Children's home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 1 SC059753 Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children or young people who have autistic spectrum disorder and who may have associated learning disabilities. The home is one of nine operated by a national private organisation. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/01/2018 Interim Not judged 26/07/2017 Interim Not judged 27/10/2016 Interim Not judged 06/04/2016 Interim Not judged Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure the necessary support is given to children to enable them to access their education or training. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.13) In particular, ensure that the young person’s education plan has specific achievable goals to help prepare her for the next stage of education or training.  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) In particular, the manager must implement a development plan that is specific to his plans for improving this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young person and most of the staff team have good-quality relationships with each other. Staff have a good understanding of the young person’s background, they listen to her effectively and respond to her calmly. The young person feels at home. In a short space of time, staff have built a trusting relationship with her. This is now helping the young person in many aspects of her life. The staff welcomed the young person into the home sensitively and with careful planning. Immediately, the young person felt cared for and liked her new surroundings. Staff prioritised opportunities to get to know the young person and to help her to feel safe. As a result, the young person has said that she would like to stay at this home for longer than she had originally agreed with her social worker. Staff provide good support that helps the young person’s relationship with her family. They help them to meet together and spend time discussing the young person’s feelings

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

before and after each visit. The young person now has improved quality time together with her family. The young person’s initial progress at this home has been very good. The placing authority and the young person’s family are very pleased with the progress being made. Staff quickly recognised the young person’s strengths and interests and provide good opportunities for her to develop them further. The young person is a valued member of a local women’s rugby club and also recently won a scooting competition. The young person is in good physical health. The manager has sourced therapeutic support for her, Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 4 while daily support from staff helps her to understand her needs. Staff are using creative strategies to help the young person develop confidence and to engage in education. Examples include staff joining in the lessons to take tests alongside the young person, and involving her in daily problem-solving quizzes. The young person

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

had experienced a lot of disruption to her education before moving into this home. Although she is making progress from her starting point, the current plan to help her to progress educationally does not have specific goals that will help her to prepare for starting college in September. The manager and staff provide good opportunities to engage the young person and find out her views about how to run the home. The young person joins in with the daily staff handover meeting, chooses her own incentives and is being involved in the preparation for another young person moving in. The manager helps the young person to understand about relationships. The young person feels listened to and told the inspector that the manager is very calm. The young person lives in a lovely home that is newly decorated. Staff are helping the young person to collect memories of her time living in this home and to celebrate the

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

many positive achievements she has already had. Personalised memory books show these examples well. The young person proudly showed the inspector these books and said that she scores the home ‘eight out of ten for how good it is here’.

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

Staff provide good support and care that helps to keep the young person safe. The young person reports that staff help her to understand her feelings. The inspector observed the manager having constructive discussions with the young person that helped her effectively. The young person told the inspector that she feels more mature since she moved in and is now ‘better at sorting things out’. Staff respond to challenges presented by the young person safely without the need for restraint. They sensitively manage her anxieties and create a homely, encouraging environment for her. Staff reward the young person’s positive choices. The young person receives good support that helps her to feel safe. Staff demonstrate well that they meaningfully listen to the young person and ensure that they are with her at all times. The young person has not gone missing from this home because staff make sure that they always follow her when she walks away and then stay with her,

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

encouraging her until she returns. The safeguarding arrangements to protect young people are good. There have been no allegations of harm or child protection referrals since the previous inspection. Staff demonstrated correctly the action to take if they received a safeguarding disclosure from a young person. They also know how to access the company’s and local authority’s safeguarding policies for further guidance. The arrangements in place to recruit new staff and check the suitability of agency staff used at the home are good. The manager oversees these arrangements and ensures that these staff are carefully vetted before they begin working alongside children in the Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 5 home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recently re-opened following a period of over two years with no children living there. A new staff team was recruited with the skills for supporting children and young people with autistic spectrum disorder and who may have an associated learning disability. This is in line with the aims of the home’s statement of purpose and is providing the current young person with the support that she needs. The manager is suitably experienced and is completing the necessary leadership qualification for this role. Leaders and managers provide good leadership. They work alongside staff to observe, as well as role model, good practice. Staff receive good support to help them develop and to respond to the young person correctly. Staff regularly reflect on their practice and their work with the young person. Leaders and managers have good oversight of staff’s reflective discussions. As a result, further support for staff is arranged and ways to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

improve practice are discussed at team meetings. Leaders and managers provide a good supportive environment for staff. This is achieved through effective supervision and a training programme tailored towards the specific needs of young people who live at this home. Team meetings take place regularly, some of which are with the company’s clinical team. This helps staff to manage their own emotions and develop effective strategies to help the young person. The manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home and takes action to address them. He has worked closely with the local residents to ensure that the relationship with the community improved in order for the home to re-open. The staff team had some time together before any young people moved in to gain a greater understanding the home’s aims. The current development plan does not reflect the individuality of this home. It covers many areas that the home should already be doing

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

in line with company policy and regulation. The manager is well supported through his own supervision and has good access to senior management for advice. He uses the independent person’s monitoring reports effectively and views these visits as a positive experience to learn from. The responsible individual has good oversight of the quality of care at the home. He scrutinises the independent visitor’s reports and meets regularly with the home’s operations manager. Feedback received from external professionals involved with the home is very positive. The independent reviewing officer is impressed and reports that the manager is very good at communicating and cooperating. The social worker is also very pleased with how staff respond to the young person.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 6 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: SC059753 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Five Rivers Childcare, 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury SP1 3UT

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Timothy-John Matthews

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Inspector

Guy Mammatt, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC059753 8 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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