Children's Home, Residential special school run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 1 SC415138 Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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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 resource centre provides short-break care for up to six young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. A local authority manages the service.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected Outstanding

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Outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Outstanding

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Outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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Outstanding

Date of last inspection: 27 October 2016

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Outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people, who have a range of disabilities, love coming to the home and enjoy warm and trusting relationships with sensitive and dedicated staff.  Young people are welcomed into an exceptionally comfortable and homely centre which is furnished and maintained to the highest standard.  Young people enjoy a wide range of stimulating activities in the home and enjoy going on fun outings and holidays with staff.  Staff provide young people with the individualised support that they need to communicate their views, wishes and feelings, and make informed choices.  Young people make progress beyond expectations in their social development, communication and independence.  Staff keep young people exceptionally safe and work with them, in keeping with their individual needs and understanding, to help them keep themselves safe.  Staff work in close collaboration with family and other professionals to ensure

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Key findings from this inspection

that they are fully aware of the risks to each young person and to agree and implement strategies to keep young people safe.  The registered manager and her staff are passionate about meeting the needs of young people and are highly effective at providing them with enriching experiences.  Staff benefit from regular supervision, team meetings and relevant training in order to support their roles.  The home is organised and well run, enabling it to provide a service which makes a real difference to the lives of highly vulnerable young people and their families.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/10/2016 Full Outstanding 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 04/11/2015 Full Outstanding 13/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 3

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outstanding

Young people really look forward to coming for their weekend break and enjoy warm and trusting relationships with highly dedicated staff. Because communication and choice are so central to the centre, young people are able to express their views, wishes and feelings, to maximise the benefits of their short break. The centre is spacious, colourful, immaculately maintained and comfortable. Young people can choose to socialise with peers, or spend time alone in order to manage their own complex needs in the way that suits them. Young people have access to imaginatively themed bedrooms which are fun, but do not overstimulate. Young people’s highly complex personal and health needs are met by caring, highly trained and skilled staff. Young people enjoy using the art and craft and sensory rooms in addition to relaxing, watching television, or listening to music in the sitting rooms. Creative staff engage

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outstanding

young people in short workshops to enable them to understand how to communicate any complaints and worries. This includes using the ‘chat boxes’ on the wall, where young people can post notes to staff. Mealtimes are an enriching experience, with staff and all young people sitting together at the table enjoying the social interaction. Young people love the food here, which is varied and meets all their dietary needs. They are often introduced to new dishes. Young people benefit hugely from spending time with peers and from having new experiences, such as trips out to the zoo, activity holidays and even holidays abroad. Young people have fun celebrating Christmas, helping to decorate the centre, and having Christmas lunch and a trip to the pantomime. Young people are keen to take a turn on the young people’s council where they meet and make decisions about expenditure at the home. The current council has decided to spend a donation that

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outstanding

they received on an adult-sized tricycle. Providing young people with the opportunity to spend time with their peers, with the support of attentive and patient staff, contributes significantly to them making progress beyond expectations. Independence skills, such as making a cup of tea or laying the table, are sources of pride for young people, in addition to the huge benefit of transferring these skills to the family home. One 11-year-old young person, who did not talk when he started coming for short breaks, now has a vocabulary of over 20 words. Young people make progress in social development, playing with and sharing with other young people. Staff enabled three young people to manage the challenging and complex experience of taking an international flight to Spain for a thoroughly enjoyable summer holiday. The parent of one young person said that her son knows when he is coming for a short break and he gets into the car, waiting to go. She commented that this is, ‘The

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outstanding

best provision hands down, they are so kind and caring. It’s home from home and it’s about him socialising with his friends.’ The social worker for another young person commented that, since coming here, he has made, ‘Incredible progress, he is more than able to be semi-independent. He can get breakfast and drinks and he can now Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 4 do this at home as well. The progress and strategies here are transferred to our home.’

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

Highly trained and vigilant staff keep vulnerable young people extremely safe. Communication with young people and between staff is key to this success, in addition to good staffing levels and consistent care. Staff handovers are detailed and focused on young people’s needs. This enables staff to be fully aware of any issues that may lead to a young person’s anxiety increasing or affecting their behaviour. Transitions to the centre from school or home are carefully managed, to help young people cope better with what is, for many, an extremely challenging time. The staff’s attention to detail and skill reduces the risks of young people harming themselves or others. Young people become increasingly safe and there are no incidences of them going missing or being at risk of child sexual exploitation, and there have been no serious accidents or incidents. Effective risk assessments for individual young people and for all activities guide staff

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

practice. This ensures that young people are kept safe while enabling them to have experiences which broaden their horizons. The registered manager regularly reviews all risk assessments and behaviour management plans so that they remain relevant and provide strong guidance for staff. Young people receive appropriate levels of supervision when in the home, on all activities, and when travelling. Safeguarding is an integral part of all practice and risk assessments include the matching of young people for their short weekend breaks. Warm relationships between staff and young people, and great sensitivity on the part of the staff, enable staff to become attuned to each young person. Staff are able to identify triggers for young people’s anxiety and behaviours and intervene to prevent these from occurring. Staff use an up-to-date and relevant locality risk assessment, which addresses any risks of child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Staff training includes procedures

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

to follow should young people go missing or be at risk of child sexual exploitation and self-harm. Vehicles and the home are fully maintained and fire doors have recently been upgraded. Staff are safely vetted. Staff use a wide range of communication methods to help young people understand how to keep themselves safer, including Makaton, pictures and symbols, body language, sensory materials and appropriate words. They run short anti-bullying workshops with young people, emphasising the value of all individuals. Careful and individual work by staff with one young person has enabled her to respond better to fire alarms. When staff take young people into the community, they teach them the green cross code. Staff work closely with health and education professionals, occupational therapists, psychological services, social workers and parents to identify risks for each young person and protect them. Information is shared about young people’s experiences,

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

changing needs, and anything that may distress them. Staff are constantly vigilant and report any safeguarding concerns to families and the appropriate authorities. Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management and has, for many years, provided an excellent service for young people who have disabilities. She has managed this home for over 10 years. She also manages another local authority resource centre, which was judged to be outstanding at its last inspection. Staff are either qualified to level 3 or are currently undertaking the qualification. Most staff hold a first aid qualification and all are trained to understand the health needs of the young people. Staff say that they love working here. They say that the training they receive is relevant and that the quality and frequency enables them to undertake their roles confidently. Staff training is of a high quality and is regularly updated. Training includes key areas such as medication, health and safety, autistic spectrum disorder, and specialist subjects such as gastrostomy and diabetes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The centre has a settled and happy feel and the staff team has many strengths, including a good sense of team work. Staff benefit from regular and reflective supervision and feel supported by the registered manager and each other. The work is fast paced. New referrals, changing behaviour and other emerging challenges demand excellent assessment skills and close work between staff and with other professionals. The registered manager does not hesitate to challenge placing authorities and individuals if she considers that they are not meeting the needs of young people. Staff are consistently sensitive and nurturing with young people, while maintaining boundaries and responding immediately to inappropriate behaviour. They demonstrate in-depth knowledge of each young person, their needs and how they can be supported to enjoy their short break. Staff are very clear about the ethos of the service, which is that young people should be moving forward all the time, developing

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

new skills and independence, and staff support young people to achieve this. The registered manager has driven forward plans to improve young people’s transitions when they move on to adult services. She has written a transition document in consultation with social workers. This has been presented to the young people’s council for review and further contributions. Two staff members have been given the role of transition workers and parents attended a meeting to discuss this challenging issue. The centre is now seeing the success of an initiative that it started two years ago. The Sahara group was set up by the centre to encourage families from different ethnic backgrounds to visit and learn about the service. This has led to an increase in referrals and admissions to the service, which more closely reflect the wide range of diversity in the local area. The employment of a deputy manager has given the registered manager more time to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

focus on how to move the service forward, review day-to-day practice, and ensure that the centre continues to provide an outstanding service. Files and paperwork are in excellent order and provide staff with valuable working documents. Social workers and parents receive regular, well-written, informative reports regarding the progress Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 6 of young people. The parent of one young person says of the staff, ‘There is nothing I can think of that they could improve.’ She explained that staff and the registered manager work with her and that communication about her son is excellent. She added, ‘Consistency and continuity is essential for him and he gets that here.’

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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: SC415138 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Staffordshire County Council, Wedgwood Buildings, Tipping Street, Stafford ST16 2DH

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Inspector

Louise Whittle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC415138 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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