Children's Home run by Isle of Wight Council in Isle of Wight

Inspection report children's home: SC395944 1 SC395944 Registered provider: Isle of Wight Council

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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 owned and run by the local authority. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to 10 children and young people who have learning disabilities. It provides both short and long-stay placements.

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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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Key findings from this inspection

 The new manager has a very positive impact on the service. He is supported by suitably qualified and experienced senior staff. Inspection report children's home: SC395944 2  The service knows its strengths and is able to identify the areas for development. Detailed plans address areas for development.  The staff team provides a very positive experience for young people. The care and support provided by the staff make a real difference to the young people and their families.  Communication with the young people is a strength of the service. Young people’s participation ensures that their views, feelings and wishes are heard and acted on. The staff make sure that all young people’s voices are heard.  Young people enjoy warm and supportive relationships with the staff who care for them. Young people make very good progress across a wide range of areas.  The staff work hard to make sure that young people have access to a variety of

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Key findings from this inspection

activities, both in the home and in the local community.  Young people’s demeanours and actions show that they feel safe in their environment. The staff understand individual vulnerabilities and work with detailed care plans and risk assessments to provide a safe environment.  The plans for young people moving in to the home or moving on to adult provisions are well thought through and managed.

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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

 Managers need to ensure that both external and internal areas are maintained to a high standard.  The home’s statement of purpose needs updating and the updated version should be sent to Ofsted and uploaded on the home’s website.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/11/2016 Full Good 09/03/2016 23/11/2015 Interim Full Sustained effectiveness Good

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Inspection report children's home: SC395944 3 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 compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (‘the statement of purpose’) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. The registered person must— notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on the website, unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home. (Regulation 16 (1) and (3)(b) and (4))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that the statement of purpose on the home’s website is up to date. 30/09/2017

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard requires the registered person to ensure— that the premises used for the purpose of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so far as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all maintenance issues are addressed in a timely manner and that sufficient time and resources are made available to do so. 30/10/2017

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Recommendations

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

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, provide staff with e-safety training to extend their knowledge.  Regulations 35–39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. Case records must be kept up to date and signed and dated by the author of Inspection report children's home: SC395944 4 each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) In particular, ensure that there is consistency in staff dating and signing all records. Inspection report children's home: SC395944 5

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy being at the service and make good to excellent progress across many areas of their lives. Young people receive a very good standard of care from staff who invest energy and time in promoting their well-being and happiness. Young people develop trusting and warm relationships with the staff. They grow in confidence and self-esteem. Detailed care plans help to ensure that staff know each child’s needs and provide nurturing, sensitive support. This enables children to feel safe and secure. Young people are very comfortable in the company of the staff and enjoy spending time with them. Young people happily seek staff’s attention and can express their wishes knowing the staff will understand them. Young people are not disadvantaged or socially isolated. Their differences are embraced and celebrated. They are free to express their individuality without fear of judgement. The staff support young people to access activities and develop interests in the local

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

community and further afield. Examples include day trips to Brighton and participating in fund raising at a local music festival. Young people are proud of their achievements. The staff make sure that each individual achievement is praised and celebrated. There are numerous pictures around the home showing a wide range of achievements. Young people have individual communication systems that they use to great effect. This allows young people to express their views and feelings to the staff and for the staff to communicate what is expected of the young person. Young people are regularly consulted on what they like and dislike and what they would like to do over the coming months. The manager is committed to promoting the ‘voice of the child’ and is continually seeking new opportunities to further gain the views, feelings and wishes of young people. All young people who use this service have an education placement. The staff support

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

them to attend and maintain very close contact with teachers via daily handovers, reviews and the use of a communication book. Recent successes include one young person gaining a work experience opportunity. Young people’s health needs are managed well. The in-house qualified nurse is a very valuable resource. She links effectively with other health-related professionals, to ensure that the right services are provided. Medication programmes, some of which are complex, are safely delivered with good oversight to ensure that any errors or near misses can be identified immediately and acted on. The nurse is an important member of the staff team at the service. She communicates extremely well with the staff and provides training so they can deliver safe care. All young people are placed by the local authority in which the home is located. Careful consideration is given to referrals and moving on, with detailed assessments and multi-

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

professional meetings that aim to support individual needs of the young people and their families. Families are extremely positive about the service and say they rely on the service and would not know what to do without it. Inspection report children's home: SC395944 6

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

The support and care provided to young people ensure that their safety is promoted to a very good standard. The staff are very aware of each young person’s vulnerabilities and provide close support which helps to keep them safe. Young people show that they feel safe in the home, through verbal and non-verbal communication. The staff are trained in safeguarding and child protection. They know what to do and whom to inform if there are concerns about a young person’s welfare or safety. All concerns are referred to the safeguarding agencies, with investigations undertaken if needed. The staff have a strong understanding of the risks to young people at the service and in the community. They also understand the risks young people may pose to each other. Careful planning for short stays ensures risks are lessened. Positive behaviour is promoted, with individual plans informing the staff how to manage specific challenging behaviours. Plans identify triggers and strategies to be used. No

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

child has gone missing, as a result of the very close supervision they have at all times. However, the staff remain alert to the risks, and a procedure is in place should an incident occur. Risk assessments are thorough and allow young people to take age- appropriate risks according to their age and ability. Staff successfully identify and act on what may be the cause of young people’s changing behaviours. The staff are trained in physical intervention but their main focus is on re-direction rather than restraining. Restraints undertaken are low in number and of a short duration. All restraints are monitored by senior staff and the manager. This allows for staff to reflect and for the reviewing of behaviour management strategies. Young people’s views are sought following incidents, supporting the homes’ practice of listening to the young people. The staff consider whether young people may be at risk of exploitation. In practice, the

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

staff are pro-active in making sure that young people are educated to keep themselves safe when using social media or the internet. Their level of knowledge about e-safety and the safe use of social media is good; however, they have not received formal training to support or extend their knowledge. Staff recruitment procedures are robust, and all necessary background checks are carried out prior to adults commencing work at the home. The home is in general well maintained. However, there are areas that require attention. Items to be disposed of need to be so done in a timelier manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a new manager since the last inspection. He is not yet registered with Ofsted. This change was managed well by senior leaders. The new manager is having a positive impact on the home. He is very suitably qualified, skilled and experienced to fulfil the role. He brings a vast amount of experience of working with and leading services for adults and young people with learning disabilities. He is also a qualified learning disability nurse. He is supported by two competent assistant managers who also have the skills, qualifications and experience to deputise for the manager when needed. Together they make a highly expert and effective team. There is an on-going staff recruitment programme to ensure that all posts are filled, and Inspection report children's home: SC395944 7 the use of agency staff is minimised. Rotas show that staffing levels meet the needs of the young people, allowing for those young people who may require one-to-one staffing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff receive a wide range of training to keep their skills and knowledge up to date. Staff either have or are completing the NVQ level 3 qualification. They are supported through regular, good quality supervision. Staff morale is good. Joint working is embedded in practice and benefits the young people. Good liaison is maintained with professionals, such as in education placements and social workers. This ensures that all relevant information is shared for the benefit of the young people. Significant events are shared with professionals. If there are any concerns about partner agencies decisions, these are challenged. Parents and professionals provide very positive feedback about the service, the staff and the care provided. Parents recognise the benefits young people gain from being at the service. Comments by parents included, ‘absolutely wonderful’ and ‘I couldn’t ask for a better place for my child to be’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring of practice in the home is good. The manager is currently reviewing many of the home’s policies and procedures. In addition, he has completed a service plan to further develop the home, its practices and procedures. Independent scrutiny of the service provides clear recommendations for the manager to consider. The home’s statement of purpose is being amended. It does not reflect the current situation at the home. The statement of purpose on the service’s website is also out of date and requires updating. Case records are mostly of a high standard. A few records, seen during inspection, were not dated or signed. Inspection report children's home: SC395944 8

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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. Whenever 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 whom 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 and 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: SC395944 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight PO30 1UD

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Inspector

Liz Driver, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: SC395944 10 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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