who say that they always feel welcomed to the home. One

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people living in the home are

parent said that their child cannot live with them currently, but that they are extremely happy that this is their child’s home for the time being. Another parent spoke about how staff had supported her to set firmer boundaries and how this has meant that her child has become less challenging towards her. There has been one young person who moved out of the home due to safeguarding concerns. This was an incident that could not have been foreseen. Staff ensured that the young person was supported with his move. It was his birthday after he moved and staff ensured that he got the birthday present that they had bought for him. Young people are supported to develop their practical and emotional skills to help them live more independently. Work from the time that they move in is focused on the development of these skills. Young people are well supported before, during and after moves from the home. Staff have a strong commitment to ensuring that

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people living in the home are

young people who have moved on do not feel forgotten by them. They are invited to keep in as much contact with the staff and other young people as they wish. For example, one young person was invited to come back to have Christmas dinner at the house. This time together was enjoyed by all. Other young people who have moved on phone periodically to talk to staff to let them know how they are getting on. This demonstrates that they developed a strong sense of belonging to the home and trust in the staff.

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people are helped and protected

Young people feel safe and are safe living in this home. Young people spoke about how they trust the staff and can talk to them about anything. Work with young people is underpinned by risk assessments. These are updated as required and used by staff to keep young people safe. As young people make progress they are allowed to begin to take an appropriate level of responsibility for their own safety. Young people do not go missing from this home very often. When a young person does go missing, there is a well-coordinated response that ensures that young people return home safely and quickly. Staff are mindful of dangers relating to the potential for any form of exploitation towards young people and these are risk assessed. Following each episode of going missing, these assessments are reviewed. Staff are proactive in ensuring that they are fully up to date with any issues arising in the local community through regular information and intelligence

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people are helped and protected

sharing with the police. Staff understand how young people’s past experiences have had an impact on their emotional well-being and behaviour. Clear routines and boundaries underpin day- to-day life in the home. These provide young people with the predictability that they need to grow and progress. Young people have developed and maintained a sense of security, they have learnt self-discipline and their emotional resilience has improved. Young people are involved in developing their care and behaviour management plans. These are geared to help young people to develop appropriate coping strategies. Effective de-escalation techniques are successfully used to minimise incidents and mean that sanctions are rarely used. When sanctions are applied, these are appropriate, fair and understood by young people. Young people usually choose to make amends for their mistakes and this shows that they have learned to take responsibility for their actions.

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people are helped and protected

Physical interventions are rarely needed and are used in accordance with legislation. However, on some occasions, the manager has been involved in a physical intervention and has carried out a debrief with staff and the young person. It would be better practice if someone not involved in the intervention carried out these conversations. Safeguarding practice is good in this home. There are effective links to safeguarding professionals and very good relationships with the police. Safeguarding issues do not often arise but when they do they are referred to appropriate agencies and professionals. Staff work with safeguarding professionals to ensure that the well-being and safety of young people are promoted. Staff members are clear about how to deal with a safeguarding concern. Young people learn about how to keep themselves safe while using the internet. Staff closely monitor internet use and achieve a good balance between protecting

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people are helped and protected

young people and affording them opportunities to socialise with others online safely. Bullying behaviour is not tolerated in this home and this is made clear to young people when they arrive. The positive relationships between the young people mean that bullying has not been an issue but staff remain aware that there is the potential for this to occur. Staff recruitment practice minimises the risk of unsuitable people working in the home. However, in one case, there was no documentary evidence as to why the applicant had left their employment with vulnerable people in the earlier part of their work history. All relevant health and safety checks are carried out and this ensures that the environment is safe for young people to live in and staff to work in.

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leaders and managers

In accordance with Ofsted’s framework guidance, the absence of a registered manager over the last 10 months results in an inadequate judgement for the impact and effectiveness of leaders and managers. The manager is permanent and has been the manager since May 2016. Ofsted have now received her application to register. The manager has managed the home effectively since her appointment to the post. The managers and staff have maintained a passion for the work that they do with young people. They have a high level of commitment to improve young people’s lives and are highly regarded among the professionals who they work with. A social worker said, ‘The place is brilliant.’ An educational professional said, ‘This is one of the better homes I go to.’ The statement of purpose underpins the work of the home. It is a comprehensive document that provides a clear view about the aims and objectives. There is a clear

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leaders and managers

guide for children to inform them about what they can expect from the staff. There is also a folder that contains child-friendly pen pictures about each member of staff so that young people get to know a bit about staff. There are good arrangements for monitoring the work of the home. The manager carries out comprehensive monitoring of the quality of care and practice, as does an external visitor, who visits monthly. It is clear that the home has a good capacity for improvement as development is high on the agenda and the manager and staff demonstrate that they learn from monitoring and feedback from others. There are very good working relationships with social workers, education professionals, police and parents. This benefits young people because there is a well-coordinated approach taken to the planning for their care. Proactive work with the local community has led to the staff and young people being a welcome part of

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leaders and managers

the area that they live in. Staff are of a high calibre and place young people at the centre of everything that they do. A young person’s parent said, ‘Staff are just so supportive.’ Another professional said, ‘They (the staff and young people) are just like family to each other.’ Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities and fully committed to improving the lives of the young people. They are well supported through regular and effective supervision and team meetings and managers are very supportive and are accessible on a daily basis. Staff are provided with an effective induction and ongoing training is of a good quality. They feel that their training provides them with the knowledge and skills that they need to be effective in their role. The majority of staff are trained to a level 3 standard in caring for children and young people. The remaining staff are either studying for the qualification or are

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leaders and managers

still in their probationary period and will commence their studies when this has been successfully completed. There have been some staff vacancies over the past months. This has had no impact on young people because staff have worked extra hours to provide the young people with consistency. There is recruitment activity currently taking place to fill the vacant posts. Young people are involved in the recruitment of staff and this helps them to feel involved in decision making about who is going to care for them. Staff have a very good understanding about each young person’s needs and can demonstrate the positive impact that living in the home has had on young people. Staff use the good-quality plans to support young people’s progress in all areas of their lives. Staff have a strong focus on supporting children to achieve their goals. A requirement made at the last inspection about staff recruitment has been met.

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leaders and managers

The manager now ensures that references have been verified with the referee and the staff recruitment policy now contains guidance for appointing officers about how to carry out overseas checks. However, the recruitment policy does not state that references should be verified with the referee nor does it include the circumstances under which checks on applicants who have lived overseas should be undertaken. Neither of these issues had arisen across the sample of staff files viewed. Recommendations made at the last inspection have been met. The reports written by the external visitor now set out her view about the quality of care and safeguarding in the home. The records of when young people have been missing are now comprehensively maintained. Significant events are notified to agencies and professionals involved in safeguarding young people. Following any significant event, action is taken in conjunction with other agencies to ensure that children are safeguarded and their

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leaders and managers

well-being is promoted. One example was noted of a significant event not having been notified to Ofsted. There was no impact on young people because of this because appropriate action was taken to safeguard all those involved.

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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 looked after children 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 who 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

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

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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