Children's home run by Ronanda Limited in Canterbury

Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 1 SC427331 Registered provider: Ronanda Limited

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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 is privately owned. It is registered to accommodate up to 4 young people, who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. A therapeutic approach is taken in working with the children, with the aim of enabling them to move on to alternative family placements, or to return to their family homes where appropriate.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 December 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: 18 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children experience consistent and empathic care while living in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 2  Staff are committed to caring for children; they are well supported to do so.  The registered manager is child-focused; he is developing the staff team effectively.  Progress made by children is monitored regularly by the registered manager.  Senior leadership in the company provides consistent support and good oversight of the home.  Children are making good progress as a result of the 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 supervision provided to staff has not utilised opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice as effectively as it might.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Good 04/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/09/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 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 notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

(d) a child protection enquiry involving the child—

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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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a home with a very experienced and child-centred registered manager. A particular strength is the caring, committed and empathic relationships staff build with each child in their care. Children spoke positively about the staff and the registered manager who they feel they can talk to and share any worries they may have. The home’s manager has a thorough understanding of the individual children’s needs and advocates on behalf of the children with partner agencies, where appropriate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team ensures that children’s views are gained, through the systems that are in place for each individual child together with the opportunities for all children to share their views as a group in the house meetings. The children’s guide helps children to understand their rights; it is child-centred and written in child-friendly language, which makes it easy to understand. There is a clear complaints process in place, which the staff team promotes. There have been no complaints made since the last inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 4 Staff build positive relationships with the children, who respond well to their care and feel able to seek help when needed. Staff have a clear understanding of the children’s needs and support them through the care provided and through the use of ‘Life Story Work’, in preparation for moving on to foster care in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Through the training provided, staff have appropriate skills and knowledge to utilise therapeutic play in their work with children. Staff feel well supported by their manager and seek advice and guidance from him. Staff are supported to develop professionally with a clear plan for how to achieve this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to work towards their goals and see the progress they make through the rewards they receive. They support children to create goals for themselves, and children know how they achieve positive progress in relation to these through the rewards systems in place. Through this, and the staff support in place, children are increasingly able to manage their feelings, and this brings about change in their own behaviour.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children personalise their own bedrooms to reflect their tastes and ages; new bedroom furniture has been purchased, which meets their individual needs. There is continued development of the house, which has recently been decorated and carpeted in the communal areas. The registered manager monitors progress in relation to maintenance of the home and issues that arise.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to attend school and engage in their learning. Staff provide additional learning support to children to help them develop their confidence and expand their knowledge. The home’s manager will challenge where the educational provision is not supporting a child’s learning needs. Children are enthusiastic about their learning, and staff have supported them to re-engage in their individual education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take part in a range of activities, which they enjoy doing both together and individually. Staff support children to maintain their family relationships and spend time with their family, where it is in their best interests. Professionals and children’s families acknowledge how well the children are supported by the staff team and can see how the care provided has helped the children.

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

Children’s needs are fully understood prior to their move in to the home. Staff work together with each child’s placing authority to plan how their needs can best be met by the placement. This includes considering the child’s support needs alongside those of all the children in placement; this contributes to successfully keeping placements stable over time. These plans includes clear strategies to reduce any identified risks to individual children.

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

Staff follow a comprehensive placement plan for each individual child, monitoring the child’s progress on a daily basis and utilising a goal-reward system, which the child engages in. Staff record the child’s progress and this is shared with the child, and the Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 5 staff then gain the child’s views; this enables the child to decide on their own goals.

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

Children’s day-to-day records are fully accessible and they complete these with staff, which enables them to participate in the work they undertake with staff. This includes children’s views on the home being recorded on a regular basis. The home’s manager reviews these and provides feedback to the children. This encourages the children to share their views, and they see the home’s manager listening and acting on these.

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

Staff receive training and have appropriate knowledge of how to safeguard children. There have been no children missing from the home and only one safeguarding issue since the last inspection, the latter relating to a child in his education setting. The home supported the child during the child protection enquiry, but this serious event was not reported to Ofsted.

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

Children and staff know how to raise any safeguarding concerns should they arise and feel confident that the registered manager and/or senior leadership will address these.

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

Staff support the children with all their health needs, working with the relevant health professionals. Medication is safely stored and effective recording systems are in place in respect of prescribed and non-prescribed medication. Children’s individual health needs are understood well by the staff team; this is a particular strength, which has resulted in children not being prescribed medication when this was no longer needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s manager has ensured that the recommendations of the last inspection have been completed, the specified training has been undertaken and relevant guidance for staff updated. He has a good understanding of both the home’s individual strengths and how their leadership supports the staff team to care for the children within a shared vision for the home. The senior leadership team provides consistent and effective support to the home’s manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision is provided regularly by the home’s manager and ensures that all- important areas, relating to the individual staff member’s role and professional development, are discussed. Staff would, however, benefit from having more time to reflect on their own practice within supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has addressed staff recruitment and retention and sourced additional cover in the interim period prior to new staff commencing employment. The senior leadership team ensures that all relevant employment checks are completed for all new staff before they start working at the home, and this contributes to safeguarding of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

During the course of the inspection, the home’s manager shared current issues in relation to staff practice. The home’s manager and senior leadership team respond immediately to any concerns regarding staff practice and ensure that they report these to the relevant agencies in a timely manner following the advice and guidance provided. Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 6 The senior leadership team have invested time and resources into developing the therapeutic approaches utilised within the home and, having seen the positive benefits for the children, have focused on the use of play. Staff receive training in therapeutic play and use this to support children to better understand their own feelings and behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager evaluates children’s views and provides a response to suggestions made. This includes the manager’s monthly monitoring of the child’s progress in relation to their goals, which is a particular strength of the home, and, together with the daily monitoring completed by staff, ensures a focused approach to the care provided.

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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: SC427331 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 87 Millstrood Road, Whitstable, Kent CT5 1QB

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Inspector

Maria Lonergan, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC427331 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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