Children's home run by Arnfield Care Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 1 SC020171 Registered provider: Arnfield Care 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 home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to seven children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties (EBD). The home is owned by a private company.

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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

Date of last inspection: 12 October 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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Key findings from this inspection

 From their starting points, young people make very good progress.  Staff support young people to access education, advocating for them and Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 2 working closely with partners to ensure that young people have the opportunity to achieve their academic potential. Staff think creatively about how to motivate and inspire young people.  Staff understand risk and vulnerabilities and follow comprehensive risk management plans. Young people become safer as a result of living in the home.  Relationships between staff and young people are very positive and young people feel safe.  Experienced, skilled staff provide young people with high-quality care.  Young people develop positive self-esteem and self-confidence.  Managers and staff are providing a good standard of care. They learn from any incidents in the home and look at ways to continually improve the service they

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Key findings from this inspection

offer. The children’s home’s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 There has been a recent issue regarding safeguarding notifications being sent to Ofsted as required.  Staff have not received regular supervision. The frequency of staff supervision needs to be brought in line with the home’s statement of purpose.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/10/2016 Full Good 12/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 28/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— (a) A child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation; (b) An incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious; (c) There is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there; (d) A child protection enquiry involving a child— (i) Is instigated; or (ii) Concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or (e) There is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)) 31/07/2017

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard The registered person is required to— (a) Lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13(2)(a)) This refers to managers ensuring that supervision frequency is maintained in line with the home’s statement of purpose. 31/07/2017

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home provides a high standard of care to young people. Care is provided by skilled and experienced staff who are committed to supporting young people achieve good outcomes. Young people make good progress from their starting points, particularly in their personal, social and emotional development. Staff provide consistent and dependable Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 4 care. This supports young people to develop secure and trusting relationships with them. Educational outcomes are generally good. All young people are engaged in education or training, tailored to their individual needs or situations. Some young people attend mainstream school on a full-time basis, and have made great progress in their attendance and attainment. Staff have been tenacious in advocating on behalf of young people to ensure that they have the opportunity achieve their academic potential. Staff recognise that many young people have had poor educational experiences, and have

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

often had significant periods out of full-time education. Staff show innovation in ideas to get young people involved in activities, motivating them and pursuing talents and interests. The positive encouragement and attention from staff promotes an increased sense of self-confidence in young people, and a positive attitude towards trying new things. One young person has recently engaged in a work experience placement, pursuing an existing interest in IT. This was motivational in trying to keep him focused on his post-16 options. There is a strong sense of young people being encouraged to pursue activities and take up opportunities as part of planning for adulthood and independence. Young people’s health needs are met. Staff have formed positive relationships with health professionals and providers, and support young people to seek timely medical help, as well as attending routine health checks. Staff are supported to meet young

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

people’s needs through access to in-house clinical services. Staff are skilled and experienced practitioners. They recognise and understand young people’s needs very well. Staff play an active role in contributing to care planning as they can demonstrate where young people are making progress and where additional support is needed. Communication with partner agencies is good, with staff proactively sharing information and advocating on behalf of young people. Young people living in the home have complex needs. Staff plan their care well, drawing on sources of information and the young person’s wishes and feelings to develop individualised care plans. Direct work with young people is well planned, using good- quality resources. Young people are involved in their own care planning. Preparation for key meetings, such as looked after reviews, are very good, with the views of young people being sought throughout.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Placement stability is good. Managers actively consider the impact of any new admissions on young people already living in the home, resulting in careful matching decisions.

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

Young people invariably come to the home deemed to be at high risk of harm or having suffered significant harm. Within a short period of time, the risk posed to young people is reduced. An independent reviewing officer commented on the proactive response of staff and how this had immediately reduced the risk to one young person. She added, ‘I am very impressed with the home.’ Staff respond effectively to young people missing from care. However, one young person Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 5 recently left the home in the evening without staff being aware. Once this was discovered, staff and managers responded appropriately. The whole staff team has reflected on the incident and implemented changes to prevent this happening again. While this is a significant incident, managers have demonstrated learning and have made appropriate changes to practice. Staff record incidents of missing from care clearly, and

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

proactively seek independent return interviews for young people. The inspection found that there was a problem in Ofsted being notified about significant incidents, as required by legislation. This was found to be a simple error, but has not enabled inspectors to evaluate incidents in the home and seek further information if necessary. A requirement has been made to reflect this shortfall. There has been an increase recently in the use of physical intervention. This has been in response to staff managing some challenging behaviour which could lead to staff or young people being hurt. Managers review all incidents of physical intervention to ensure that they are necessary, proportionate and used safely. Managers have planned a meeting to ensure that staff are responding to incidents consistently, and utilising all necessary strategies to de-escalate situations at an early stage. Staff implement comprehensive behaviour and risk management plans. This helps to

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

keep young people safe while providing a caring and nurturing environment with clear structure, boundaries and daily routines. The increase in physical interventions recently has proved to be tiring for staff, but staff feel well supported. Staff have access to a good range of training opportunities, enabling them to provide safe care. Relief staff are used at times when staffing levels are low, and they have the same access to training. Dynamics between young people can occasionally be challenging. Observations of staff demonstrate that they have excellent relationships with young people. Young people receive nurturing care, with high levels of praise and encouragement. Young people make good progress in becoming more self-aware and developing the emotional maturity to help them manage difficult or overwhelming feelings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably skilled and experienced registered manager. He is currently working towards the requisite management qualification. The registered manager and senior leaders strive to provide high-quality care to children and young people. The home benefits from having good staff stability. Staff say that they feel well supported and this is reflected in very good staff retention. Staff work well together, adding to the consistency of care provided. Staff present as motivated and knowledgeable, sharing and using research and best practice examples to inform their work. Managers create a learning environment, enabling staff to reflect on the care provided and professionally challenge each other, and partners, when necessary. Communication systems in the home are effective. Staff are in the process of moving all records to an electronic filing system, but this is being managed well and all documents

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

are accessible. Plans to develop this are good and will support management information Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 6 and reporting. Staff spoke positively about supervision and support, but the inspection found that supervision frequency was not in line with the home’s statement of purpose. A requirement has been made to ensure that all staff and managers receive regular and effective supervision. Staff feel that managers are accessible, and informal discussions through the day provide reflection and challenge. Managers and leaders are aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They demonstrate insight into how well the home meets the individual needs of young people. There are robust monitoring systems in place and staff are committed to involving young people in their care planning. Managers use feedback from external monitoring processes to make continuous improvements to the care provided and the environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home itself is welcoming and homely. There are no obvious health and safety concerns, and any repairs needed are responded to quickly. This ensures that the property remains well presented and homely for young people, and a home they can be proud of.

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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: SC020171 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Arnfield Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Brookbank House, Wellington Road, Bollington, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 5JR

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Inspector

Corrinne Barker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC020171 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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Inspector

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