Children's home run by St Christopher’s Fellowship in Wandsworth

Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 1 SC361212 Registered provider: St. Christopher’s Fellowship

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a registered charity and provides care and accommodation for up to three young people 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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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection

None Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager ensures that the staff team provides a high quality of care to young people through strong leadership and clear vision. This helps young people make positive progress.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people benefit from an experienced and skilled staff team that provides them with a consistent level of warmth and nurture.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff team provides regular and structured key-work sessions that help young people improve their behaviour and social skills.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are supported with creative independence programmes. This means that young people develop the necessary skills required for adulthood.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are routinely able to share their concerns about what matters to them and staff respond promptly to these issues. This means that young people feel listened to, enhancing their relationships with staff and others.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people are encouraged to participate in a range of culturally diverse activities. As a result, young people have fun while developing an understanding of other traditions, improving their knowledge and understanding.

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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

 There are some areas for development. These include young people having access to wireless internet, the registered manager ensuring that robust reference checks are in place for new staff and that improvements are made to missing from home procedures.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 05/10/2016 Full Good 02/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 3

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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.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (2) (b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, support young people to have access to wireless internet within their home. 31/10/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must only employ an individual to work at the children’s home; if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3). The requirements are that the individual is of integrity and good character and full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (2) (a) (3) (a) (d)) 31/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must consult, and take into account the views of, each relevant person and have regard to any relevant local authority or police protocols on missing children. (Regulation 34 (5) (a) (b)) 31/08/2017

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the last inspection two requirements were made, and at the time of this inspection both requirements are met. Staff have strong and warm relationships with young people. Staff spend time getting to know young people by doing activities of young people’s choice, such as cooking. Staff enable young people to express their feelings via a ‘mood board’ if they are unable to talk. This means that young people feel a sense of belonging and have encouraging experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people have a good transition to the home and are made to feel welcome. This is because staff provide young people with welcome packs and personalised items that encourage them to feel wanted and part of their new home. As a result, this helps young people to settle, reducing potential anxiety. One young person told the inspector, ‘Yeah, it is OK here. I like it and I like my room. The staff are good too.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 4 Young people’s internal placement plans are regularly updated, are well written and detail young people’s strengths, achievements and targets. This means that staff are able to provide effective and consistent care to young people. Pathway plans are completed in partnership with young people and staff. As a result, young people know what their longer term goals are. This provides them with the opportunity to work towards independence in a planned and steady way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager ensures that the staff team works closely with young people to improve education attendance. One young person, who had previously not attended education regularly, recently completed their General Certificate of Secondary Education. Staff work in partnership with education professionals to promote young people’s differing needs and educational attainment. As a result, young people have vocational training and apprenticeship opportunities that enable them to develop their confidence and self-esteem outside of the home. However, during this inspection one young person raised concerns about not having wireless internet access within the home. This shortfall means that young people are not able to use the internet privately or flexibly within their home for social or educational purposes. This could affect their interaction with others and their overall enjoyment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people know how to complain and feel confident in raising issues with the registered manager. The registered manager encourages feedback from young people within house meetings, via feedback forms and on a regular informal basis. This means that young people feel routinely empowered to talk about what is important to them in their home. Young people make decisions about the food that they eat, the activities that they do, the vegetables that they grow in the garden and where they go on holiday. As a result, young people feel respected and cared for. This enriches their sense of self- worth and identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of the staff team is its dedication to providing young people with the skills they need to enter adulthood. Young people follow a specialist independence programme that develops their practical and theoretical knowledge around self-care. Professional certificates are awarded for successful completion of the programme and topics such as personal care, travel training, house safety and budgets are completed. This means that young people are better equipped to meet their own needs when entering adulthood through the help and guidance of staff. One young person told the inspector, ‘I feel I am ready to live alone, yeah. I can look after myself and there is nothing I cannot do for myself.’

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

Young people’s protection and well-being are priorities. Staff follow internal procedures well when young people go missing. Staff report young people to the police when they do not return home and keep in touch with young people when possible. Staff actively search for young people when they are missing, and young people are welcomed back to the home with warmth and affection. This means that young people feel wanted and their return home is promptly ensured as a result of this practice. However, the Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 5 registered manager was not aware of the designated local authority’s missing procedures. Responses in relation to missing behaviours and associated risks are not clearly defined by social workers. In addition, some young people have been reported as absent when their whereabouts were unknown. This could mean that some young people’s safety when missing is at risk. This is because clear processes are not

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

embedded within the practice of the staff team and it is not always clear when missing from home interviews are to be completed.

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

There have been no issues of physical restraint since the last inspection. This is because staff have stable and trusting relationships with young people that enable them to manage incidents of challenging behaviour well. There have been no safeguarding referrals or complaints since the last inspection. This means that young people’s safety is prioritised and incidents of harm are low. Young people’s wishes and feelings are responded to promptly by staff, reducing the need for formal complaints.

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

The home is well decorated, and there are no hazards or health and safety issues that have an impact on the quality of care that young people receive. The environment is well maintained, with bright and colourful decor. Young people feel comfortable and safe within their home because they have a say in the interior design and help look after it. Young people are able to access all areas of the home and there is no use of restrictive practices or door alarms. As a result, young people seem relaxed and content within their home environment. In addition, young people are enabled to develop a sense of responsibility and independence within their own home.

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

Staff provide young people with consistent guidance and boundaries. Staff praise young people’s achievements and offer rewards to celebrate them. As a result, young people are encouraged to feel proud of their successes, helping them to increase their self- esteem. Young people enjoy household activities together, such as watching movies, shopping, cooking with staff and enjoying a take-away at the dining table. This means that young people have positive experiences that enhance their opportunities and sense of well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has recently been registered by Ofsted and has been managing the home since February this year. Prior to this, there was a significant gap when the home did not have a registered manager. The registered manager and staff team have worked hard to ensure that gaps in practice are addressed and that young people have an improved quality of care within their home. The manager is passionate and committed to ensuring that the best possible care is provided to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular and good quality supervision with annual appraisals. As a result of effective management oversight and scrutiny, the staff team feels able to provide a good quality of care to young people. One staff member told the inspector, ‘I feel listened to and could go to her; she is direct, which I like, and she leads by example. She is always available when on call, it is good to have someone experienced who knows what to do Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 6 and how to do it. It is not about who is wrong or right, it is about another way of thinking.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive good quality training in safeguarding, including issues such as radicalisation and child sexual exploitation. The team has nominated dedicated ‘champions’ to lead on specialist areas regarding the types of abuse that can affect young people. As a result, staff develop new skills that enable them to keep young people safe. New staff receive a thorough induction programme and are well supported by the manager and staff team during their probationary period. However, one staff member did not have adequate references on file when checked during this inspection. This was during the period when the home had no registered manager. This shortfall could potentially have an impact on the safety of young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager uses a number of systems to review and evaluate the quality of care provided by the service. These effective monitoring systems include regularly gathering the views of young people and their families to enhance their experiences and the overall care that young people receive. The registered manager ensures that the impact of young people arriving at the home is thoroughly assessed and considers the needs of those young people already living there. This means that young people are appropriately matched, ensuring stability and reducing potential upheaval in the future.

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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: SC361212 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: St. Christopher’s Fellowship

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Putney High Street, London SW15 1SZ

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Inspector

Anna Gravelle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC361212 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 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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