Children's Home, Residential special school run by Cotswold Chine School in Gloucestershire

Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 1 SC030367 Registered provider: Cotswold Chine School

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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 independent, charitable school is also registered as a children’s home. The school follows the principles of care and education developed by Rudolf Steiner. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to a maximum of 42 children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or complex needs. The accommodation for children and young people is provided across seven houses located on or near to the school site.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 26 to 28 September 2017

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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: Improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 2

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children make excellent progress in their social, educational and behavioural development in relation to their starting points. This is achieved by a team of highly qualified and skilled clinical staff and care staff providing consistent care.  The living environment is extremely child-focused, very well furnished and rich in play and educational resources and amenities. Young people feel safe and enjoy trusting relationships with adults who are committed to improving their outcomes.  Managers and leaders work hard to ensure that young people’s views, opinions and wishes are captured and responded to. They have, in consultation with young people, created a range of evaluation tools to make sure that young people who have communication and learning difficulties are included and involved. Consequently, young people feel listened to and are able to contribute to the development of their home.  Young people are cared for by a notably caring, consistent, mutually supportive

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Key findings from this inspection

and well-trained team. This gives the young people consistency and helps them to feel secure. Staff refer to the team as a ‘family’, and this is the atmosphere that permeates throughout the home.  The managers and leaders have a strong presence in the home. The registered manager has excellent reviewing and monitoring systems and is committed to securing sustained improvement in the quality of care provided.

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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

 The registered manager must further develop responses to young people who go missing from the home to ensure that sanctions are not used.  The registered manager must enhance the home’s development plan. The plan should identify how the home will sustain the significant improvements it has made.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Requires improvement 19/01/2016 Full Requires improvement 21/07/2015 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 3

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Recommendations

 Regulation 19(2) details sanctions that are prohibited in behaviour management. Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In particular, ensure young people are not sanctioned when they are missing from home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people living in this home receive a high standard of personalised care. The home provides a nurturing, supportive environment. These factors help young people to make considerable progress from their starting points. Young people who have complex and challenging needs develop independence, confidence and grow in maturity. For example, some of the young people have successfully completed training courses, taken driving lessons, enjoyed holidays abroad and gained employment. Overwhelmingly, young people speak positively of their experience of living in the home. One young person told the inspector ‘the home has helped support, motivate and inspire me to become a mature, independent and positive young man’. Another young person spoke of how staff help with building confidence and teaching life skills for when they leave. Young people make excellent progress in their health, educational, social and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

psychological development. The organisation has a therapeutic team that consists of highly qualified practitioners that remain up to date with research and practice developments. The team meets weekly to monitor highly personalised and individualised care plans. The team discusses individual young people, analyses patterns and trends, and adjusts the approaches that staff members should take. This has resulted in young people and members of the staff team building up positive relationships, and a significant reduction in challenging behaviours. The use of physical intervention is now rare; instead, staff support young people to develop strategies to understand their emotions and responses. Young people who have previously found social interaction difficult regularly attend a youth club, work in the organisation’s café, successfully complete BTEC level courses, mentor other young people, plan holidays and activities, and are instrumental in the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

production of the home’s vlog. As a result, young people steadily develop in confidence and maturity, develop skills and learn through fun experiences. Young people enjoy consistent support from both the care team and a newly established youth support team. The new youth support team is a link between the young people’s Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 4 care and education. This guarantees that there is always an adult who knows the young person well who the young people can talk to. The emerging evidence suggests that this approach is further enhancing the trusting, warm and safe relationships that exist between adults and young people. Young people are warmly welcomed into the home. The staff follow a rigorous admissions procedure. Risk assessments and care plans are adhered to meticulously. Young people are supported by adults that they recognise on arrival. Particular attention is given to the young person’s sensory needs. Sensory diets, the colour of their room,

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

texture of bedding and flooring are all considered before young people arrive at the home. As a result, young people feel less anxious and they are able to enjoy their new environment.

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

Young people are kept safe in this well-maintained home. There has been a small number of safeguarding concerns since the last inspection. In these cases, the staff have acted correctly and swiftly to safeguard the young people. The designated safeguarding lead ensures that there is always learning from each incident. This learning is routinely shared with all of the staff. All staff receive regular training which ensures that their child protection skills are up to date. There has been a significant reduction in safeguarding incidents. Restrictive interventions and sanctions are now rare. The young people benefit from an exceptionally well-written range of risk assessments. They are updated regularly and reflect the young people’s current needs and vulnerabilities. In particular, managers and leaders have introduced a monthly reporting mechanism that enables the senior management team and the therapeutic team to review, monitor and analyse behaviours and serious incidents. As a

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

result of this scrutiny, behaviour management strategies and responses are adjusted quickly. Staff support and manage young people’s behaviours effectively. A focus on reflection and learning is central to the continued reduction in physical interventions. Staff cannot speak highly enough of how leaders have supported them to change their practice and how this supports young people. Staff say that they are no longer ‘risk averse’. Instead, with the help of well-documented behaviour plans, staff provide a therapeutic environment where young people learn to manage their own emotions and behaviours. Young people rarely go missing; however, when they do, they are safely and swiftly returned to the home. The inspectors found that a very small number of sanctions administered on young people’s return were not appropriate and, therefore, a recommendation is made. Managers and leaders take careful account of the individual characteristics and needs of

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

the young people. This results in young people being able to take appropriate risks and to navigate their way through adolescence. The young people enjoy periods of unsupervised time in and away from the home. Young people met with were overwhelmingly positive about the opportunities to learn, have fun and socialise. Included in this is the young people’s safe use of IT and media equipment. Any restrictions to access of the internet are managed fairly and safely. Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers provide consistent, strong leadership in the home. The registered manager is relatively new to the role, but comes with experience of the home and of its policies and procedures. Her appointment provides continuity for young people and staff. She is very well supported by a senior management team that has a strong presence in the home and has responded proactively to the challenges raised by previous inspections. There is a well-qualified and knowledgeable staff team. Staff spoke positively of the extensive range of training, workshops and e-learning opportunities available to them. As a result, they say that they feel ‘informed’ and ‘current’ with their practice, and young people are cared for by a professional and able staff team. The registered manager recognises the benefits of learning and also makes some training courses available to the young people, for example food hygiene and health and safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff are recruited safely. To be able to meet the complex needs of the young people, staff receive specialist training in areas that further support young people. A therapeutic team, including a number of highly qualified practitioners in mental health, social work and psychology, provide on-going reflective and clinical supervision to staff, both individually and in team meetings. The aims and objectives of the home are clearly set out in its statement of purpose. A development plan, which could benefit from some further attention, outlines areas of service development. In particular, leaders and managers can use the plan to identify how the significant improvement in outcomes for children and young people can be sustained in the long term. Similarly, the involvement of young people in the recruitment process would be a valuable addition. Both of these documents, coupled with insightful and detailed regulation 44 reports, are comprehensive and regularly reviewed and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

updated. Internal and independent monitoring of the home is rigorous. Emphasis is placed on providing opportunities for managers and leaders to constructively and critically challenge. Reviews of the quality of care are conducted in consultation with young people, families and stakeholders. However, managers and leaders recognise that further work is necessary to embed newly introduced monitoring and evaluation tools. Managers and leaders work hard to foster strong relationships with other organisations, including the police, staff from the organisation’s school and the local community. In doing so, others have a good understanding of the home and a positive relationship with the young people. The organisation’s café is a great success with the public, young people, families and visitors. Many young people benefit from working in the café. Leaders could develop this model further and establish other options for employment in

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the wider community. Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 6

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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: SC030367 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cotswold Chine School, Box, STROUD, Gloucestershire, GL6 9AG

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Inspector(s)

Linda Bond, social care inspector Polly Soper, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC030367 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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