Children's home run by BREAK

Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 1 SC424271 Registered provider: Break

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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, which is operated by a charitable organisation, provides care for up to four children who have a learning difficulty and/or physical disability and/or sensory impairment.

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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 outstanding

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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: 30 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 This effective home provides high-quality individualised care. Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 2  An inspirational management team leads a child-focused staff team. There is a culture of high aspirations.  The children have strong relationships with staff who know them well.  The children make progress socially, emotionally and educationally.  The staff and management team have very good relationships with families and external professionals.  Careful consideration and planning take place prior to children moving into the home.  The children benefit from innovative and creative approaches to leisure opportunities.

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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 children do not routinely have access to independent advocacy.  Induction processes do not ensure that the staff have a sufficient understanding of research messages regarding the increased vulnerability of disabled children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Good 24/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 3

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all children have access to appropriate advocacy support, and when possible, this should be provided by a person who the child chooses. Looked-after children are entitled to an independent advocate to advise them and ensure that they have the support needed to express their views, wishes and feelings about their care and lives. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16) This is with particular regard to exploring the use of non-instructed advocacy for children who have complex communication needs who cannot instruct the advocate directly.  Ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert to any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12) This relates in particular to ensuring that the staff who have yet to access

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Recommendations

professional development in the safeguarding of disabled children have this provided as part of their induction.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a strong, effective and respected service. The home has a positive, aspirational focus. The children experience care that is individual to their needs. They are treated sensitively and with dignity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children build good relationships with staff who know them well. A parent said, ‘They [staff] are genuinely a really fantastic team who care deeply about the lads who live here and do their very best to ensure that they have their needs met. He [my child] is always happy here.’ An established staff group has met the children’s needs over a prolonged period. Recent developments have seen the shape of the staff team change and evolve. This change is being managed effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff and managers have a good understanding of the children’s wider families. The staff and manager support the children to have good contact with their families. The feedback from families is very good. One parent commented, ‘Considering [child] lives here and they [staff] are the ones responsible for him, they are really good at keeping me involved in everything. I do not ever feel out of the loop or that my needs as a parent are not thought of.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The management team ensures that careful planning takes place prior to children moving into the home. This contributes significantly to the success of such moves. For children who struggle with change and for parents who struggle with allowing their child to come into care, this is of great value. Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 4 The staff support the children to make progress in their education. The staff work closely with teachers to achieve this. One teacher said, ‘There is always good communication. The staff are always available. They always respond really quickly. We work closely together.’ A headteacher spoke about the achievements that one child has made, achievements that she felt were the result of the input of the home: ‘The progress is immeasurable. Academically, he is one of our high-flyers. It is fabulous to see. He has developed into a funny, confident young man.’ Other education professionals spoke

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

consistently about the improvement in attendance and attainment for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to be healthy. This support includes facilitating routine health and medical appointments and encouraging healthy eating and physical activities. This results in the children becoming healthier.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make progress in their independence. They have developed personal care skills, communication skills and wider socialisation skills. A parent said, ‘It has been great to see the level of change and progress.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a range of activities that are highly creative. Child-focused approaches are provided in partnership with the children’s families. These approaches promote, and in some cases improve, relationships between children and their families. For example, the staff and manager worked in partnership with one family to enable one of the children to experience an overseas holiday with two members of staff accompanying and supporting throughout. The parent reflected, ‘I just know that I will never be able to reproduce those feelings, to see him getting so much enjoyment out of it.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff support the children to influence decisions made at the home. The children choose how their rooms will look, what activities they will do and what they will eat. However, the children do not routinely have access to independent advocacy. There is positive engagement and consultation with parents and families. However, the absence of independent advocacy for children who cannot themselves initiate a request for advocacy potentially limits the degree to which children influence key decisions about their care.

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

The children appear comfortable and happy in the company of the staff who support them. Observations of the staff and the children during the inspection showed positive interactions and relationships. A teacher commented, ‘He [child] has been happier since moving to [the home]. He has put on some weight, which a good thing. His anxiety around meal times and in general is much reduced. We have had fewer outbursts. He is out and about and doing lots of exciting things.’

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

The staff have a good knowledge of the children and their behaviours, needs and the risks that they face. The manager ensures that these risks are assessed. There are good relationships with families and professionals, which enables a consistent and joined-up approach to meeting the children’s needs, keeping them safe and supporting progress. Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 5 As a result, the risks for the children are reducing.

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

High levels of supervision mean that there are no incidents of children going missing from the home. No children at the home are experiencing sexual exploitation. However, the manager is aware of and alert to the potential for children who may use the service in the future to be at risk.

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

The use of physical intervention is rare. When physical intervention does occur, the manager reviews and reflects with staff about the incident. The staff work consistently with external professionals to support the children to manage their feelings and behaviours. As a result, the children are able to name the feelings they have, predict when they may occur and seek support to manage them. A headteacher, talking of the progress a child has made, said, ‘The things that stand out are his [child’s] social communication and independence skills. He is taking increased responsibility. He looks confident, happy and well. He is able to anticipate and predict how he is going to feel and articulate this and tell us so that we can support him.’

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

The staff are aware of the process for sharing concerns. There have been no safeguarding concerns since the last inspection. However, staff knowledge about the increased vulnerability of disabled children is inconsistent. The service has commissioned training relating to safeguarding disabled children and this is due to be revisited next year. However, new staff do not routinely access training on safeguarding disabled children as part of their induction. This means that staff who have been appointed since the last training session in 2016 have not received this important training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers is outstanding. A confident, inspiring management team leads a culture of high aspiration. The children benefit from this, and parents and professionals report life-changing improvements sustained over a period of time. There is a commitment to innovative inclusive approaches with a can-do attitude. Relationships between leaders and managers and external professionals are consistently highly positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This home is managed by an established and inspirational management team. The manager has been in post for six years and works closely with a well-respected deputy manager. The team that they lead is confident, aspirational and child-focused. The manager holds a relevant level 5 diploma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team is highly regarded by external professionals. A social worker stated, ‘They [staff] are focused on the children and ensuring that the care and support [the children] get is the best.’ A teacher stated, ‘[The management team] is really professional and really caring about [child] and his family as a whole. Always good communication. Always available. [They] always respond really quickly. We work closely together. Nothing but praise.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team makes carefully considered decisions about who will come to live Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 6 at the home. The manager advocates strongly for the children at the home when weighing up decisions about future placements. This is a key factor in the stability and progress of the children at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are sufficient staff to meet the needs of the children. The management team has high expectations of the staff, both permanent and agency. When agency staff are used, attempts are made to ensure that they are consistent and familiar. This minimises the effect on the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team ensures that plans are in place for the children. The staff work with the placing social workers and education providers to ensure that these plans are consistently applied. This contributes to the progress that the children make. A parent said, ‘They [staff] are so consistent and they stick with it, and that works for [child]. He is able to predict and understand because of the consistency. This is why the behaviour happens less and less.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team has an in-depth knowledge of the children’s plans. Managers are able to articulate the progress that children make. The staff and managers have high expectations for the children. They work hard and in partnership with one another and external professionals and families to realise these expectations. The management team is confident in challenging external professionals when they feel this is necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager monitors the quality of care effectively. She is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home participates in activities in the local community. Children use local resources and visit local shops. They attend local events and participate in local traditions. This helps the children to develop a sense of belonging within the local community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are strong relationships between the staff, the managers and the children’s education providers. Feedback from teachers and headteachers is very positive. They report that the children make progress in terms of attendance and attainment. An education professional said, ‘The working relationship has always been extremely positive. From an educator’s point of view, they [staff] are very involved in his learning and able to share ideas, explore strategies and attend meetings in the way in which the best possible parent would.’

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 7 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: SC424271 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Break, Spar Road, Norwich NR6 6BX

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Inspector

Ashley Hinson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC424271 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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