Children's home run by Norfolk County Council in Norwich

Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 1 SC034419 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Children’s Services

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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 local authority-run home provides short breaks for up to four children who have a learning disability and/or physical disability and/or sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 14 to 15 September 2017

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children make significant progress because they receive short breaks at this home.  Children receive high-quality individualised care.  The children make and maintain important friendships, because of their short breaks, that they would not ordinarily be able to outside of their school.  Observations of the staff and children during this inspection identified a nurturing and caring approach.  The staff work exceptionally well to understand the gestures and sounds that non-verbal children use. Consequently, the children do not experience barriers to making themselves understood.  Excellent joint work with health and education colleagues enables a holistic approach to the children’s care and has a positive influence on their progress.  Safe care is prioritised. Staff are clear about safeguarding these most vulnerable children.  The manager and staff have researched and used, to good effect, new approaches to supporting children who have disabilities.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff have involved a local charity to develop the excellent garden facilities at the home and to help the children to participate in a local community provision.  The manager uses highly effective monitoring systems to track the progress that children make.  The manager is ambitious for the children, and her expectations of the staff are high.  The manager constructively challenges other professionals to ensure that children receive the best service to meet their needs.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/12/2016 Full Outstanding 11/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children who receive short breaks at this home make excellent progress. Many of the children have very significant learning and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. The staff provide outstanding individualised care that ensures that the children’s individual needs are met. The manager and staff ensure that children’s care plans are reviewed ahead of every stay so that all of the staff know how they need to adapt the care to meet the children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff have excellent relationships with the external professionals who work with the children. A teacher at the school that many of the children attend said, ‘There is regular communication between the home and the school, which is positive. The home provides a very good service, which challenges and stimulates the children to have fun and enjoyment.’ The emphasis is for the children to have a pleasurable and relaxing time during their short breaks. In order to achieve this, the staff spend time getting to know the children’s routines, the details of which are recorded in the care plans that the staff use to work with the children. Staff work with colleagues from schools and associated care providers when reviewing these care plans. Consequently, the children receive consistently high-quality care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Observations of the interaction between the staff and children during the inspection showed the nurturing approach that staff use. The observations highlighted how well the staff have developed their communication skills to understand children who may not have verbal communication. Some of these skills include using specific communication tools that enable children who have little or no verbal communication to communicate using pictures. Alongside these skills, the staff have learned, through careful studies of the children, to understand the gestures and sounds that some of the children use. This helps the staff to understand the children’s wishes and views. It is clear from the observations that the children are happy during their short breaks. Staff engage well with the children, who smiled and giggled with the adults as they participated in activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Some of the children make significant progress. There are improvements in their lives because of the excellent quality of care provided, which add considerably to their experiences, progress and development. For example, the staff support feeding or toileting programmes that assist the children to gain independence skills. Staff encourage children to make further progress in building on those skills. This in turn helps parents and other carers to maintain these skills and stimulate children’s overall progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Careful matching and skilful risk management strategies give the children the opportunity of further interaction with their peers. This provides them with the opportunity to mix socially, which they would not ordinarily be able to do, outside their school. These important relationships grow because of their short breaks. A wide range of additional experiences, such as going swimming, cinema trips and Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 4 baking, are provided, which some of the children do not experience elsewhere. The home has an extensive range of equipment especially designed for children who have disabilities. Children’s views about the activities are listened to during one-to-one sessions or in a group discussion at meal times.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff have researched and used new approaches to supporting children who have disabilities. This enables the staff group members to develop best practice and challenge themselves to continue to improve the services provided. One such research project is helping to develop the sibling group that uses the home. Another focuses on the opportunities to develop children’s independence skills. The staff have involved a local charity to develop the excellent garden facilities at the home and to help the children to participate in a local community provision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager proactively consults with the children’s parents. The feedback is shared at the children’s reviews. The manager ensures that the information supports further developments in the service. Comments from the consultation include:  ‘My child enjoys his time [on short breaks]. Trips out are always a feature, and he returns home happy and free from anxiety.’  ‘I have no complaints. My child is always more than excited to be going on their short break.’  ‘The stays have been positive, with a big improvement in his toileting. I have seen photos, including one of him bowling: a new experience for him.’  ‘I am pleased that you [the home] can monitor his sleep and are able to report it to me. This assists me to record any changes, and this helps us.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff have excellent links to nurse practitioners, psychologists, doctors and other health professionals. The staff work jointly with those health professionals to ensure that children’s health needs are met and that any health concerns can be quickly addressed.

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

Staff are proactive and creative in ensuring that safeguarding practice means that these most vulnerable children have a strong sense of safety, and that their well-being is placed at the centre of the staff team’s approach. The staff have undertaken training to raise their awareness of the risk of radicalisation. They have also undertaken training that concentrates on the specific risks to children who have disabilities.

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

The staff have been involved in discussing recent developments in research through the home’s contact with external experts, in particular, developing reflective practice and recording their intervention when they have de-escalated a situation. For example, staff noticed that one child responded better to symbols, as these prompts prevented him from becoming distressed. This led to all of the staff using these symbols and a consequent reduction in incidents. The staff are analysing events that could have been more significant had they not used these techniques. This has helped them to feel confident in their method of keeping the children safe. Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 5 Children do not go missing from this home. Staff supervise and observe the children in line with their needs. The staff are alert to the signs of child sexual exploitation. The staff team, a group of caring professionals, monitors the children’s well-being at all times

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

The staff work together with other professionals to ensure that risks are understood, hazards are minimised and information is shared. Consequently, children feel safe at the home. Managers and staff take prompt action to record and report any concerns about the children. Parents, placing social workers and the staff from the school that the children attend have no concerns about the safe-care practice. Their comments included:  ‘I have absolutely no concerns. I am entirely confident in the home’s procedures in promoting the safety and well-being of the children.’  ‘I have no worries about the children attending this home.’

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

Proactive risk management means that risks for the children are well understood. The manager ensures that all incident records are reviewed and that the staff’s actions and interventions are considered. As a result, the number of incidents is significantly reducing. The staff have used physical intervention on just three occasions since the last inspection. The manager’s review of the records of these events has helped the staff to consider alternative approaches to managing the situations. These reviews help her to determine that the action taken was justified and proportionate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This inspirational manager is a qualified and registered nurse, specialising in working with children who have learning disabilities. She holds a relevant level 5 management diploma. She confidently supports the staff through regular supervision and team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff focus on the children’s well-being. Induction and specifically targeted training provide the staff with the knowledge and skills that they require to work with the children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager places great emphasis on being ambitious for the children who use the service. Her expectations are high for the staff; she expects them to strive to provide the best care for and interaction with the children. Consequently, staff have high expectations of their work to change and improve the lives of the children for whom they provide care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager guides the staff team’s work through the positive links that she has made with external experts. This enables her to bring innovative and creative ideas into the daily practice. The manager creates a culture of high aspiration within the staff group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has highly effective monitoring systems, which help to ensure that records Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 6 are exceptionally well detailed and up to date. She has created a method to track the progress that children make. This has helped to identify the small changes that have significantly improved the children’s outcomes and experiences. For one child, the care has had a considerable impact as it has helped them to manage their condition. This achievement has been shared with the child’s family and others professionals. As a result, these improvements are reinforced consistently wherever the child is.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses the independent visitor’s regular reports to identify any shortfalls in the care or practice. She quickly remedies any issues that have been highlighted. The manager challenges the visitor to review the care and practice tenaciously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has challenged the views of others professionals to ensure that children are receiving the best service possible to meet their needs. Placing social workers commented on the positive work and open approach of the staff. One social worker said, ‘Communication is good, with email updates sent in. Any issues or concerns are considered and discussed to ensure that the children are safe.’ This helps the children to gain the best all-round support to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Parents who use the service are satisfied that their children are well cared for. One parent commented, ‘My child loves coming to this home. They enjoy themselves and meet people whom they get on with. They can spend much more time with their friends, and children can let their hair down and have fun. They [staff] are really part of our extended family.’

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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 differences 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 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, 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: SC034419 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Norfolk County Council, Chief Executives, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2DH

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Inspector

Michael Mulvaney, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034419 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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