Children's home run by Wakefield Council in Wakefield

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness . Young people benefit immensely from their short breaks. Their consistent exposure to wide-ranging and fun activities engages the young people in enjoyable past- times. These activities include attending rock concerts and participating in sports at the local club, which improves their health outcomes. The activities promote young people’s social inclusion and empower them to explore new interests that they may not otherwise have outside of their short breaks. Consequently, the young people’s experiences broaden, and their well-established relationships with staff strengthen. In-house sensory resources, games and art equipment provide hours of play for young people in a relaxing and familiar territory. Staff understand the value of listening to young people’s wishes and feelings and

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

respond to their views. The young people’s contact with an independent advocate provides an extra means of capturing the voice of the child, irrespective of their communication style. No new young people have received a short breaks service since the last inspection. One young person, who previously had shared care, now lives at the home full time. The staff team clearly understands the young person’s likes, dislikes and behaviours and attends to her needs in line with her care plan very well. A parent said that the staff, ‘Have been amazing and so supportive. I can’t rate them enough.’ However, one young person has outgrown the service and currently does not attend, which has provided an immediate safeguard to everyone. Her verbal expression of discontent has been shown through significantly challenging and risky behaviours. This has posed a detrimental impact on the other young people. Despite the strong and sustained staff support and advocacy on the

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

young person’s behalf, the manager has conceded that the staff team cannot keep the young person safe. The placement is currently under review. A member of staff said that they [staff] have, ‘Really come together’ following the difficult incidents. Despite the significant setback, young people are making good progress in many different ways. For example, young people are socially interacting with peers through facial expressions, making their wishes and feelings known, self-regulating negative behaviours, learning to share, losing weight, trying new foods and engaging in health appointments. Promoting young people’s independent lives is an area of particular strength that the staff team promotes and supports. This enables a number of young people to reap the benefits of acquiring self-care skills that help them to do more for themselves. The staff team’s good relationships with parents and other professionals contribute

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

effectively to good communication and involvement in supporting the young people’s health, education, welfare concerns and risks. The staff team’s good vigilance and awareness of known risks protect young people from going missing, child sexual exploitation and, for most, health and safety risks. This protects young people’s vulnerabilities. One parent rated the protection of their child as ‘Twenty out of ten.’ Parents, professionals and the independent visitor express no safeguarding concerns. The registered manager has progressed one of the two recommendations made at the last inspection. Supervision training has been provided to relevant staff and further learning is available to them through their further studies. Reflective supervision is a practice that the registered manager continues to address. The second recommendation that was made with respect to the written risk assessments has not been met. This recommendation is therefore repeated.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The resilience and commitment of the staff has not wavered, despite a very challenging and testing time. Staff value the peer and management support available to them. One staff member said, ‘When your back is against the wall, they’ve got your back.’ This drives the team to continue to place the young people’s needs at the heart of its practice.

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority service is registered to provide care and accommodation for a maximum of seven children and young people, irrespective of gender. Ages range from 8 to 17 years, and individuals have a range of learning disabilities, complex healthcare needs and/or associated physical disabilities. Children and young people attend on a shared-care basis. One young person is accommodated on a long-term basis.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recent inspection history

27/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendation:

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards, page 62, paragraph 14.4). Specifically, that each young person’s risk assessments are evaluative and make clear any new risks to inform risk management strategies.

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children’s homes: framework for inspection’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children’s home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, 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. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service 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’. the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, work- based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for children looked after and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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Information about this inspection

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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