Children's home run by Nottingham City Council in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 1 SC424348 Registered provider: Nottingham City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority children’s home that provides care for up to two children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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: 3 February 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children and young people respond positively to consistent routines. They have positive experiences.  Staff work with children and young people to develop warm and trusting Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 2 relationships. This helps young people settle and feel safe.  Children and young people newly admitted or discharged from the home benefit from careful planning to support a positive transition.  Good care planning and childcare practice underpin the stability of placements.  Managers and staff are highly experienced residential care practitioners. This means that the quality of care is consistently good.

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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

 Staff supervision does not fully enable staff members to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children and young people.  Risk assessments should be up to date, reviewed and set out arrangements to protect children and young people.  The manager’s six-monthly report on the review of the quality of care should be unique to the home. It should clearly evaluate the effectiveness of care provision.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 24/10/2016 Full Good 09/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 17/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and their placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risks on a day to day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Professionally qualified staff employed by the home, e.g. teachers or social workers, should be provided with relevant professional or clinical supervision by an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and

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Recommendations

how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4) Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home offers stability to children and young people. Careful pre-admission assessment is a strength of this home. It enables managers to understand the individual needs of children and young people. Other considerations are the compatibility of children and young people, as well as the skill set of the staff team. These factors lead to successful care planning and good outcomes for children and young people. Since the last inspection, one young person has left the home to move to a foster placement. The transition to the foster placement was planned effectively. Staff worked together with the foster carer to ensure that the young person settled. Staff supported the young person with carefully considered and sensitive discussions about the move to his new home. This level of preparation maximises the chances for the young person to adapt to their new home. Relationships between children, young people and staff are caring and respectful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff genuinely enjoy spending time with children and young people. They take them on holiday, participate in activities and spend time with them; helping with homework, chatting or playing. The positive relationships and activities mean that children and young people experience good day-to-day care. Education is a priority for this home. Managers ensure that children have excellent attendance at school. Children have clear education plans and have access to additional support. Staff have developed good working relationships with the local authority’s virtual school team. Staff work closely with schools and the education lead. This means that staff support children’s progress effectively. Staff support children with their homework. There are clear rewards and incentives in place to encourage school participation. Before young people leave school, staff work with post-16 providers. This supports young people to manage the transition to appropriate further education, training or

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

employment. This ensures that young people can access opportunities that will lead to future employment. When young people are unsure about what career to pursue, staff are persistent in providing choices and options. All children and young people have detailed health plans. They are registered with a local general practitioner, dentist and optician. When there are specialist health needs, children and young people are referred to the relevant services. Staff support children to attend routine appointments. They promote healthy lifestyles in individual key-work sessions. Staff encourage healthy diets and daily activities to support good Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 5 health. Staff nurture children and young people. They provide a homely, comfortable and well-maintained home. They undertake the majority of domestic tasks, but children and young people are supported to learn self-care skills. Some young people are

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

extremely capable in their independence skills. Other younger residents are learning new skills. In this inspection, one young child was learning how to make lasagne with a member of staff. The child, supported by staff, prepared the evening meal and showed considerable cookery talent. Acquiring self-care skills ensures that young people are prepared for their eventual independence and transition to adulthood.

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

Children and young people have reduced risk-taking behaviours because of living in this home. Experienced and knowledgeable staff demonstrate good safeguarding practice. They are experienced in influencing change with young people who engage in risk-taking behaviours. A youth offending team worker said: ‘This young person has had settled behaviour in the past six months. This is because she has had stability and the team know how to work with these behaviours.’

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

Staff are good at managing incidents where young people are missing from the home. They follow protocols, actively try to locate young people and report incidents appropriately to the police and social care. When young people return to the home, staff provide a warm welcome and make sure that young people can talk to an independent person. This practice reflects the actions of a good parent. Managers monitor incidents of young people who are missing from the home. They are able to identify the reasons and triggers for young people who go missing. This improves their effectiveness in preventing young people from going missing, and responding to incidents when they occur.

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

Behaviour management is very effective. There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. Sanctions are rarely used in this home, with staff preferring to use a system of rewards to encourage positive behaviours. Staff are consistent in their care practice and provide age-appropriate rules and boundaries. This promotes a stable and secure environment.

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

Risks in relation to each child or young person are well understood by staff. Social care practitioners confirm that appropriate action is taken to address risk. However, risk assessments are not clear or up to date. This does not provide clarity to staff about current risks, and actions needed to reduce risk. Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a range of relevant qualifications and extensive experience of working within children’s services. The deputy manager is experienced and has worked in children’s homes for a number of years. She has completed the level 5 leadership and management qualification. This means that the home has a strong management team. Managers know the children and young people very well. They have a clear understanding of their plans, needs, progress and any potential obstacles to reaching their potential. Leaders and managers monitor the progress that individual children make. This monitoring is able to demonstrate how the home is having a positive influence on the development of children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social care professionals and the designated police officer were positive about partnership working with staff and managers. They report that staff are proactive in sharing information and contact the police appropriately. The police officer said: ‘Brilliant joint working, never any issues as we share absolutely everything.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are a range of quality assurance mechanisms in place. Independent visitor reports are detailed and demonstrate rigour in monitoring the home. Managers have excellent systems in place to monitor patterns and trends in relation to the progress of each child or young person. The manager’s review of the quality of care is informative and is sent to Ofsted every six months. However, this review is too generic. It does not reflect the specific issues within the home. Additionally, it does not illustrate the areas of strength and weakness in the care provided, and the proposed action to promote improvement. Staff have regular team meetings. In addition, they have case management meetings with the child and adolescent mental health practitioner. These meetings ensure that the needs and progress of each child and young person are known. Cohesive teamwork ensures that there is consistency in childcare practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular, formal supervision, as well as managers responding to supervisory needs as they arise. Staff say that managers are approachable. They say that they are fully supported by the management team. Supervision records provide an overview of each discussion. However, they are variable in content. They do not always reflect child-focused discussions or reflection on practice issues. Training supports the professional needs of staff and addresses the specific needs of children and young people. Mandatory training is up to date and the vast majority of staff have the relevant qualification. Staff benefit from a range of training options to widen their knowledge. Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 7 The home is operating in line with the statement of purpose.

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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: SC424348 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Nottingham City Council, Loxley House, Station Street, Nottingham NG2 3NG

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Inspector

Amanda Ellis, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC424348 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 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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