Children's home run by Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council in Walsall

Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 1 SC063815 Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough 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 provides care and accommodation for up to four children and/or young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is owned and operated by a local authority.

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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: SC063815 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

 Relationships between staff and children are excellent. These provide children with a positive sense of emotional safety and security.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The registered manager monitors and evaluates the service effectively. She uses this information to achieve positive changes and continually improve the quality of care.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Care planning processes are child focused. Staff ensure that children’s views and wishes are incorporated into children’s care and support plans.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children’s educational progress is exceptional. This is because managers and staff have high aspirations for children’s achievements. This teaches children to believe in their own abilities.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Partnership working between the home’s staff and all relevant agencies is excellent. The registered manager is strongly focused in her desire to bring professionals together to better support children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/12/2016 Full Requires improvement 08/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/10/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional progress in all areas of their development because their day- to-day experiences are consistently positive. They receive personalised care and support from a committed, knowledgeable, skilled and motivated staff team. Managers and staff use verbal praise, small rewards and their own gestures and mannerisms to continually promote and encourage children’s achievements. Together with staff, children celebrate their personal triumphs and accomplishments, however small. This continuous use of praise boosts children’s self-esteem, self-worth and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Internal care planning processes are flexible, and centre around each child’s identified needs. Staff deliver bespoke care packages. These reflect the longer-term objectives of the local authority care plan, and the smaller individual aims, which are understood by each child. Children set their own goals and targets during one-to-one sessions with staff. This means that staff involve children in decisions about their care. Staff use pictures and age-appropriate charts to create visual examples of children’s progress. Consequently, children are better able to recognise and acknowledge the progress that they make. Staff make sure that children’s case files include all necessary information and documents. Case files provide children with a full and accurate overview of their backgrounds, life story and journey to date. One child said, ‘I know about me and staff know about me and I like that.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy immensely positive and nurturing relationships with staff. The family atmosphere in the home helps children to feel safe and secure. One child said, ‘We’re a proper real family with lots of mums and dads.’ Staff cultivate these meaningful relationships to help children to reflect on their experiences, both good and bad.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff provide young people with the opportunity to create new memories and happy experiences, such as holidays and fun activities. As a result, children are able to start to move forward with their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Promoting education is central to the daily routines in the home. The registered manager tirelessly advocates for children to have access to the same high-quality teaching and learning provision as their peers in the community. Consequently, all children have suitable education placements and make excellent progress. Children say that they enjoy school. They understand the positive impact that good school attendance and a commitment to learning has on their progress. Staff encourage children to be ambitious by helping them to understand that they can achieve their dreams and aspirations. As a result, children see education to be a necessary and positive aspect of growing up, and a means of realising their future career goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to live a healthy lifestyle. Children enjoy physical and sporting activities, and staff encourage them to eat a healthy diet. Staff work very effectively with specialist health practitioners such as counsellors and emotional health professionals. Furthermore, staff support successfully children’s emotional development by delivering Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 4 care based on a secure attachment model. For example, routines in the home are led by children’s needs for attention at certain times of the day, such as when they return from school and bedtime, rather than the need for staff to complete records and paperwork. This means that children realise that they are the focus of the home and, as one child said, this makes them ‘feel special’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children living in the home at this time are too young to work towards independence. However, staff encourage all children to help with household chores. This gives children a sense of belonging and inclusion. One child said, ‘You have to help out. That’s just what families do.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff provide children with the practical and emotional support that they need to either develop or maintain positive relationships with their families. When appropriate, staff encourage children to make regular phone calls, and they facilitate visits. This means that children are not isolated from their families. Staff work very well with parents, and parents speak highly about the care provided to their children. One parent said, ‘They treat me with respect and they look after my son so well. If he can’t be with me then I want him to be here. They don’t just care for him, they love him, and that matters to me.’

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

Children are safe in this home because staff understand that when children display challenging behaviours, these are symptomatic of children’s frustrations, anxieties and previous experiences. Staff are extremely skilled in looking beyond the immediate situation to identify specific risk factors and antecedents that may result in children harming themselves or others. This diligent approach helps staff to devise highly effective risk assessments and behaviour management plans. These highlight children’s individual risks and provide all staff with detailed strategies to manage these risks and reduce the potential for them to escalate. Subsequently, staff manage risks exceptionally well by offering children the right support, at the right time and in the right way. This promotes children’s safety and protects them from harm.

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

Children’s behaviours are sometimes extremely complex and challenging. Staff make sure that behaviour plans provide a balance of incentives and rewards. These plans encourage children to practise their developing skills, to take control of their actions and to take responsibility for their behaviours. Staff use one-to-one sessions to help children to consider the impact that their actions may have on others. This highly effective approach means that children develop the ability to live in a group setting without bullying or intimidation becoming a concern.

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

All staff complete training in the use of physical restraint and de-escalation techniques. They only use physical restraint as a measure of control to prevent children from hurting themselves or others. Records of these incidents are extremely detailed and reflective. Staff make sure that they consistently seek children’s comments and feedback, and use these thoughts to review behaviour plans and risk assessments. The registered manager takes responsibility for monitoring all incidents of restraints. She analyses the records to Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 5 identify any patterns or trends that may indicate a change in children’s emotional stability, anxieties or frustrations. As a direct consequence of the manager’s close monitoring and analytical scrutiny of incidents, both the frequency and duration of physical restraints have reduced since the last inspection.

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

Records of sanctions provide a clear overview of the events and behaviours that may warrant a consequence. Sanctions are always restorative in nature, and staff encourage young people to creatively reflect on their actions and make amends for their behaviours. For example, one child wrote a song to apologise for unacceptable behaviour. This excellent and innovative approach enables children to consider the wider impact of their actions.

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

Children do not go missing from this home. Staff work highly effectively with local police services, the placing authority and other professionals to identify any potential risks for children, and thus minimise risk. Children’s individual risk assessments take account of children’s specific circumstances and vulnerabilities, and highlight any increased potential for children to be at risk of sexual exploitation or radicalisation.

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

Safeguarding and child protection policies reflect statutory guidance, and support partnership working with other agencies. There are comprehensive and effective procedures to manage any allegations of abuse. Staff follow these procedures to protect and promote children’s safety at all times. Applying policies and procedures well gives children confidence that staff and managers take any concerns that they raise seriously, and address and resolve these accordingly.

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

Children live in a safe and well-maintained home that is aesthetically warm and welcoming. Staff complete regular fire checks and health and safety checks, and children assist in this process. For example, they participated in a workshop session with the local fire and rescue service to increase their awareness of fire safety. This involvement also helps children to start to take some responsibility for their own safety and welfare, in line with their age and understanding.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

An experienced, knowledgeable, skilled and committed manager is in day-to-day charge of the home. She registered with Ofsted in 2007 and holds relevant higher level social care and management qualifications. These include the level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children make excellent and sustainable progress because the registered manager prioritises their needs. She makes sure that children’s needs are central to the routines in the home, and continually promotes this ethos with staff. For example, the registered manager explores the strengths and personalities of individual staff focusing on aspects such as their creative skills, sporting skills and nurturing skills. Following feedback from the staff group and the children, she devises rotas that ensure that children always work with a balanced staff group that provides a rounded, parenting approach to delivering care. This meaningful style of care very effectively supports children’s development Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 6 because the emphasis is on building strong and appropriate attachments, rather than the completion of set tasks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager maintains an admirable overview of children’s behaviours and risks. She continually considers these against their individual progress and achievements, and the wider objectives of the placing local authority. The registered manager places considerable emphasis on the importance of listening to children, and takes serious account of their views and opinions. She uses children’s comments to review and appraise the quality of care provided by the home. This means that children’s feedback influences the continual development of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager’s meticulous monitoring of the home is a significant strength. She uses different tools to gather and evaluate information, which relates to all aspects of children’s behaviour, emotional development, learning needs and physical needs. This information is evaluated against staff actions and practice, and their knowledge and skills. Consequently, the registered manager evaluates fully the impact that the service has on children living in the home and how this affects and supports their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnership working arrangements between the service, the placing local authority and other agencies are excellent. One social worker said, ‘There is no them and us, we are all a team supporting the child. It feels like good practice because it is good practice and the children’s progress shows us that this approach works.’ Another professional said, ‘The manager is inspirational and truly aspirational for the children. This is an amazing service.’ The registered manager is a fierce and effective advocate for children. When the actions of other professionals fall short of acceptable standards, she is determined and passionate in her challenge to hold others to account.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are highly motivated and enthusiastic. They are qualified, skilled and knowledgeable, with many years’ experience of working with children in residential settings. The registered manager and senior staff ensure that staff training programmes are relevant, and reflective of children’s complex needs. This means that staff continually refresh their skill base to meet children’s ever-evolving needs. Staff benefit from regular practice-related supervision. These formal sessions encourage staff to identify and consider their learning needs and to reflect on their performance. This enables them to evaluate their own practice to maximise positive outcomes for children. One member of staff said, ‘Supervision helps me to learn about me and this helps me to look after the children better. What I do and how I do, it makes a difference to them. I can see that now I work here.’

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 7 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: SC063815 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Walsall Metropolitan Borough Council,

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Civic Centre, Darwall Street, Walsall WS1 1TP

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Inspector

Jo Stephenson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC063815 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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