Children's home run by Kent County Council in Ashford

Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 1 SC368763 Registered provider: Kent 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

The home is jointly funded by the health authority and the local authority. The home provides six residential places for children and young people who have physical disabilities and/or learning difficulties. It is equipped to meet the needs of the children and young people who require short-break care. The registered manager also retains management responsibility for the resource centre attached to the premises.

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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 full inspection: 7 September 2016

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 2

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s short-break provision is outstanding because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The children with complex needs who attend are welcomed into the provision by staff who regard them with a deep-rooted respect; this increases children’s sense of self-worth.  The leadership of the provision is characterised by an impressive enthusiasm and dedication to improving the life experiences of the children.  A highly motivated and focused staff team successfully combines high levels of organisation and professionalism with warmth and affection. The children enjoy safe and relaxed stays in the provision.  The staff team goes to considerable lengths to help the children to enjoy their stays, to expand children’s experience of life and to provide opportunities to develop their interests and increase their independence.  The staff work very closely with parents, carers, schools and relevant services to provide smooth daily transitions for the children during their stays. Staff are finely attuned to children’s changing circumstances, moods and complex needs.

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Key findings from this inspection

 The staff team goes to great lengths to gain meaningful feedback from parents, carers and professionals and to understand the wishes and feelings of the children. This informs steps to improve and enhance the experiences of the children.  The provision goes beyond its primary role of providing short breaks, seeking to involve parents and carers through opportunities for them to spend time together. This facilitates the sharing of mutual support and friendship.

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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 physical surroundings of this purpose-built facility could be further improved to increase the homely atmosphere.  The regulation 44 and 45 processes could be used more effectively to inform better the quality of care provided to children.  The process for recruiting the most suitable people to work with the children who have complex needs could be further refined and streamlined.  More use should be made of external resources and good practice to increase the effectiveness of methods of gaining useful feedback from service users. Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/09/2016 Full Outstanding 02/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/06/2015 Full Good 25/03/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 4

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Recommendations

 That the registered manager continues to seek ways in which to enhance the physical environment to increase the homely and domestic feel of the home, in particular, the sleeping area. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  That the registered manager continues to seek ways in which the regulation 44 and 45 processes can be used to provide the most useful data that can be meaningfully analysed to inform further improvement to the service. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  That the registered manager continues to develop recruitment practice that effectively and efficiently identifies persons who are able to develop safe, stable and secure relationships and attachments with children having complex needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Recommendations

39, paragraph 8.11)  The registered manager continues to improve the feedback mechanisms for engaging with the children, parents, carers and professionals to inform further improvement to the service. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

When small groups of children come to stay, they are welcomed by a staff team whose members have been specially selected to meet the children’s complex needs. Staff show that they are pleased to see the children and have developed effective ways of quickly connecting with them. Staff understand and appreciate children’s individual personalities and habits and constantly strive to improve their communication with the children. Staff display respect, care and great interest in all aspects of the children’s lives. The children enjoy safe, relaxed and meaningful stays, and the children’s parents also benefit. One parent said: ‘The care plan is so detailed and shows me that they really understand her. They have written down points of her personality that I have never told them. These are the things that make me confident.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

During their stays, the children are encouraged to get involved in an extensive range of activities and experiences. Staff are imaginative and enthusiastic about how the children’s life experiences can be enriched and expanded. Staff are highly focused on the needs of each child and demonstrate a detailed understanding of their moods, wishes and feelings. Staff interact with children with a sense of care and enjoyment. The fun times are purposeful because staff take account of the aspirations of parents and carers Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 5 and take steps to advance children’s development and independence. Children’s progress is monitored and their achievements are celebrated.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The wishes and feelings of the children are afforded a high priority. The staff team continually adapts and develops communication methods to improve their understanding of what is meaningful to children. Weekly children’s meetings are held and records are kept of each child’s attendance at these meetings to ensure that they are well represented. The registered manager responds in writing to all issues that are raised. Overall, staff demonstrate a strong commitment to listening to what the children say and making sure that this contributes to the impact of children’s stays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children enjoy a greater range of food than they had previously tried. They choose increasingly healthy food as a result of the efforts of staff to educate, encourage experimentation and make mealtimes fun and sociable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff team demonstrates a clear understanding of the purpose of short breaks, working closely and effectively with carers, families, schools, social workers and medical services to ensure that children and parents benefit from these breaks as much as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There has been considerable and sustained effort over the years to enhance the physical environment of the service, with some creative improvements made. A project is under way to choose a theme for each bedroom and improvements to the living area have increased its homely atmosphere. This improvement work is ongoing and the home environment is therefore not yet as homely as it could be.

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

Staff are meticulous in their planning and preparation for the children’s stays. Children’s specialist care and medication needs are clearly understood before they arrive. A personal handover of medications by parents or carers to a senior member of staff is mandatory. Prescriptions are thoroughly checked and medical staff are consulted if there are any areas of uncertainty. Medication administration practice is maintained at the highest standard throughout the children’s stays and until they are safely back with their parents or carers. Medication administration errors are rare. Specialist care is provided by confident staff who are trained and experienced in carrying out the feeding, medical and personal procedures that are required. All personal care is provided by staff who work in pairs.

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

The professional approach to meeting the complex care needs of the children ensures that children’s basic needs are consistently and safely met. This provides children with a safe platform from which to have fun and expand their experience of the world. Parents and carers are also able to relax and enjoy peace of mind during their children’s stays. Children who are new to the service settle quickly. Their levels of anxiety reduce and their need to contact parents or carers during their stays reduces.

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

As consistent carers, the staff team fully understands the importance of their role in Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 6 safeguarding the children who stay. They are vigilant and understand the children’s particular vulnerabilities. They know how to raise concerns and will not hesitate to do so in an appropriate way when they arise.

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

As a result of their confidence and competence in caring for the children, staff are able to support children to take developmentally appropriate risks in their play and exploration. This helps children to develop their confidence and contributes to children becoming more assertive and more able to keep themselves safe.

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

Standards of care and communication are high, and caring staff engage meaningfully with the children in a stimulating environment that is geared to their needs. These factors help the children to feel content and their levels of frustration reduce. This makes physical restraint necessary only occasionally and when this type of intervention is needed, in most cases it is to prevent self-injurious behaviour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The cohesive staff team demonstrates a strong investment in the service. Individuals are motivated to provide a high-quality experience for the children who stay. This is promoted by the determined and enthusiastic registered manager who leads by example and maximises the skills of each member of staff. For example, staff members take on lead and champion roles for different elements of the service, such as specialised activities, the annual record of activities, and the quarterly letter to parents, carers and social workers. Staff supervision practice is strong, staff training and development is relevant and stimulating and weekly team meetings are well attended. Minutes reflect meaningful discussions that are highly focused on improving the experiences of children. All staff are encouraged to have and share their ideas to develop further the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Current recruitment practice and processes need to be further refined to make the process more efficient, without compromising the current high standards of safety and quality.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team demonstrates a tight grip on all aspects of the service. Areas of weakness or possible decline are identified quickly and addressed, and opportunities to improve aspects of the service are appropriately recognised and acted upon. However, regulation 44 and 45 processes are not being used as well as they could be to support the development of the service. The process for gaining feedback from parents, carers and social workers does not comprehensively capture all available information to help leaders to improve the service further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and his staff team were not complacent following the previous outstanding judgement, continuing to take actions to improve further the service and to maintain the high standards that have been established. Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 7

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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: SC368763 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fairlawn, Kingsnorth Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 6LY

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Inspector:

John Pledger, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC368763 9 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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