Children's Home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Bristol

Inspection report children’s home: SC066250 1 SC066250 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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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 service is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and learning disabilities. It is owned by a private company that also operates other children’s homes in the surrounding area.

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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 outstanding

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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good

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

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good

Date of last inspection: 26 October 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager has a strong presence in the home. She ensures that everyone has a say in running the home, including young people. This means that young people are listened to and their wishes and feelings are given the Inspection report children’s home: SC066250 2 highest priority.

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Key findings from this inspection

 An excellent range of recording systems provides the registered manager with detailed information that allows her to review and plan improvement effectively.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Records and plans kept are informed and updated. Specifically, training and learning opportunities are frequent, targeted and benefit the young people’s changing needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff team is motivated, enthusiastic and exceptionally caring in the support it provides to the young people.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The spirit of working together has resulted in the young people’s outcomes improving significantly. From the young people’s starting points, professionals report young people making ‘brilliant’ progress.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are living in a home that is of a high standard. Staff have paid particular attention to ensuring that the home is comfortable and decorated in a style that reflects the young people living there.

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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

 Ensure that the training matrix is kept up to date.

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Key findings from this inspection

 When reviewing the children’s guide, ensure that young people currently living in the home are included in its production.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Ensure that all young people understand the rules of the home. In particular, this relates to access times to the office.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/10/2016 Full Requires improvement 17/08/2016 Full Inadequate 01/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/06/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC066250 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have made very good progress while living in the home. This is due to an established and nurturing staff team with an excellent understanding of the young people’s needs. Personalised, well written plans and records chart the young people’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff team work in partnership with the young people, families, schools and local authorities. This coherent and collaborative approach means that care is personalised and as a result the young people thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two of the three young people living in the home are very settled, and a social worker reports that they have made ‘brilliant’ progress. In particular, through the hard work of the young people and the dedicated approach of the staff team, all young people are fully engaged in their learning and training. Their outcomes are very good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A particular strength of the staff team is its understanding of each of the young people, their needs, wishes and abilities. Strong, positive and trusting relationships exist between young people and staff, and as a result young people feel able to explore their emerging identities and develop interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Progress for most of the young people is such that most of them are safely accessing the local community, joining in local events, going on holidays abroad, making friendships and developing their relationships with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health and emotional well-being is at the very heart of the home and its ethos. The staff team ensures that young people maintain good physical health by attending all necessary health appointments and checks. The attention to detail, and the importance placed on the home being homely, comfortable and the relevance of meals eaten together, is very good. For example, the young people observed during the course of the inspection showed a real interest in planning ‘family film nights’ and meals for special occasions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager ensures that the young people sharing the home are well matched. This means that they enjoy each other’s company and friendship groups.

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

Staff give the young people’s physical safety, and psychological and emotional well-being the highest priority. As a team, they are particularly strong in recognising the vulnerabilities of the young people as they become increasingly independent. They use extremely strong and detailed risk assessments to identify risk and strategies to support the young people. This means that most of the young people living in the home are no longer more vulnerable than their peers when out in the community. Conversely, these Inspection report children’s home: SC066250 4 young people fill their time with activities with friends outside of the home without staff supervision. They have made impressive progress in being able to identify risk, and they are safely and confidently moving towards independence.

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

The home actively promotes the positive behaviour of each young person. This is achieved in part by staff using effective communication, coupled with positive role modelling, patience and compassion. The young people speak of feeling safe and ‘loving their home’.

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

The young people benefit from a very stable staff team, which supports them through the use of consistent boundaries, routines and expectations. This means that young people know and understand how staff manage their behaviours. Interactions between young people and staff are warm, caring and trusting. Young people have someone to talk to and listen to them. As a result incidents of challenging behaviours have significantly reduced and young people seldom go missing.

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

All significant events, for example the use of physical intervention and sanctions, while rare, are reported and recorded accurately and to a high standard. They are shared with the young people’s family, local authority and Ofsted in a timely manner.

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

The manager takes a careful account of the characteristics and needs of each young person placed to ensure that the group of young people is well balanced. There is sufficient room in the home to allow young people individual space for meetings with family and friends and social areas for them all to meet.

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

The organisation has extremely rigorous recruitment policies and procedures, which help to protect young people from unsuitable adults. The home environment is especially safe, because health and safety checks take place routinely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is consistent and strong leadership in the home. The registered manager has been in post for several years and this provides consistency for the young people, other professionals and staff. The registered manager is appropriately qualified, regularly returns to learning and keeps up to date with research. By disseminating her knowledge across her staff team, the manager ensures that her team’s practice remains informed and current. For example, a number of workbooks have been introduced to help young people regulate their emotions and behaviours. These are accessible across other children’s homes within the company.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Almost all of the staff group have an appropriate qualification in working with young people and several staff are supported by the organisation in undertaking higher level awards. This helps to ensure that young people are cared for by a professional and able staff group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Training is varied and staff speak well of its content and accessibility. Staff also speak Inspection report children’s home: SC066250 5 very highly of the supervision and support that they receive from the manager and the senior management team. They are kept up to date with latest practice developments within regular team meetings, and as a team they use this learning to challenge and improve their own practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has been instrumental in making sure that the staff team is made up of adults with diverse backgrounds and of different ethnicities. This means that young people have an increased opportunity to create positive relationships with adults that they trust.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The aims and the objectives of the home are clearly and accurately spelled out in its statement of purpose. Young people are provided with information about their home and care in a children’s guide that continues to be developed. While this is still in production, the manager, alongside the young people, is being creative in the use of technology in the form of apps to support young people accessing information about their home and their rights.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager rigorously monitors and evaluates the home and analyses patterns and trends to identify areas for development. The development plan is very well written, incorporates the views of young people and focuses on improving the young people’s outcomes. The independent visitor reports confirm the improved outcomes of the young people.

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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: SC066250 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Top Floor, Greyhound Building, 17 Moor Street, Chepstow, Gwent NP16 5DB

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Inspector

Linda Bond, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC066250 7 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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