Children's home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 1 SC372664 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The home is operated by a private company.

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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 good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

None Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 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

 The young person has sustained meaningful relationships with each member of staff. He has established a genuine sense of belonging.  Staff are imaginative in the ways that they support the young person to have safe, positive contact with his family.  Staff creatively support the young person to develop his literacy and numeracy skills.  The registered manager and staff team have advocated on the young person’s behalf and he is now attending additional education sessions.  The registered manager and staff team confidently and consistently keep the young person safe.  Physical interventions are not used and the young person does not go missing.  Collaborative working between staff and the therapy team helps the young person to become more emotionally resilient.  The young person receives high-quality, consistent care from staff whom he trusts. Their understanding of his needs is exceptional, and they are clearly

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Key findings from this inspection

committed to supporting him to progress even further.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/12/2016 Full Good 22/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/07/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young person is making outstanding progress as a result of living in this home. He benefits from caring, intuitive staff and has positive, longstanding relationships with them. A social care professional stated:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

‘The staff team has provided a nurturing and stable home environment to meet the young person’s complex needs. He enjoys good relationships with his key workers as they involve him in many sports and outdoor activities for his physical and emotional development. He has also engaged well with the in-house therapists. This has helped to identify his traits of autism and their impact when managing his behaviours and promoting his academic achievements.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young person states that he is ‘very happy’ living in the home. Staff ‘always involve him’ in discussions about the home and his personal plans. He is very well informed of his rights and knows who to contact should he need to raise any concerns. He told the inspector, ‘This is my home and I think it is outstanding. The staff are brilliant and funny. I can do different things with different staff and I like that.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young person has important, positive, influential relationships with a very small, consistent, dedicated group of staff. They provide expert support so that he can have positive experiences and achieve excellent outcomes. Staff are proud of his personal progress, and celebrate all milestones, successes and achievements. This is clearly evident through discussions, memorabilia and photos displayed around the house. Staff promote new experiences, such as holidays and activities. They also support him to maintain hobbies and interests such as attending football matches, including watching his favourite football team at Wembley stadium.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young person has made immense progress in his literacy and numeracy skills. This was initiated by the registered manager and staff team, who were concerned that he was not progressing in these areas. They started by introducing spelling exercises. They then discovered that he enjoys writing stories. They have encouraged this and continue to support him to write on a daily basis. They have shared this passion with education staff and he now takes his stories into school. The registered manager and staff team have also advocated for a change to his school timetable. As a result, he is receiving extra literacy and numeracy tuition to support further progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff have an excellent understanding of the importance of positive relationships between the young person and his family and friends. For example, they have recognised the impact that a long journey can have on the quality of face-to-face contact between the young person and his family. They have worked closely with the young person, his social worker and family to reinvigorate these visits. They are now driving down the night before a visit and staying overnight in a hotel. This ensures that the young person is ready to enjoy an activity, such as going to support his football team with his family the next day. Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 4 Staff support the young person to develop positive aspirations and ambitions for the future. In line with his placing local authority’s plan, he is developing skills that he will require as an adult and is beginning to research and visit potential college placements to

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

continue to study. This excellent preparation will serve him well in later life.

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

Staff make sure that the young person’s safety is their absolute priority. The young person is well informed about risks and how to keep himself safe. He has developed this understanding through discussions with staff. For example, he recently participated in a child exploitation and online protection session with a local police community support officer. Staff reinforced his learning through discussions and key-worker sessions. The young person felt that he had learned a lot from the course and conversations and is pleased with the certificate that he was awarded on completion.

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

Staff know the young person extremely well and significantly reduce the risks he could face through the use of very effective strategies. These strategies are monitored continually and reviewed in regular team discussions as well as meetings with the home’s allocated clinician. As a result, staff have an excellent insight into the young person’s triggers that might result in a challenging situation or increase the likelihood that he might feel unable to cope. Diligent staff provide excellent reassurance and intervene quickly to lower his anxieties. The young person and staff describe clear ‘house rules’ and boundaries, which are consistently applied. Consequently, the young person is well behaved. Staff do not have to use physical intervention.

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

The registered manager and staff team promote the well-being and safety of the young person at all times. Their knowledge of safeguarding, missing from care and child sexual exploitation procedures is enhanced by training and research. This ensures that they are able to meet the young person’s specific needs and work with other agencies effectively. Staff are all undertaking radicalisation training and are at various stages of completion. There have been no complaints, safeguarding concerns or missing from home incidents for a significant period of time.

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

The responsible individual is actively involved in the development of this service. For example, this year he is focusing on the standard of the home’s environment. The home and garden are maintained to a good standard. However, the responsible individual is not complacent and produces monthly reports and action plans to continue to raise standards.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A consistent, skilled staff team is at the heart of this outstanding service. The registered manager and deputy provide highly effective leadership. The registered manager has been in post since 2008 and holds a level 4 national vocational qualification in care and management. She also manages another registered children’s home, which is situated nearby. The registered manager’s time is shared between both homes, depending on the Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 5 needs, demands and circumstances of each service. In addition to the registered manager and deputy, there are two staff in this team. Their commitment to the young person means that they will, whenever possible, cover each other’s annual leave and sickness. This ensures that the young person continues to receive excellent, consistent care from people that he trusts.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and deputy value their staff. They make sure that staff reflect on and develop their practice through training, supervisions, appraisals and team meetings. A clinician attached to the service facilitates regular meetings with staff and has developed their knowledge of the playfulness, acceptance, curiosity, empathy model of parenting adopted by the organisation. The registered manager and staff team diligently monitor the young person’s progress and the overall impact that the quality of care has on his experiences. They use reflective practice, research and clinical input to challenge their own practice and introduce highly effective new strategies to meet the young person’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Excellent partnership work with other agencies ensures that the young person receives the care and support that he needs. A social care professional stated:

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

‘The care team is organised effectively and communicates through email, reports, texts and telephone calls. They are prompt in responding and make strategies to deal with the situation appropriately and inform me about the action taken over any incident involving the young person with his peer groups and staff. They always come prepared with comprehensive reports for the reviews and meetings.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the strengths of the service and the areas for further development. The recommendations made in the last inspection report have all been met. The registered manager and staff use development plans and internal and external quality assurance systems to monitor and improve their practice and the outcomes for the young person. When necessary, the registered manager and staff rigorously challenge other professionals to make sure that the young person’s needs are met. For example, they support him to access additional education support and make adjustments to the arrangements for him to see his family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The quality of the young person’s records has improved. The records now give a clear picture of his experiences and progress to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home operates in accordance with the aims and objectives in its statement of purpose and children’s guide. These documents provide an accurate and comprehensive picture of the home and the services that are provided. Staff practice is based on therapeutic, attachment models. This approach has significantly helped the young person to build his confidence, self-esteem and resilience. Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 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: SC372664 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Edward James House, Hadley, Telford TF1 6QJ

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC372664 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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