Children's home run by Positive Steps (Care Services) Limited in Peterborough

Inspection report children's home: SC061770 1 SC061770 Registered provider: Positive Steps (Care Services) Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

A private organisation runs this children’s home, which is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to four children whose primary need is a learning disability.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 11 January 2017

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

 Children have good relationships with the staff. The calm and mindful approach which staff use to engage with the children helps the children to make progress and achieve. Inspection report children's home: SC061770 2  Children engage in a range of positive activities which broaden their experiences and knowledge.  Children say that they are happy in this home.  Staff help the children to arrange for friends and families to visit the home.  There has been a reduction in the number of incidents of physical intervention. This is because staff have developed alternative strategies to manage negative behaviour.  There has been a reduction in the number of incidents of negative behaviour for some children because of the thoughtful and skilful work of the staff.  The manager tracks the progress that children are making. She scrutinises reports and also reflects on situations to see if there are alternative ways in

p.1

Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development:

p.2

Key findings from this inspection

 One member of staff has not completed the relevant diploma-level training required.

p.2

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 29/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/12/2015 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC061770 3

p.2

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet 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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification, the level 3 diploma for residential childcare (England) (‘the level 3 diploma’), or a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the level 3 diploma, by the relevant date. (Regulation 32(4)(5)) 03/01/2018

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home provides a good standard of care for children whose primary need is a learning disability. Children make good progress because they live in this home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, observations of the staff interacting with the children highlighted the calm and mindful approach which staff use to engage with the children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have effective individual care plans that staff use to inform their working practice, and to support them to meet the children’s needs. The staff support the children to learn to manage their emotions. One child needed physical intervention to prevent them from harming themselves or others when they first moved to the home. The quiet and thoughtful approach from staff has seen these incidents reduce. The staff have learned how to de-escalate situations and help the child to self-regulate. One social worker described the child that they placed in the home as, ‘coming on leaps and bounds since being placed in this home.’ They commented further, ‘There has been a reduction in the times that staff are physically intervening. The child is much calmer and can be engaged in activities. In particular, they love to go out and about with the staff on trips, especially going out on their bike in the neighbourhood.’ Staff have skilfully

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

used children’s interests to help children to learn new skills. A key worker used a child’s interest in a particular film to help the child to develop their self-care plan with regard to the child’s health and hygiene routine. This helped the child to become more aware of this issue, and to take more care of themselves.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with other agencies, particularly the schools and colleges that the children attend. There is regular communication between the home and the education Inspection report children's home: SC061770 4 providers. Home-school diaries are used so that the home and education providers can routinely inform each other of any issues or matters which need to be considered. Any urgent or important information is shared via the telephone or email to alert staff of any concerns. This sharing of information means that children receive as consistent an approach as possible, to meet their needs. Some children had been out of formal education for some time before living in this home. Since living in this home, these children have been reintroduced to school, and the staff support them to engage. Consequently, they are achieving in line with their education targets. A placing social worker commented, ‘Before they [child] came to this home they were not able to be

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

engaged in school. Whereas now they are in full time, in uniform, without any real worries.’ Other, older children have successfully managed the transition to sixth-form college where they engage in developing life skills such as cooking and budgeting. This experience also helps to provide them with a social group outside of the home.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in a range of positive experiences in the home and out in the community. Some attend sports clubs for children who have additional needs, while others enjoy one-to-one activities with staff. Staff work with the children to explore their views on activities. Most evenings there is a choice of activity, which can be art and craft or watching a film. Alternatively, children can choose to go out for a coffee or a relaxing walk around the local area. During the inspection, some children chose to go to the local park with their key worker, while others enjoyed a trip to the shops. The staff assisted the children to show photographs of a recent exciting trip to a theme park. These photographs showed the children having a fun-filled time together.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Older children have pathway plans to prepare them for their move to adult provision. Most of the children who live in this home will need supported accommodation in the future. However, staff support the children to develop as many self-care skills as possible. The children are beginning to assist with household tasks, such as doing their laundry and keeping their rooms neat and tidy. Older children have been helped to be safe in the community. Staff have worked with these children to develop their awareness of the local area, to enable them to walk to a local youth club. The staff met with the youth club to draw up a care plan, which means that the children have been able to develop these important independence skills, which they did not have a year ago. The manager has given close attention to the analysis of the risks for this activity. This has reinforced the care plan. The staff’s commitment to the plan has enabled the children to

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they are happy in this home. One child showed photographs of a recent birthday party, when staff helped her to arrange for friends to visit the home for pizza and a film. Another child showed photographs of a contact meeting which their siblings attended. The photographs showed the children happily engaged with staff in activities, playing alongside one another.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain contact with their families. Living in this home has meant that some children are much nearer to their families than previously. This allows for more frequent contact, which promotes the ongoing relationships. For some children, their siblings can be included in their contact, as well as other extended family members. Inspection report children's home: SC061770 5 Consequently, these contact meetings maintain the relationships with people who are important to the children.

p.4

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff continuously monitor the children whose assessed needs are such that they need a high level of supervision. This ensures that the children are safe, and that they do not go missing from the home. Staff are acutely aware of the risks in the community for these children. The manager routinely reviews the children’s risk assessments to ensure that any identified changes in behaviours, or triggers that heighten or reduce the assessed risk, are clearly recorded. These assessments support staff in their work with the children. Staff identify any bullying activity and have spent time talking to the children to reinforce the anti-bullying policy in the home.

p.5

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Trained staff physically intervene to prevent children from harming themselves or others. There has been a significant reduction in the number of incidents of negative behaviour. There have been no incidents of restraint since the interim inspection. Staff feel confident that their skills in de-escalating situations and redirecting children has been responsible for this reduction. Staff meet regularly to discuss the children’s needs, which supports them to develop a consistent approach to promoting the children’s safe care. Staff talk openly about issues which have affected the children, and share thoughts and processes that have been successful in helping the children to self-regulate.

p.5

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff understand the safeguarding principles and policies. They are able to discuss the process for alerting a senior manager to any concerns they may have about the practice in the home. The manager includes safeguarding matters in her supervision of the staff. She has a good relationship with the designated officer for safeguarding in the local authority. She has alerted Ofsted to a significant incident through the notifications process. This issue has been addressed appropriately. Placing social workers raise no concerns about the safe-care practices in the home.

p.5

How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The staff use a calm and consistent approach to help the children to manage their behaviour. This has enabled the children to participate in therapeutic work, which has made a significant improvement to their communication skills. One child previously refused to attend any health appointments, which led to considerable concern for the child. Gently, the staff introduced the child to these experiences and now the child attends happily. The child’s social worker commented, ‘This child would not tolerate any appointments with any therapy. All of the involvement was on hold. Now they will go with staff and participate well. This has supported improvements with communication skills.’

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children's home: SC061770 6 The registered manager has a level 4 qualification in childcare and has been in post for seven years. She is focused on developing the staff to enable them to provide the highest possible standard of care for the children. The manager uses regular supervision and observation of the staff’s practice with the children to assure herself that children are being cared for safely in this home. She considers that developing and building the confidence and skills of staff is her aim for the coming year. The manager supports the staff to develop their knowledge, which ensures that they can meet the children’s needs. In one example, work has been implemented with a child to support their ongoing family contact. As a result, there has been a positive development in the relationship with the birth family. This has helped the child’s sense of belonging, and improved their

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a training pathway for all staff, which includes induction training and refresher courses. Consequently, the staff have the skills to meet the children’s needs. One staff member has not completed the required diploma-level training. The manager ensures that this staff member works with other staff who hold the required qualification. This supervision and support reduces the impact of this shortfall on the quality of the children’s care. The manager has an action plan in place, and is working with the training provider to ensure that the member of staff has the support and assistance that they need to complete the course.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager tracks the progress that children are making through her oversight of the monthly reports. She scrutinises incidents and encourages staff to reflect on situations to see if there are alternative ways in which these could have been managed. Consequently, there has been a reduction in the number of significant incidents for some children because of mindful and thoughtful work from the staff. The manager has identified improvements in independence skills for some children, while other children have become more communicative. The manager is proactive in working with placing social workers to plan for and address emerging issues for the children. She has begun to consider the implications for one of the children as the child approaches puberty. She is working collaboratively with multi-agency partners to draw up a care plan to manage potential issues, and prepare staff and the family to manage the situation as it develops.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works with the independent visitor to ensure that the home is working in line with the aims of the statement of purpose. She takes action to remedy any shortfalls identified by the visitor. Staff are included in feedback through the team meetings and handovers. Consequently, the issues raised can be discussed and shared with the team, and a consistent approach developed.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager reviews the direct work carried out with children. She ensures that staff encourage the children to make choices and listen to the views of the children. Because of this, the children have been involved in making decisions about the decor of their rooms and about the activities that they would like to be involved in. For example, going to the theme park came as a direct request from one of the children.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Placing social workers identify the quality of the reports sent to them as positive indicators that children are making progress at this home. The social workers speak Inspection report children's home: SC061770 7 highly of the impact that the home has had on the children. The comments from social workers include:

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

 ‘I am very pleased with the progress that the child has made at this home.’  ‘I have no safeguarding concerns or worries.’  ‘If the staff have any worries then they will contact me directly, which is very helpful.’

p.7

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has positive relationships with placing authorities. She has supported children to make representations in their children looked after reviews. She liaises appropriately to ensure that children are receiving a suitable service from the placing authority.

p.7

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

p.7

Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, 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’. Inspection report children's home: SC061770 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Steps (Care Services) Limited

p.8

Inspector(s)

Michael Mulvaney, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC061770 9 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, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children's services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.8

Inspector(s)

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector(s)

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector(s)

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9