Children's home run by Clover Childcare Services Limited in North Norfolk

Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 1 SC361385 Registered provider: Clover Childcare Services Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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: 21 February 2017

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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: SC361385 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 staff know the children very well and provide them with excellent care and support to meet their individual needs.  The children have exceptionally strong relationships with the staff.  The staff provide the children with high-level individualised support that helps to ensure that the children‟s needs are met very well and that they can make progress from their starting points.  The staff have highly effective relationships with the placing social workers and the children‟s parents.  The staff are very good at supporting and promoting the children‟s contact with their families.  All of the children are in education and are making notable progress from their starting points.  The staff identify and meet the children‟s health needs very well.  The staff encourage and support the children to take part in a wide range of high-quality experiences, including joining clubs and groups in the community.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The managers and staff plan the children‟s moves into the home very well so that the children are supported and the trauma of such significant moves is minimised.  There is an exceptionally low incidence of the children being involved in risk- taking behaviours.  The staff members‟ approach to helping the children to understand the implications of their behaviour and to change it is highly effective.  The registered manager and the home‟s directors provide a very high standard of leadership and management. They have high aspirations for the children and encourage this in the staff.  The registered manager and the directors spend time with the children and have a very good knowledge of their needs and the progress that they are making.  The staff receive a high level of training to help them to provide very effective and consistent care for the children.  The home and gardens are of a very high standard and provide a really nice

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Key findings from this inspection

place for the children to live. Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 30/11/2016 Full Outstanding 29/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/12/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children who live at this home continue to make outstanding progress in several areas of their lives. One child‟s parents have written a card to the staff saying, „You‟ve done a brilliant job with our son and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We don‟t know what we would have done without you all.‟ The children have exceptionally strong relationships with the staff at the home. The staff know the children very well and provide them with excellent care and support to meet their individual needs. In an email to the home, a placing social worker stated that they feel that all of the staff are competent and knowledgeable, that they get to know the children well and advocate on their behalf. The social worker went on to say:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

„On many occasions I have left the service feeling extremely positive for the children living there, knowing they have been provided with a sense of family and belonging. [The staff] are always adapting their services and approaches to meet the needs of the child. I have seen them be creative in their models and support.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

This high-level, individualised support helps to ensure that the children‟s needs are met very well and that they can make progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff have highly effective relationships with the placing social workers and the children‟s parents. A placing social worker described the way in which the staff are managing contact with a child‟s parents as „remarkable‟. The staff are very good at supporting and promoting the children‟s contact with their families. One child has recently begun contact with their grandparents, another is preparing for contact with a parent and was able to get a Christmas card from them, which was something that he had wanted. Another child was helped to make some cookies to take to contact, which was a nice thing for him to be able to do as he was contributing to it and making it a bit more special. The home has a caravan in a local holiday park. The staff sometimes use this for contact with the children‟s parents to provide a focus to the contact and help stop it feeling awkward. This all helps the children to re-form important contact with their families and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

relationships that they can benefit from throughout their lives. Consequently, the children develop a sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All of the children are in education and are making notable progress from their starting points. For one child, this progress is recently managing to read four words. Both he and the staff are very proud of this. Another child is really pleased that he has had four „gold days‟ in a row at school. A teacher said that the staff do immense amounts for the children and always have their best interests at heart. The children at this school have „amazing attendance‟. The teacher spoke of how much one child in particular has changed since being at the home. He has grown, can regulate his stress levels and can cope with much more. This is the best progress that they have seen him make. His targets are now educational rather than relating to his emotion and containment. The teacher puts this down to the level of therapeutic care that the child receives at the home. This level of attainment and progress is helping to boost the children‟s self-esteem. It will also help

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 5 them to achieve a good level of educational attainment that will put them in a better position for further education and employment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff identify and meet the children‟s health needs very well. One child has epilepsy. Before he moved into the home, all of the staff had training in managing epilepsy and made links with an epilepsy nurse, who has been able to provide a plan for the staff to work to in managing and responding to the epilepsy. The staff have identified other children‟s possible health needs and are responding to them effectively, or are in the process of looking at how the children can be professionally assessed, for example through medication reviews. One child who moved into the home last year has lost a considerable amount of weight, which is a huge health benefit for him. It not only has direct health benefits, it also allows him to take part more easily in a range of activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff encourage all of the children to take part in a wide range of activities. The staff respond to the children‟s requests related to their specific interests. Two children have recently started attending a Scout group. A member of staff takes them and stays during the evening to support them. One of the children has asked whether the member of staff will leave him at the Scout group for the evening when he is ready. This shows that the child recognises that he currently needs the support, but is looking forward to a time when he can be more independent. The children are mixing and making friends at the Scout group. This will help them to learn about social relationships and help to prepare them for being more independent in the future. Several of the children belong to swimming clubs or have lessons. All of the children at the home can swim. Several of them have learned to swim since moving into the home. This is an important skill that will

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

improve children‟s confidence and give them important opportunities to enjoy themselves in the water.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children‟s participation in activities is captured very well in their activity books. These are high-quality scrapbooks in which the staff and children record what the children have done. The books include items such as:  a commendation from school  a swimming certificate  a ticket from the first football match that the child went to  photographs of a fish that a child had caught  a certificate for completing a summer football school  a certificate of involvement in a Save the Children event „helping to transform children‟s lives around the world‟  a photograph of a child horse-riding  photographs of children helping in the garden  photographs of a child helping in a puppet show about being kind to people, which the staff and the children planned and put on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff use these books to help the children to understand how well they have done. Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 6 The books also provide a wonderful reminder to the children of their childhoods. This is something that can easily be lost for children growing up in care with changing carers. These books show the wide range of high-quality experiences that the children have at the home. The photographs show them smiling and enjoying themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff are highly proactive in helping the children to learn important skills through age- appropriate work on independence. The staff use targets and plans to help them in this. These are agreed with the child, so that the child is engaged in the process. In addition, the staff use daily opportunities to help the children think about, develop and use independence skills. In one case, when preparing to see someone, a child wanted to wear his best clothes. The member of staff suggested that the child ironed them himself so that he could tell the person he had done this. They spoke about using an iron safely and a member of staff supervised the child while he did the ironing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The managers and staff plan the children‟s moves into the home very well so that the children are supported and the trauma of such significant moves is minimised. For one child who moved in recently, there was a clear plan over a month, which included visits to the child, his parents visiting the home, the child visiting the home and the staff preparing his bedroom to reflect his choices. This child‟s move has gone well and he is flourishing at the home. Another child who lives at the home had visited with a care worker from his previous home before he moved in. The care worker sent the home an email saying, „We both came away saying how lovely the house is and how friendly everyone was. [The child‟s] words were “a lovely place”.‟ The managers and staff had their first placement breakdown last year. This is in over 10 years of operating. The managers and staff did a lot to try to avoid the breakdown, but when it became inevitable, they supported the child

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

concerned and have kept in contact with her. This is typical of the ongoing commitment that the staff show to the children who have lived at and left the home. They involved the remaining children in choosing Christmas presents for the child who had moved on. In some cases, the children who have left the home return for Sunday or Christmas dinner. This provides ongoing support for these children and helps them to keep some contact with the staff who have been very significant people in their lives. It also provides a clear message to the children currently living at the home about the support that they will have when they leave. This further promotes a family feel to the home. Placing social workers described the home as being like a family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff involve the children in their plans. The staff listen to them and take their views seriously. There are regular children‟s meetings. These were previously recorded in the form of a newspaper to make them more engaging. The staff have recognised that this is no longer appropriate for some of the children given their reading levels. In response to this recognition, the staff have begun to video the meetings so that as well as written records, children who wish to can watch the videos. The staff use children‟s meetings to raise awareness and make children think about world events and current news stories. They also discuss important things for the children, like preparing for Christmas and how they interact with each other. The level to which the staff listen to and engage children helps to ensure that the children feel involved in their care and their daily lives. Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 7

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

There is an exceptionally low incidence of the children going missing or taking part in other risk-taking activities. Since the previous inspection, one child went missing on one occasion for 30 minutes. The staff responded appropriately when this happened, and in a way which reflected the particular vulnerabilities of this child. This approach helps to safeguard children when they are missing from care.

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

There have not been any safeguarding referrals, but the staff are very clear on how they should respond to any concerns. The staff have had training in areas such as safeguarding, and managing child sexual exploitation and radicalisation, so that they are well informed and likely to identify any concerns. Staff discuss issues such as bullying with the children. They use opportunities to talk to the children about how name-calling at school has made them feel and how others may feel when things like this happen at the home. As with any group of children, there are at times tensions between them, but the staff use these times to help the children to learn about relationships, conflict resolution and what appropriate behaviour is. There are strong links with the local police, who at times become involved to help the children to reflect on their behaviour before it reaches a threshold that is likely to prompt official police involvement and criminalisation of the

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

The staff members‟ approach to helping the children to understand the implications of their behaviour and to change it is highly effective. The staff look for ways of addressing children‟s behaviour that does not make them feel bad. For example, one child sometimes spits. The staff have worked with him to write a letter of advice to an imaginary person who spits a lot. The staff have helped the children to plan and put on a puppet show about being kind. The staff use an effective restorative approach to help children understand the impact that their behaviour has on other children and adults.

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

The children are always involved in looking back at consequences and physical intervention, so that they can express their views on what happened and think about what they could have done differently. There are meaningful discussions between managers and staff after incidents of physical intervention to help them reflect on their practice and consider whether alternative responses may have been more appropriate. This approach helps to ensure that both staff and children can reflect on incidents and find successful ways of reducing the likelihood of future occurrences.

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

Following the placement breakdown last year, managers have commissioned a short piece of research to look at what was happening, how staff responded to some very challenging behaviour and what lessons they can learn for future practice. This attitude of wanting to constantly improve and learn from experiences helps the managers and staff to provide more effective behaviour management to meet the children‟s needs even better.

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

Placing social workers say that the staff manage the children‟s behaviour well, and that the behaviour improves. They do not have any concerns about the way that the home cares for the children. The comments from a teacher reported above show that this child Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 8 has been able to manage his behaviour much more effectively so that it is no longer providing a barrier to his education.

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

The staff use clear and effective risk assessments to identify the risks to children and find ways of managing and reducing those risks. The staff review the risk assessments regularly.

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

The staff and managers monitor the children‟s use of the internet. They are very well aware that, due to the age of the children, their current interest in the internet is limited, but this will change when they begin to move to high school. The staff are looking at research to help them find effective ways to prepare the children for this and help them to learn about safe and unsafe internet use.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home has a registered manager who is appropriately qualified and experienced. He, along with the home‟s directors, provides a very high standard of leadership and management. A member of staff said that the registered manager is a good role model and a very positive leader. The manager does some shifts, listens to the children and has a good connection with them. There is an experienced and dedicated team of staff who are very happy to work at the home. They value the leadership that they receive. Several of the staff have worked at the home for a considerable time. In a pre-inspection survey one member of staff recorded, „I feel the management team is approachable and on hand to listen to me and encourage me to work hard for the children and the home.‟ Other staff made similar comments, both in the survey and during the inspection. The commitment of the leaders and managers is reflected by the staff so that the children are looked after by

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

people who care about them and put them at the centre of what they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and the directors spend time with the children and have a very good knowledge of their needs and the progress that they are making. The staff use monitoring tools and monthly reports to keep a close eye on how the children are doing and to prompt reviews of their plans if necessary. The children‟s views are included in their planning. This helps to ensure that plans for the children remain highly relevant and effective. Leaders and managers have a very clear understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They take proactive action to address any weaknesses and improve standards of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff receive a high level of training to help them to provide very effective and consistent care for the children. In particular, all of the staff are trained in the therapeutic approach used by the home. This ensures that the home is operating in a way that achieves its stated aims and objectives. A member of staff commented that the training is about what the children need at that point of their lives. Other staff commented on the high standard of training and the managers‟ willingness to spend money on it. All of the staff have regular supervision and annual appraisals. The appraisal system has recently been reviewed, following feedback from staff, to make it more effective and link more effectively with supervisions. A member of staff said that supervision and appraisal „gives you a boost‟. The high value that leaders and managers place on supervision, appraisal Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 9

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

and training provides an extremely supportive environment for staff, which encourages and prepares them to provide high standards of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers have very strong relationships with others who are involved in the care of the children, such as placing social workers, parents, school staff and the local police. These people describe very effective information sharing to ensure that the children‟s needs are met consistently well. However, the leaders and managers are very prepared to challenge any practice by others that is not in the children‟s best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home and garden are of a very high standard. The children are proud of their home and live in an environment which meets their needs very well. The garden has a good selection of high-quality play equipment that is suitable for the children‟s ages and abilities. The staff encourage the children to play in the garden and to take part in activities in the community. These include supporting charities and going for walks with the dog that lives at the home. The children benefit from the experience of having a pet that they care about.

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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: SC361385 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Clover Childcare Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Old Rectory, Old Rectory Road, Brumstead, Norwich NR12 9EU

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Inspector

Clive Lucas, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC361385 11 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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