Adel Beck Secure Children's Home

Inspection report secure children and young people’s home: SC033457 1 SC033457 Registered provider: Leeds City Council

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This secure children’s home is operated by a local authority. It is approved by the Department for Education to restrict children’s and young people’s liberty. The children’s home can accommodate up to 24 children or young people who are aged between 10 and 17 years.

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Information about this children’s home

It provides for up to 16 children or young people placed by the Youth Custody Service and eight children or young people accommodated under section 25 of the Children Act 1989, and who are placed by local authorities. Admission of any child under 13 years of age under section 25 of the Children Act 1989 requires the approval of the Secretary of State.

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Information about this children’s home

The commissioning of health services in this home is the statutory responsibility of NHS England under the Health and Social Care Act 2012. Education is provided on site in dedicated facilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2007.

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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

Outcomes in education and related learning activities good Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 2 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: 24 October 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/10/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 09/05/2017 Full Outstanding 23/11/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 26/04/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that risk assessments contain all relevant information, including concerns relating to children’s and young people’s health. 30/05/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading up to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration; and

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(ii)(iv)(v)) 30/05/2018

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Recommendations

 Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11) Specifically, ensure that the minutes pertaining to the children’s and young people’s meetings are of a consistently good quality across all of the units and that the minutes clearly reflect any actions taken in response to the children’s and young people’s views and the achieved outcome. Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 4  The registered person should make best use of information from internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Specifically, ensure effective monitoring of all behaviour management records with a view to making sure that records are fully complete and improving the

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Recommendations

quality of information contained within.

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Recommendations

 The ethos of the home should support each child to learn. (‘Guide to the ‘children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18) Specifically, ensure that the progress made by young people with specific educational needs is as good as that made by other young people.

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Recommendations

 The ethos of the home should support each child to learn. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18) Specifically, further develop the promotion of essential and wider employability skills, including the use of ICT, in all learning sessions and mobility events, increase the range of vocational learning and science subjects offered and ensure that young people achieve well in these areas.

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Recommendations

 The ethos of the home should support each child to learn. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18) Specifically, further strengthen the evaluation of the education and learning provision by managers by focusing on fully measuring the quality of the outcomes that different groups of young people attain, and ensuring that the teaching and learning observation systems are used to support staff performance management and lead to further improvements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people make outstanding progress in all areas of their lives, based on their individual starting points. The children and young people develop strong and meaningful relationships with a highly motivated and child-centred staff group. These relationships underpin the strands of work undertaken by a variety of staff and help each child or young person to reassess previous lifestyles and make positive, life- changing decisions about their own future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The culture of the home is child-focused and is based on the good principles of communal living. The children, young people and staff have a great respect and a genuine fondness for each other. Inspectors noted a positive energy that abounds and underpins the calm and relaxed atmosphere generated in each living unit.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Individual needs are recognised early and clear plans and strategies, based on an assessment of risk, are quickly put into place. Regular revision and update keep these Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 5 plans current. Individual and group work are programmed and the staff carry out needs- specific work with each child or young person. Many of these interventions are based on current research, an area that has been significantly developed since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The facilities, resources and arrangements to meet the physical, emotional and mental health needs of the children and young people are strong. The children and young people can access all primary health services without delay. A multi-disciplinary mental health team provides impressive levels of support through a wide range of bespoke interventions. The management of medicines has improved since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Examples of outstanding practice were observed throughout the inspection. Incidents of challenging behaviour are well handled by the staff, who remain calm at all times. When questioned, the staff demonstrate great insight and understanding of each child or young person. The staff see beyond the presenting behaviours and appreciate the peripheral issues that affect and influence the children’s and young people’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Excellent levels of communication between the staff, children and young people facilitate good consultation. The children and young people make a significant contribution to life in the home and planning towards their future. Various forums exist where the views of children and young people are collected. One forum is a weekly meeting held on each living unit in which the children and young people enthusiastically engage. The quality of recording relating to these meetings is of variable quality across the three units.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The arrangements for transition and resettlement are outstanding. Exit plans are considered at the point of admission and remain a priority throughout each of the children’s and young people’s stays. The staff have the confidence and tenacity to challenge external agencies, and ensure that the rights of the children and young people are upheld. Notably, the staff are prepared to go that extra mile to ensure that plans go smoothly, with examples of them giving of their own time to support the children and young people.

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

The children and young people are kept safe and say they feel safe. This is because staff practice is underpinned by well-understood and consistently implemented safeguarding policies, procedures and risk management strategies. When necessary, swift action is taken to report and address any safeguarding concerns and allegations, including the involvement of external safeguarding agencies.

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

The staff demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of each child’s or young person’s behaviours, risks and vulnerabilities, and the staff are highly effective in the management of these.

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

An area of particular strength is the work undertaken with the children and young people who exhibit self-injurious behaviour. This is done in conjunction with mental health professionals. Collectively, they help the children and young people to build resilience and the ability to regulate their emotions successfully. This high level of care, support Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 6 and close supervision means that the children and young people are protected and helped to understand and successfully change their behaviour. This is evident in how incidents of this type reduce in both severity and frequency.

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

Risk assessments are regularly reviewed, comprehensively detailed and provide individualised guidance for the staff to follow. One risk assessment did not include some essential health information, although this has not directly affected the young person’s safety and well-being.

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

The children and young people respond very well to the home’s nurturing practices, which are set within structured routines and boundaries. The staff are good at building positive relationships that support a culture of trust. These relationships help the children and young people to settle in quickly and increase their willingness to engage positively with the staff across the centre.

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

A range of individual and group interventions are used well to help children and young people understand and address the behaviours that led to them being in a secure setting. It was positive for inspectors to hear a number of children and young people talking so positively about their futures and the better choices they will make as a result of their time at the home.

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

The children and young people benefit from clear expectations about how they should behave. The staff take a restorative approach to behaviour management and encourage the children and young people to reflect upon and learn from their own behaviour and that of others. Over time, the children and young people learn how to better manage their feelings and develop coping strategies that will help them when they return to the community or other settings.

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

An incentive scheme is used well to encourage and reward positive behaviour. The children and young people talk positively about the scheme and enjoy the rewards that come as a result of meeting general expectations and their individual targets. Achievements are celebrated during weekly assemblies, which involve all of the centre’s staff, children and young people.

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

The staff take a proportionate and considered approach when using single separation, managing away and physical restraint. Managers maintain good oversight of staff practice and ensure that any practice shortfalls are quickly addressed. The same diligence is not afforded to some of the associated records, in particular those pertaining to physical restraint. Some effort has been made to reduce the number of gaps in these records and there is a notable improvement since the last inspection. However, the narrative within many reports lacks sufficient detail about the measure used or the behaviour leading up to the incident. Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 7

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This home is run by a cohesive and aspirational leadership team, which has a comprehensive understanding of how to successfully care for children and young people in a secure setting. It provides exceptionally strong leadership for the staff team, which demonstrates a resilient commitment to helping children and young people to change their lives for the better. All of the children and young people make exceptional progress relative to their starting points and time spent in the home, which can vary in length.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have a comprehensive understanding of the home’s strengths. There is a keen focus on building on these strengths and further improving the services available for the children and young people. For example, the registered manager is playing a major role in developing a resettlement pathway as part of the South and West Yorkshire Resettlement Consortium. Once established, this will improve the transition arrangements for children and young people who are returning to the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers are proactive in their efforts to maintain strong and effective working links with partner agencies, including local authorities, safeguarding professionals and healthcare providers. The managers promote a collaborative approach that ensures that the children and young people receive a cohesive response to meeting their diverse care needs. Underperformance is professionally challenged and has resulted in barriers, such as no accommodation on release, being successfully overcome.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff speak with enthusiasm and pride about the work they do and staff morale is exceptionally high. The staff confirm that they are supported well by managers who have high expectations of them. The staff feel valued because they are frequently praised and rewarded for the work they do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Opportunities for the staff to develop their skills and knowledge are integral to the induction, supervision and appraisal process. The staff are very well trained and they are suitably equipped to respond to the strong demands placed on them by the children and young people in their care. The managers are aware of the emotional toil this role has on the staff and make every effort to provide the necessary support for their staff team. A particularly good example of this is how managers arranged for specialist support for some staff who had spent time working with a particularly challenging and high profile young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A real strength of this service is the enthusiasm of the staff to take responsibility for their work and the implementation of the home’s improvement agenda. The staff say that the managers encourage them to share their ideas and are supported by managers in the implementation of these ideas when they are of benefit to the children and young people. This has resulted in some excellent opportunities for the children and young people, such as participating in the Duke of Edinburgh Award and raising money for charity. Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 8

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The progress that children and young people make in mathematics has improved since the previous inspection. Small differences remain in the progress and achievement between those children and young people who have been identified as having specific educational needs and their peers.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. The teachers have successfully maintained the high quality of the provision through a period of significant managerial transition. The teachers resolutely focus on the intended learning objectives in each lesson, which helps the children and young people to engage well in their lessons. The teachers, with the support of teaching assistants, provide the children and young people with very effective, highly individualised support during lessons, which means that young people remain productive throughout. Most of the learning activities promote the development of English and mathematic skills well.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The feedback that children and young people receive following the assessment of their written work has improved. The children and young people have a clear understanding of their progress and what they have to do in order to improve.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The managers and staff apply very effective behaviour management strategies. The children and young people are seldom excluded from education and incidents of poor behaviour do not interrupt learning.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The personal development and behaviour of the children and young people attending education and learning-related activities are very good. The children and young people enjoy their learning, attendance is good and they arrive punctually at lessons.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The children and young people access a wide range of enrichment activities that meet their interests and complement their formal learning particularly well. However, a number of mobility activities planned by care staff do not yet have clearly defined learning objectives.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The children’s and young people’s development of employment-related skills is limited. In areas such as cookery, motor vehicle studies and design technology, children and young people increase their understanding of the importance of safe working practices. However, the children and young people do not use information technology frequently during learning, and most do not understand how the topics they are learning relate to the world of work.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The managers and teachers have a particularly good understanding of each child’s and young person’s skill levels in English and mathematics, and of their speech and language skills. The managers and teachers use this information very well to set challenging learning targets, which are monitored regularly.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The recently appointed headteacher has carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the education and learning provision, which provides an accurate assessment of the quality Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 9 of the provision. However, the planned observations of teaching, learning and assessment, and staff evaluations were not carried out by the interim headteacher. Routine data analysis, showing the performance of all the groups of children and young people to planned improvements and to inform governance of the provision, requires improvement.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The development of vocational learning is under-developed; while the motor vehicle workshop is now fully up and running, the previous hair and beauty programme has been discontinued.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Science areas are inadequately resourced to support the introduction of an adequate science curriculum

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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’.

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Information about this inspection

For inspections of secure children’s homes, Ofsted is assisted by an inspector from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in Ofsted’s evaluation of health services provided for children (authorised by HMCI under section 31 of the Care Standards Act 2000) Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 40 Great George Street, Leeds LS1 3DL

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Inspectors

Paul Scott, social care inspector Graham Robinson, social care inspector Debbie Foster, social care inspector Gerard McGrath, social care inspector Timothy Byron, health & justice inspector, Care Quality Commission Inspection report secure children’s home: SC033457 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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