Children's home run by Good Foundations Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 1 SC419808 Registered provider: Good Foundations 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 and provides care and accommodation for four young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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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: 28 February 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 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

 Children love living in this extremely homely, family atmosphere and are thriving. The outstanding quality of individualised care and support is improving children’s lives. Children are making exceptional and sustained progress in every aspect of their development. Staff help children to feel good about themselves, have aspirations and to reach their full potential.  Children feel safe and emotionally secure because they are valued, loved and nurtured. They have extremely positive and trusting relationships with staff. Staff bring stability to children’s lives and give them the chance to recover from negative experiences, relationships and trauma. With staff’s sensitive and skilful support, children are making sense of what has happened to them and developing constructive ways of managing their feelings and controlling their behaviour.  Outstanding safe care practice protects children from harm. Staff are skilled at

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Key findings from this inspection

identifying and managing risk. They creatively support children’s growing awareness of risk and how to protect themselves and others from harm.  The registered manager and staff play an active part in each child’s wider support network. They have strong working relationships with social workers, teachers and health services and are extremely effective at making sure each child’s needs are fully met.  The registered manager leads a highly effective, skilful, experienced and compassionate team of staff. They are open, reflective, enthusiastic and positive people who are dedicated to improving children’s lives.  The registered manager has high aspirations for children to do well, reach their full potential and have happy and fulfilling lives. Children benefit from her clear and committed leadership, effective management and compassionate approach.

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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 review of the quality of care should clearly show the impact that the home is having on children’s experiences, and identify areas of strength and any possible areas for improvement. Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 01/11/2016 Full Outstanding 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/09/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 4

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Recommendations

 The registered person should undertake a review that focuses on the quality of care provided by the home, the experiences of children living there and the impact care is having on outcomes and improvements for children. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weaknesses in the home’s care, which is captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery in the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, pages 64 and 65, paragraphs 15.2 and 15.4)

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outstanding

Children are thriving in this extremely nurturing and supportive family home. The registered manager and staff’s outstanding individualised care is making an exceptional difference to children’s experiences and lives. They are highly skilled at building warm and positive relationships with children who have previously found it difficult to trust adults. They help children to feel safe, valued and loved. There is a friendly, fun and comfortable atmosphere. Children enjoy spending time with staff, especially settling down to watch television together before bedtime. The house is decorated, furnished and maintained to an exceptionally high standard, and meets each child’s personal needs. A child said, ‘I love it here, we are all a family, and they help me with everything. I love my home.’ Children are happier, safer and healthier because of their placement at the home. They take part in, and succeed in, education. Children are more able to accept help,

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outstanding

understand and manage their feelings, become more confident, and develop their skills and talents. Children recognise how their lives have changed after they come to live here. A child said, ‘I’m doing really well because I have had so much support from the staff. I was shy and not very confident, but I’ve come on so much. Everyone is different and they love you and let you know that your past doesn’t define you.’ Children have a real say in what happens to them. The registered manager and staff enable children to express themselves as individuals and empower them to have suitable freedom and choice in relation to the day-to-day arrangements of their care. Children make decisions about their clothes, the food that they eat, how the house is decorated, and how they spend their spare time. Staff make sure that children see what is written about them and that they contribute to their plans and reports about

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outstanding

their progress. A child said, ‘I loved reading this. It’s so nice to see people notice Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 5 how well I’m doing and how positive my life is going.’ Staff listen and respond positively to children’s views and ideas. They agreed to children having pets, but only after the children had researched how to look after them properly. Children are also fully involved in decisions about their lives, including choices around seeing their family, education and training, and plans for their future. Staff encourage and support children to go to review meetings and talk about their wishes. When children do not feel comfortable attending meetings, staff help them put across their views, including helping children to write letters to their social workers and independent reviewing officers. Effective care planning and strong working relationships between the staff, families, placing authorities and other people involved in young people’s lives mean that they

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outstanding

get the support they need on a daily basis. Staff provide children with individualised support tailored to meet their specific needs, according to their age, level of understanding, learning styles, gender and cultural background. One child was given a highly personalised welcome book. It clearly and visually explained to her how welcome she was, what to expect and that she would be listened to. A teacher said that the child ‘really enjoyed sharing this with staff at school and showed that she was proud to be there, it really supported her in her transition’. Staff’s excellent individual work with each child is focused on specific issues identified in the plans and emerging issues, including children’s past experiences, relationships with their families, education, health, personal care and safety, and plans for the future. Carefully planned arrangements help children to spend time with their parents,

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outstanding

brothers and sisters, friends and other people who are important to them. Staff work actively and positively to help children maintain meaningful relationships, understand their identity, feel part of their family and improve their self-esteem. Staff work sensitively with children and their parents, brothers and sisters to try to overcome any difficulties and rebuild relationships. Staff always make sure that contact with family and friends is a safe and positive experience. The registered manager and staff provide structure, stability and encouragement for children to learn, develop their knowledge, skills, and talents, and do well. Children have access to books, games, arts and crafts materials and computers to support their learning. The staff have supported children to make massive improvements in their participation in education, attitude to learning, enjoyment of school life, achievements, and aspirations for the future. An older child said that staff ‘got me

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outstanding

into school and taking GCSEs. I will have a job or will join the army – they have given me a lot of hope for my future. It’s changed my life.’ A teacher said that another child ‘has calmed down and is far more settled. She interacts with staff in a more positive way. There has been a reduction in her use of inappropriate language, especially sexualised language, and she is now engaging more in lessons and is rarely out of class without permission.’ The registered manager and staff work extremely well with teachers and employers to tackle barriers to learning and improve opportunities for each child. They actively supported a child to return successfully to mainstream school and to make progress. This included working with her and her teachers to deal with some initial difficulties. The child said, ‘School is going great. But not at the beginning. Staff have supported me and I’ve started to Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 6

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outstanding

get my head down.’ The registered manager and staff work extremely hard to ensure that children get the right support and guidance to help them develop their life skills and prepare for moving into their own accommodation. Children are fully involved in planning their futures. Staff ensure that young people have every opportunity to develop practical life skills, including shopping, cooking, managing money, setting up a new home, to know where they can get support when they need it, and understand their rights and entitlements as care leavers. Staff have supported an older child to get a full- time job and apprenticeship and to agree to retake her qualifications in English and mathematics to further improve her life chances. The registered manager and staff make sure that young people have lots of opportunities to enjoy leisure time and develop their talents and interests, including playing football, trampolining, swimming, ice skating, going fishing, looking after a

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outstanding

rabbit and a gecko, horse riding, dance classes, going to the cinema and theatre, and going out on bike rides. This is helping young people to gain confidence in their abilities, have fun, acquire new skills, and to improve their social and emotional skills. Staff make sure that children live in a healthy environment. Children’s physical health and emotional well-being continue to improve. They enjoy healthy and nutritious food and get plenty of physical exercise. The staff support individuals and ensure that children and young people get good support from health services to meet their needs and help them understand about healthy lifestyles. Staff have an excellent understanding of young people’s specific health needs and manage these with sensitivity and confidence. They support children to understand the importance of good dental health and personal care. They closely monitor young people to make sure that they are healthy, and ensure that young people always get suitable

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outstanding

medical advice and treatment when they are feeling unwell or when they are concerned about their health.

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outstanding

Children live in an exceptionally warm, nurturing and protective environment. All staff provide clear and unambiguous daily routines and boundaries that give children stability, emotional security and help them to get the help that they need. A teacher said that this home ‘has provided the child with the routine and support, care and predictability that she requires. She has grown in her ability to interact with her peers and staff in school in a more socially appropriate way.’ The registered manager and staff’s capacity and expertise for building trusting and extremely constructive relationships with children enables them to make significant and sustained progress. Children feel safe and loved. They know that staff care about them, and want to help them. One child said, ‘Everyone is dead friendly and they have helped me loads, helped me to calm down and not to get worried.’ Another said, ‘They are so supportive if you’ve had a bad day. They chat and help

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outstanding

you put things right.’ The excellent quality of these relationships is helping children Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 7 to manage their feelings, control their behaviour, and recover from negative experiences and trauma. Staff get to know each child exceptionally well. Staff understand each child’s personal needs, how to communicate with each child so that they understand and process information, and how best to support them. A social worker said that staff ‘know the right language to use to ensure that the child feels supported’. Staff adapt their approach to each child’s needs and level of understanding. They have found that using visual methods based on one child’s favourite film character, Belle from Beauty and the Beast, has helped her to understand her emotions and find ways to manage her feelings positively. Staff are working sensitively with another child to help her understand the reasons why she had to move from living with foster carers,

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outstanding

and to help her deal with her feelings of rejection. The child said, ‘I have talked about my past to staff. I’ve loads of questions to ask, and it has helped me make sense of it all. They helped me write a letter to the foster carer to let her know how I feel about leaving her house. I’ve not sent it yet – I will when I’m ready – but writing it has helped, anyway.’ Staff’s compassionate and understanding approach is helping children to manage their behaviour and get on with each other. A child said, ‘It is amazing living with the other kids, it’s a calm and lovely place. I have a lovely friend who makes me laugh.’ Staff have nurtured positive relationships between children. They help children to learn to build positive relationships with other children and develop empathy towards each other. The children are very good at supporting one another through difficult times. Children feel safe and are consistently protected from harm by the alert and

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outstanding

knowledgeable staff. Children have become increasingly safer from the risk of abuse, neglect, going missing from home, exploitation, bullying and harmful behaviour. The staff are vigilant and take effective action to deal with any concerns about the children’s safety in line with their legal responsibilities. This has also included when they have had concerns about children not living with them. Staff have effective relationships with the local police, social workers, the local authority, schools and health professionals. This well-established professional network works together successfully to identify the risks facing children and take appropriate action that protects them. The registered manager and staff continually assess the risks to each child and the arrangements to protect them. They understand and manage the current level of risk for each child exceptionally well. They adapt protective measures to the level of

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outstanding

risk, and ensure that they measure how effective the strategies are in reducing risks. They actively take into account children’s changing needs and circumstances, for example, when a child had a family bereavement. Staff reflected carefully on how this may affect the child and thought about how best to support her. Her teacher said, ‘The recent bereavement of a family member has been dealt with in a delicate, caring manner, again working closely with school to support her.’ Children feel comfortable telling staff when they are worried or confused and know how to ask staff and other adults to help them stay safe. Staff have responded positively to children’s concerns about terrorist attacks to help them to understand Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 8 risks and to manage their own safety. They use creative and interesting ways to engage children to think and talk about risk. For example, the deputy manager

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outstanding

designed a board game to help raise children’s and staff’s awareness of the risks of using technology and sexting. This board game is based on research and guidance from online protection services and has been adapted to meet each child’s needs and level of understanding. It has helped children to take control of their privacy and used real world situations to understand how to keep personal information safe. Children said that ‘We played with it with staff, it was very interesting and really beneficial’ and ‘I have actually learned something.’ Staff balance effectively the protection of children with enabling them to take appropriate and reasonable risks to promote their personal growth, including using social media and spending time with friends in the community. A social worker said, ‘I think the manager and staff team make measured decisions and, due to the child’s age, they balance risks alongside the need to support her to develop her own

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is suitably qualified and vastly experienced in children’s residential care. Children benefit immensely from her clear and committed leadership, effective management and compassionate approach. She is influential in making sure that children live in a warm, nurturing and positive family home. She has high aspirations for children to do well, reach their full potential and have happy and fulfilling lives. This ethos is firmly embedded in the running of the home, the values of the members of staff and their professional practice. She has high expectations for staff to give children the best possible support that helps them achieve better outcomes. The registered manager and staff provide children with a stable, consistent and relaxed atmosphere. They have positive and trusting relationships with the members of staff. They have a strong sense of belonging and very much see it as their home. A child said, ‘I am really happy here and I couldn’t

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

wish for anywhere else to be.’ The extremely high quality of care and children’s relationships with the registered manager and her staff are helping the children to overcome challenges and make sustained progress in every aspect of their development. Since the last inspection, the registered manager has taken on additional responsibilities as the manager of another children’s home. Even so, the quality of leadership and management remains highly effective. The registered manager and deputy manager are a well-established and successful management team. Their working arrangements are cohesive and consistently make sure that children get an exceptional level of care and support. They communicate extremely well with each other and the staff team so they have the information and support to look after the children safely and to do their jobs effectively. Importantly, children said that they still see a lot of the registered manager and she is always available to talk to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

whenever they need her. The registered manager has a detailed understanding of each child’s needs, the progress that they are making and the priorities for their care. She ensures that Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 9 children are cared for in line with their agreed plans. She is also quick to identify when children are struggling and when their needs change. Together with the members of staff, she takes the necessary action to make sure that the children get the help that they need. Creative and insightful changes to care practice have resulted in important improvements. The use of incentives relating to children’s behaviour in school has helped children to engage more purposely and make excellent progress. The way staff encourage children to write down worries and questions is helping children to express feelings that they have previously not been able to share verbally. The registered manager and staff play an important and active role in the wider

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

support network for each child. They fight for children to get the right help and assertively challenge social workers and services to make sure that they get it. Staff are tenacious in making sure that they get up-to-date written information, including health assessments, personal education plans and education healthcare plans from social workers and other professionals to enable them to look after children properly. Staff have excellent working relationships with social workers, schools and health services to ensure that each child’s needs continue to be met. A teacher said, ‘The combined and shared approach that the school and home have developed to work with this child has enabled her to begin to grow in self-confidence, developing her self-esteem, so that she can participate appropriately in a wide range of educational and recreational activities supporting her overall development.’ The registered manager has created the right working environment for staff to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

provide children with an extremely high standard of care and consistency. The staffing arrangements ensure that there are enough knowledgeable and experienced staff available to meet children’s needs. The members of staff are highly skilled, motivated and passionate about making a positive difference to children’s lives. They clearly love spending time with the children. They are a settled and staff team. This means that children are being looked after by people that they know really well and with whom they have extremely positive relationships. The registered manager and deputy manager provide each member of staff with excellent support, guidance and encouragement. Staff have regular opportunities through high-quality practice- related supervision and team meetings to reflect on young people’s progress, their own and the team’s performance, to share skills, and develop their own skills and knowledge. The registered manager supports and encourages staff to develop

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

expertise by gaining qualifications and through good-quality training relevant to the individual needs of the children and by taking on new responsibilities. The registered manager and deputy manager have a realistic and accurate understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The quality of the external monitoring by an independent person is improving in order to provide a thorough scrutiny of professional practice and the efficiency of the running of the home. The registered manager and deputy manager have recognised that they need to improve their evaluation of the quality of care children are providing. They have developed a new process for monitoring the quality of care and records in a more systematic way. However, their findings are not currently being brought together effectively to show the direct impact that the quality of care is having on children’s experiences and outcomes. Likewise, they have not developed action plans to show

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 10 how they will deal with any weaknesses that they have found. This would help them to monitor the quality of care thoroughly and to capture the exceptional progress that children are making.

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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: SC419808 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Good Foundations Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 6 Tower Quays, Tower Road, Birkenhead, Merseyside CH41 1BP

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Inspector

Nick Veysey, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC419808 12 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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