Children's home run by Rushcliffe Specialist Schools (Mickleover) Ltd in Nottingham

Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 1 SC463386 Registered provider: Rushcliffe Specialist Schools (Mickleover) Ltd

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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 provides care and accommodation for children and young people who have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and associated communication and behavioural difficulties. It is registered for 24 children and provides care for children living at the home for 38 or 52 weeks a year. The purpose-built building is split into several lodges. It is owned and operated by a private company. There is a school on site. All children are on roll at the school and some may attend external educational provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager recently left his post. An acting manager is in post and is preparing her application to register with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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Inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected Inadequate

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Inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Inadequate

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Inadequate

There are serious and/or widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and/or the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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Inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: good Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: The home had a monitoring visit on 13 November 2017 in response to concerns brought to the regulator‟s attention. Eight requirements and one recommendation were made as a result of that visit. The home received a subsequent monitoring visit, to monitor compliance with the requirements made at the last visit, on 28 December 2017. Seven requirements and the one recommendation were met. One requirement was repeated.

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Inadequate

Ofsted took no further compliance or enforcement action.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Good 15/10/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/07/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 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, 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 children‟s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children‟s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— ascertain and consider each child‟s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child‟s best interests when making decisions about the child‟s care and welfare; help each child to express views, wishes and feelings; help each child to understand how the child‟s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child; regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home‟s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff— are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(x)) 08/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 4 The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— 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

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Requirement Due date

arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)) 08/07/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the home‟s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(b)) 08/07/2018

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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. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that the effectiveness of the home‟s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(e)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

* The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and 08/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 5 promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(e)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children‟s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(f)(h)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children‟s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1. (Regulation 16 (1))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the statement of purpose reflects: details of any healthcare or therapy provided, including— details of the qualifications and professional supervision of the staff involved in providing any healthcare or therapy; information about how the effectiveness of any healthcare or therapy provided is measured, the evidence demonstrating its effectiveness and details of how the information or the evidence can be accessed; and details of the experience and qualifications of staff, including any staff commissioned to provide education or healthcare. 08/07/2018 Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 6 A responsible individual must— have the capacity, experience and skills to supervise the management of the home, or the homes, in respect of which the responsible individual is nominated. (Regulation 26 (7)(b)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction; ensure that each permanent appointment of an employee is subject to the satisfactory completion of a period of probation. (Regulation 33 (1)(a)(b)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees— undertake appropriate continuing professional development; receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)— has spoken to the user about the measure; and has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35(b)(i)(ii)(c)) 08/07/2018

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 Case records must be kept up-to-date and signed and dated by the author of each entry. („Guide to the children‟s home regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.3) In particular, records must be accurate in relation to the date the event took place. Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 7

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Changes in management arrangements in the period since the last inspection have led to poor experiences for young people. The current acting manager is the home‟s fourth manager since the last inspection. A responsible individual has also left during this period, as well as an acting responsible individual. This does not promote continuity of care for young people. The last two managers left the home with immediate effect. This does not allow for proper endings, and is particularly difficult for young people who struggle with change and need time to process information.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Senior managers have made decisions recently that directly affect young people, but without any consultation. An example of this is ending unlimited car use in the holidays and after school. These changes have been poorly implemented. There is confusion among young people and parents about how often the car can be used by staff for activities and outings. This has caused a lot of unnecessary stress for young people, parents and staff. A young person said: „The decision has been done to us and not with us.‟ Concerns about a lack of consultation are historic, and this issue has been identified at previous inspections.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

The majority of young people gave very negative feedback about the home. Young people cite feeling unsettled by management and staffing changes, a lack of consultation about significant decisions that affect their lives, lack of communication between managers, staff and young people, and issues with the quality of food. Other young people had more positive views; for example, a young person who has recently moved from one lodge to another stated: „It‟s brilliant here.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Despite these significant issues, in general, the majority of young people make positive progress with their health and education. They are cared for by staff who want the best for them and who are warm and nurturing in their interactions. There is very good joint working with the on-site school, which helps to promote an element of continuity of care.

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

Members of staff have not been able to identify inappropriate conduct. Staff have not followed the appropriate safeguarding processes, such as whistleblowing, to report their concerns. The home does not always promote a transparent or supportive safeguarding culture for staff. Some staff said that on occasion they feel that they would not have been supported by managers if they had shared their concerns. This could put young people at risk.

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

Since the last inspection, new members of staff, in their probationary period, have been directed to work unsupervised with young people. This is without an appropriate induction or training. There is no lone-working risk assessment in place. On one occasion, a new member of staff, who was working unsupervised, was assaulted by a Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 8 young person. The member of staff had not had any physical intervention training and was unable to summon help. Following this incident, there was a lack of rigorous investigation. No changes were made to practice and there was no staff debrief by the previous manager about the incident. This puts the young person and staff member at risk.

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

Records of physical intervention are not subject to appropriate scrutiny and monitoring. There is lack of management oversight. Young people and staff do not regularly receive debriefs. This is of significant concern as this represents missed opportunities for managers to determine whether the use of physical intervention was proportionate and necessary. This lack of scrutiny and reflection puts young people and members of staff at risk.

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

Young people‟s risk assessments are not always updated following significant incidents. This means that there is a lack of guidance for staff on how to best support young people who may be at risk of harm.

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

There are some examples of positive practice. There is a close working relationship between staff and the home‟s clinical psychologist. At times of crisis for young people, staff receive good-quality guidance and direction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

There is a lack of rigorous and detailed oversight by the registered provider in relation to the functioning of the home. The current system of monitoring is not working, as shortfalls identified at the inspection had not been identified by senior managers. As a result, young people have not always received good-quality care. Sometimes, young people‟s safety has been compromised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The company‟s approach to the retention of managers is not successful, leading to a churn in the management structure. This affects young people‟s experiences and continuity of care. The responsible individual has limited capacity to spend time at the home. This is necessary to monitor the home‟s functioning and to provide support to managers in their probationary period. The provider has not expressed any plans about how to rectify this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Decisions made about young people, without any consultation, indicate a significant lack of understanding and awareness of young people‟s needs. For example, ongoing issues about food ordering have remained unresolved for a long period of time, despite young people and staff bringing this to the manager‟s and senior managers‟ attention on a number of occasions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Relationships with parents and other stakeholders, such as social workers, are very damaged. There is a lack of confidence in the management structure. A parent said, in relation to the manager leaving: „It‟s a very familiar pattern. It‟s very sad and very unsettling for my child.‟ Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 9 Staff have not received regular one-to-one practice supervision. This includes probationary members of staff, some of whom have not worked in children‟s residential care previously. New members of staff have not received an appropriate induction. There has been a lack of training for staff regarding the specific needs of young people, for example, mental health awareness, self-injurious behaviour or understanding autism spectrum disorder. This means that staff are not equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to care for young people. It has not been a supportive environment for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The provider had already identified significant gaps in staff training prior to the inspection, and this training is due imminently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Record-keeping is not always of good quality. Some records are dated incorrectly. Social workers described varying quality in the weekly records they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

A requirement made at the last inspection is met. A monitoring report on the functioning of the home was received by Ofsted. This helps to ensure that the regulator has the opportunity to monitor the functioning of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The home‟s statement of purpose does not accurately reflect the role, qualifications and clinical supervision arrangements of the clinical psychologist, as well as how the effectiveness of the therapy is monitored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

At the point of the inspection, an acting manager had been in post for a week. She was previously the home‟s deputy manager. Staff and young people are positive about her appointment. She is identifying shortfalls and devising an action plan. She has identified communication with young people, staff and parents, as well as continuity of staff, supervision and induction of new staff and the introduction of more praise and positive reinforcement for young people as her main priorities for immediate action.

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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: SC463386 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rushcliffe Specialist Schools (Mickleover) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor Butt Dyke House, 33 Park Row, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG1 6EE

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Inspector

Catherine Honey, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC463386 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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