Children's home run by Newrays Care Services Limited

Inspection report children's home: 1241861 1 Registered provider: Newrays Care Services Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to care for up to four children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

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

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Date of last inspection: Not applicable

Overall judgement at last inspection: Not applicable Inspection report children's home: 1241861 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The young person feels happy and safe.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff value the young person’s views and opinions.

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Key findings from this inspection

 There is clear evidence of a warm relationship between the staff and the young person.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff give the practical and emotional support to help the young person to engage in learning.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff promote positive behaviour by using incentives and praise.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff promote contact between the young person and his family.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff ensure that the young person has a homely place to live.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff work closely with the therapeutic team to meet the young person’s emotional health needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The enthusiastic registered manager leads a child-focused team that puts the needs of the young person first.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children’s home’s areas for development

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff planning around how to support the young person to return home and to prepare for adulthood is not fully considered.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff have not enabled the young person to develop the skills he needs to keep himself safe both online and in the community.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The majority of staff are yet to complete the level 3 diploma for residential childcare. Inspection report children's home: 1241861 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff prepare each child for any move from the home, whether they are returning home, moving to another placement or moving to live independently. This includes supporting the child to develop emotional resilience to cope without the home’s support and, where the child is moving to live independently, practical skills such as cooking, housework, budgeting and personal self-care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.27)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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Recommendations

 Ensure that there are enough suitably trained staff on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home, and that those staff are able to respond to emergency placements, where accepted. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is the first inspection since the home’s registration. Initially admission decisions resulted in young people’s placements quickly breaking down. The registered provider took the decision to close the home for a period of two months. This time was used to complete a comprehensive review of the service. The outcome of this review was that new staff were recruited, additional training was provided and new systems were introduced to ensure that admissions planning and risk management were sufficiently robust.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered provider has been diligent in identifying shortfalls in practice and has taken decisive action to improve the quality of care. Consequently, the young person currently in placement is safe, well cared for and provided with personalised care that enables him to make progress educationally, emotionally and socially.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since undertaking the service review, there has been one admission to the home. The registered manager’s planning ensured that the needs of the young person were understood and that staff were able to respond to his needs immediately. Staff were sensitive and caring in their response to the arrival of the new young person, giving him time to settle, but also making sure that staff were visible and ready to offer reassurance Inspection report children's home: 1241861 4 should he need it. A personalised welcome pack, which included a few small gifts, awaited the young person on his arrival. This ensured that the young person’s first impression of the home was positive and, as a result, he settled quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have worked hard to develop a relationship with the young person, even when there has been some resistance to this. A member of staff told the inspector, ‘It is about taking an interest in what he likes and what he is interested in.’ Games of monopoly and the young person’s love of cars have become sources of daily banter between staff and the young person. As a result, the young person’s confidence has developed significantly and he is now seeking staff out to spend time with them playing football in the garden or playing on a game on his computer. This is a positive change for the young person and it is enabling him to start to benefit from the support and care offered by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide the young person with lots of opportunities to share his views and opinions. Staff recognise that the young person struggles to open up during formal one-to-one sessions and have therefore used opportunities, such as being in the car or mealtimes, to engage in meaningful conversations. In preparation for a recent children looked after review, the young person said, ‘I like my key carers and we get on well, I feel I have input on the home and have spoken to [the deputy manager] a lot about what we can do with our garden.’ Staff ensure that the young person feels empowered and that his opinion matters.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to promote the young person’s engagement with education, even when there are barriers to this. For example, in response to the young person being excluded from school, staff have ensured that appropriate short-term measures are in place to maintain his learning. In addition, staff are working collaboratively with education partners, including the school and the virtual head, to plan how to respond to the exclusion and ensure that appropriate provision is offered. Despite the young person’s exclusion, staff take every opportunity to celebrate academic engagement no matter how small it may seem. For example, in addition to the work being provided by the school, the young person has completed extra homework. This is significant step for the young person, given his educational history. In recognition of this achievement, the staff have rewarded the young person with a go-karting session.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take advantage of regular meetings with the clinical therapist to ensure that the young person’s physical and emotional health needs are understood. A staff member said, ‘I understand how to support him and why that approach helps him.’ Staff are caring, calm and patient in their approach, with one member of staff saying, ‘We take things at his pace.’ This means that the young person is progressing towards being more emotional resilient.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff facilitate contact with key family members so that these important relationships can be maintained and the young person does not feel isolated. Staff have established good relationships with the young person’s family. This means that when the young person is having contact, there are appropriate lines of communication and staff are able to ensure that he continues to be safe and well cared for. Inspection report children's home: 1241861 5 Staff have considered the young person’s longer-term needs in respect of a potential move. However, the planning for any potential move lacks clarity. Similarly, while staff have identified resources which can be used to support the young person to develop his independence skills, these have not yet been used. Staff have focused well on the young person’s immediate short-term needs, but have also supported him to develop the skills he will need for the future.

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

Staff recognise the importance of having a consistent approach to implementing rules and boundaries. One staff member said, ‘We all sing from the same hymn sheet, we work really closely together.’ This means that the young person has a clear understanding of what staff expect of him and he is responding positively to this structure and routine.

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

Staff take every opportunity to recognise the young person’s good behaviour in the home and offer praise and encouragement frequently. Staff take the time to understand and identify what incentives will motivate the young person. For example, staff have identified the young person’s interest in mountain bikes and he is currently working towards a small number of behaviour targets, which will enable him to get new parts for his bike. The young person is motivated to behave and, as a result, his behaviour has generally been settled and there have been no physical interventions.

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

The young person has not gone missing from home. Nevertheless, the staff are proactive in planning for such events. For example, staff have created a grab bag, with essential items to enable staff to respond swiftly and effectively to any missing incidents. Furthermore, staff have developed good links with the police’s missing-person coordinator to help ensure that the police are notified of any new admissions and that they are provided with the relevant information about the young person. This means that should the young person go missing, the risks are reduced.

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

Staff are alert to the fact that the young person is vulnerable to exploitation by others, including the risk of radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. Staff actively review risks and work with the placing authority and police to ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to keep the young person safe both online and in the community. In addition, staff take advantage of the skills of specialist services, such as the fire service, substance use team and youth crime prevention service, to respond to the young person’s potential risk-taking behaviours. However, despite these efforts, staff have not yet been successful in supporting the young person to develop the skills, knowledge and understanding to make safe choices for himself.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been in post since October 2016 and is currently completing the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare. Inspection report children's home: 1241861 6 The registered manager is enthusiastic, energetic and motivated. She is passionate about the young person and determined that he will receive the best possible care in line with the home’s statement of purpose. The registered manager is using newly introduced monitoring systems in conjunction with the learning from the provider’s own service review to ensure that she has a comprehensive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. This demonstrates that the registered manager has a commitment to continuous improvement of the quality of care offered to the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Of the 14 staff, fewer than half have completed the level 3 diploma for residential care. However, at this stage there is no obvious impact for the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are consistently positive about the support that they receive from both the registered manager and the deputy manager; they described how helpful supervisions and team meetings are in supporting them to understand how to meet the needs of the young person. Similarly, staff are enthusiastic about the amount and quality of training that they receive. One staff member told the inspector, ‘The training is amazing and there is so much of it.’ Staff are encouraged to develop the skills and knowledge to support the young person to make progress and stay safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has formed positive relationships with a range of agencies, including police and the placing authority. The registered manager has demonstrated that she will act as a champion for the young person’s needs, particularly when addressing his educational needs. This supports the promotion of the young person’s welfare and progress.

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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.

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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: 1241861 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Newrays Care Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Newrays Care Services Limited, Sinckot House, 211 Station Road, Harrow HA1 2TP

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Inspector

Paul Robinson: social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 1241861 8 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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