Children's home run by The Governing Body of Woodlands School in Plymouth

Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 1 SC448615 Registered provider: The Governing Body of Woodland 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 children’s home provides short breaks for children with sensory impairment, learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 28 to 29 November 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

Date of last inspection: 19 October 2016

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Leaders and managers have addressed practice concerns and shortfalls identified at previous inspections. They have demonstrated that they have the skills, experience and knowledge to support staff to provide children with positive and Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 2 safe care.

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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

 Changes in practice and approaches to care now need to be embedded into practice and sustained.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Staff are not currently provided with regular, individual supervision or annual appraisals. This prevents leaders and managers monitoring, reviewing and reflecting on practice with their staff.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/10/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/06/2016 Full Requires improvement 02/03/2016 Full Inadequate 06/01/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

(4) The registered person must ensure that all employees— (b) receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and (c) have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. 30/01/2018

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who come to stay at this service benefit from their short breaks. This is because they are provided with opportunities that they might not otherwise have access to. They are able to safely spend time with other children and this is helping them to develop socially.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Communication between the staff and children is good. The staff who care for the children know them very well and respond to their individual needs. Children have good relationships with the staff and they look to them for reassurance and support. This helps children to feel relaxed and safe when they are away from home and offers reassurance to their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Significant changes have been made to the aesthetics of this home. This has made the home feel more welcoming and nurturing. During this inspection, children were involved in various individually chosen activities. The sound of children playing and laughing could be heard. Interactions observed by the inspector between the children and the staff were good.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from being looked after by a cohesive and child-focused staff team. Staff understand what is expected of them. Good quality care planning has been developed alongside parents, carers and other key professionals in children’s lives. This approach ensures that children receive a consistent approach to their care. Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 4 Parents are consulted in a regular and meaningful way. They feel part of this service. One parent reported a vast improvement in the support, service and communication since the new managerial arrangements were put in place. The service is referred to as a lifeline for the children and families who access it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s overall progress is supported by the care and opportunities they access at this service. Staff work hard to develop communication and they work hard to support children to improve their skills. One young person who has been accessing short breaks for a year has improved their communication by 25%. This greater depth of understanding enables staff to care for them better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Incidents involving children have reduced significantly since the last inspection. There is good evidence that leaders and managers take incidents seriously and monitor and review them effectively. They include the staff in this process through team meetings and general discussions that take place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with visual memories and wishes books. Activities, trips and progress are recorded in a way that will aid children to remember. Children will take this book with them into adulthood as a reminder of their happy times at this service.

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

Children who use this service are safeguarded effectively. They are cared for by a team of skilled and experienced workers who know them well. Children who are able to communicate can identify staff whom they could turn to if they had any worries or if they were upset. This supports them to feel safe and reassures their families.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that any children who come to use this service will benefit from it. The impact on other children is assessed and considered well. Leaders and managers confidently challenge commissioners and social workers who do not follow due process. This is a positive change to practice. The leaders are strong and advocate well for what is best for each individual child. Placements are not provided if they are not suitable.

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

Serious concerns in respect of the safe keeping and administration of medications have been robustly addressed. The systems in place are effective. There have been two medication errors since the system was reviewed, both of which were identified early and swift action was taken. Neither of these errors had an impact on the children. Managers have taken effective and robust action to ensure that staff learn from these mistakes and this has reduced the risk of similar incidents in the future.

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

Concerns that have been raised about poor or concerning practice are rare but are taken seriously. Action is taken to ensure that the care children receive is not compromised while concerns are looked into. Internal investigations are undertaken by external personnel and this brings rigour. Policy and procedures are followed and outcomes reflect the seriousness of the concern and identify actions to support staff to make the required improvements. Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 5 Regular weekly meetings take place to consider and discuss the safety and well-being of children. This involves a number of agencies, including health and education. This forum allows for any professional working within the organisation to discuss any worries or concerns they have for children. This has created an ethos of a shared responsibility and promotes open and honest discussions about children. The senior leadership team

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

challenges effectively when appropriate and advocates well on behalf of the children and their families. This ensures that children are safe and their families are supported appropriately.

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

Staff are provided with good-quality, relevant training in respect of keeping children safe. Staff are aware of vulnerabilities for children and know what to do if they are worried or concerned. This training has supported the change in the culture of this home; staff who were once not provided with information about children are now fully involved. This has proven to be integral to their good care and safety.

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

How children are helped and protected is now documented well. The system that has been put in place to support this area of practice helps the staff to continually monitor and review children. Some small gaps were identified in respect of sign-off and slight drift with one matter. Leaders and managers started to consider ways of preventing this happening again during this inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been significant changes to the leadership and management of this home. These changes have allowed for continuous improvements to practice to be made. The culture of the staff group has completely changed. Staff now understand their roles and responsibilities and have embraced the new ethos that has been introduced. This has resulted in a more skilled and confident staff group providing better care and experiences for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers address poor or concerning practice effectively and robustly. They are not afraid to hold difficult conversations with staff. They have the skills to be firm and work alongside staff when there are areas of concern. Staff are provided with training and mentoring to continually improve their practice. This has resulted in a more cohesive staff group and one that now talks openly about any worries or concerns they have.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have worked tirelessly to ensure that they have good, trusting working relationships with other agencies and stakeholders. Other agencies who were spoken to as part of this inspection described managers as transparent in their practice, reflective and always open to seeking advice and support to improve children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have built better relationships with parents and carers. These relationships are built upon mutual trust and respect. Parents are now included in care planning. Conversations about the care of their children take place with them on a Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 6 regular basis. This allows for sharing of approaches to care and ensures that children have more consistent care between their home and this service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have invested heavily in ensuring that the staff team has received appropriate levels of support and training as a group. This has without doubt built their skill levels and confidence. Not all staff have been provided with one-to-one supervision and support in line with policy and procedure. This shortfall is already recognised by leaders and managers. The inspector found evidence that this has already started to be addressed.

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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: SC448615 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wood View Learning Community, 51 Lancaster Gardens, Plymouth PL5 4AA

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Inspector

Tracey Ledder, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC448615 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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Inspector

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