Children's Home run by Longdon Hall School Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 1 SC478001 Registered provider: Longdon Hall School 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

The home provides care and accommodation for up to four young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A private company owns and operates this home.

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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

Date of last inspection: 2 February 2017

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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: SC478001 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff protect young people from harm.  Young people receive personalised care based on their needs and vulnerabilities. This helps young people make good progress.  Young people reduce their aggressive behaviours with the consistent guidance of staff.  Young people are made to feel welcome at the home. They receive a welcome guide and decorate their bedrooms as they choose. This helps young people to feel settled.  Staff have warm and stable relationships with young people. This means that young people develop their relationships with others.

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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 making sure that young people attend education daily, that key-work sessions are held more frequently, and that the home receives some redecoration and repair.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/05/2016 Full Good 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/09/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to meet the needs of each child and enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6(1) and (2)(c)(i)(ii)) In particular, redecorate and repair the hallway, lounge, downstairs bedroom, computer room and living area. 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that staff help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment and help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation (8)(2)(iv)(x)) 01/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that staff meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans; help each child to develop socially aware behaviour and encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding. (Regulation 11(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)) In particular, ensure that key-work sessions are consistently completed with young people. 01/09/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the last inspection, two requirements and one recommendation were made. At the time of this inspection, both requirements and the recommendation are met. Young people make good progress from their starting points because of the strong and trusting relationships that they have with staff. Young people receive good-quality care from consistent and experienced staff. Staff work in close partnership with education professionals, social workers and therapists. These cohesive working relationships mean that staff are able to manage young people’s risk-taking behaviours and meet their holistic needs. The home is a large, bright, well-maintained period property in a semi-rural location. Young people are able to personalise and decorate their bedrooms as they wish. However, the hallway, lounge, landing, downstairs bedroom and computer room are in need of some redecoration and repair. This is because of extensive and repeated

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

damage caused by one young person. While the manager is ensuring that repairs take place, staff practices such as removing items of furniture and locking toilet doors remain in place to prevent further damage. This means that some areas of the house do not present as homely and appear institutional. Consequently, these surroundings could affect other young people’s emotional well-being and sense of security. Staff work hard to make young people feel wanted. Placements are well planned, with introductory visits and a warm welcome from staff. The young person’s guide is very well written and user friendly. This helps young people to feel at ease and relax into their new home. Key-work sessions are meaningful and well structured. They reflect the aims and objectives set out in young people’s care plans. However, key-work sessions are not happening frequently enough. This could hinder the progress that young people make

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

with issues such as aggression, low self-esteem, staying healthy and self-harm. Young people’s files are well organised and focus on young people’s achievements as well as areas for improvement. The registered manager ensures that copies of local authority plans are available and signed by all parties. This helps staff and young people to work towards longer-term placement aims. Internal placement plans are creative, very well written and are user friendly. This helps young people to understand their care plans because there are clear targets to work towards. As a consequence, young people receive a consistent level of care that helps them develop more positive behaviours. Staff ensure that young people follow consistent guidance and boundaries. There is a clear routine implemented for meal times and bedtimes. Some young people have made considerable progress with their sleeping patterns, education attainment, personal

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

hygiene and aggressive behaviours since being at the home. However, some young people are not consistently attending education and often arrive late. Staff are not ensuring that morning routines start early enough. Young people are not provided with enough support around the importance of attending education. This shortfall means that young people’s learning and development could be affected as they become older. In addition, young people are not benefitting from the structure and social opportunities Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 5 that education can provide. Staff have good relationships with young people’s families and have regular communication with them. Young people receive appropriate support to help them stay in touch with people who matter to them. As a result, young people maintain their family links, which adds to their emotional stability and overall sense of identity. Staff welcome

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

family members to the home for special celebrations or for informal visits such as dinner. This reassures young people and their families. One young person told the inspector about the staff, ‘They are really good. I like my bedroom, yeah, and I like the activities, my guitar lessons and trips to concerts.’ Young people feel confident in sharing their views, both in writing and verbally, about the quality of care that they receive. Young people make informed choices about the activities that they do, such as going to concerts, visiting car museums and having guitar lessons. The manager ensures that young people have the opportunity to raise concerns with staff on a daily basis. The registered manager offers young people one-to-one sessions with her, which she responds to formally. In addition, improvements are being made with a letterbox being fitted inside the home for young people to write to the staff

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and registered manager about what is important to them. Consequently, young people feel confident in talking about what is significant to them and this enables them to have a say about decisions that affect them.

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

Managers ensure that there are robust safeguarding procedures in place and that staff understand them. During this inspection, several staff members shared accurate knowledge about dealing with safeguarding issues promptly and professionally. This means that staff are able to prioritise young people’s safety and well-being. Detailed risk assessments and behaviour management plans enable staff to manage young people’s aggressive and challenging behaviours. As a result, young people are well protected and this minimises the level of harm that they are exposed to. There have been no missing from home incidents since the last inspection. This is because staff work consistently, on a one-to-one basis, with young people to reduce episodes of missing. The registered manager ensures that robust practices are in place to talk with young people, to follow them should they try to abscond, and reassure them. Staff help young people to reduce their self-harming behaviours with techniques

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

such as diversion, pamper sessions and the use of a ‘distraction box’. This creative approach enables young people to try to relax by having one-to-one time with staff, or by using sensory objects and other preferred items to help them release frustration. Incidents of physical restraint are used as a last resort as staff talk with young people, de-escalate situations and give young people time to calm. Paperwork is well recorded with adequate management oversight. There have been no complaints from young people since the last inspection. Staff are skilled at ensuring that episodes of physical aggression are handled safely and sensitively. Staff ensure that relationships are well repaired when they are assaulted by young people. This helps young people improve their issues with anger and relationships with others. The registered manager ensures that appropriate sanctions are used to manage poor Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 6

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

behaviour. Young people receive monetary rewards or an activity of choice as an incentive for positive behaviour. Achievements and progress with school attendance is praised by the staff team. This encourages young people to demonstrate more socially acceptable behaviours and improves their self-esteem. Young people help staff with shopping, meal planning and cooking. Staff encourage young people to sit at the table and enjoy meals together. This approach helps young people to talk about their day and adds to their sense of security and belonging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has been managing this provision since March 2015. She has extensive experience and the necessary qualifications for the role. Staff receive regular, good-quality supervision from managers. As a result, they are able to develop and improve their practice to provide the best care possible to young people. The registered manager ensures that team meetings are frequently held. Specialist training is provided in these meetings on issues such as racism and the impact of neglect on children. This improves the awareness and understanding of staff when caring for young people. Staff recruitment processes are robust. Managers verify references and check that all necessary disclosure and barring checks are in place. This means that young people receive care from appropriately checked adults. New staff are well supported by colleagues and receive a comprehensive induction. This means that staff have the skills

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

and knowledge to meet the needs of young people well. The staff team members spoke positively about their managers. They feel well supported and believe that the quality of care provided is very good. One staff member told the inspector of the registered manager, ‘She is understanding, supportive, firm but fair. She will say something and address it if needed, but does this properly. She is always there if you need her… She is a machine, she is inspiring.’ The statement of purpose sufficiently reflects the aims and objectives of the service. Feedback from professionals about the care young people receive is positive. A social worker told the inspector, ‘Staff communicate very well with me, seek clarification on issues such as mobile phone usage and contact issues. Staff are effective at organising contact.’ Another social worker told the inspector about one of the staff, ‘I cannot rate her enough. The young person has not self-harmed for four weeks, her levels of

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

aggression are lower. The staff member is doing really well with the young person, and some of the staff are really good and are doing really well overall.’ The registered manager is passionate about her role and strives to ensure that young people are provided with the best quality of care possible. Young people are kept safe and make good progress because of the clear vision and commitment of the manager. This improves the experiences that young people have and promotes their welfare.

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 7 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: SC478001 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Longdon Hall School Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Merchants Place, River Street, Bolton BL2 1BX

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Inspector

Anna Gravelle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC478001 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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