National Deaf Children's Society

National Deaf Children's Society Inspection report for residential holiday schemes for disabled children

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Unique reference number 1027090 Inspection date 18/08/2015 Inspector David Kidner Type of inspection Full

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Registered person National Deaf Children’s Society Registered manager Lisa Warner Responsible individual Helen Cable Date of last inspection N/A Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 2 of 8

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This document may be reproduced in whole or in part for non-commercial educational purposes, provided that the information quoted is reproduced without adaptation and the source and date of publication are stated. Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 3 of 8

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Brief description of the service

This residential holiday scheme for disabled children is a charitable trust. The scheme provides a variety of one-day, weekend and weeklong residential events throughout the year. The overall aim of The National Deaf Children’s Society is to remove barriers to the achievement of deaf children and young people.

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The inspection judgements:

 Outstanding  Good  Requires improvement  Inadequate

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The overall experiences of children and young people

The overall experiences of children and young people is judged to be Good This particular holiday scheme was providing some young people with a multi- activity holiday and others were taking part in a young leaders course.

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The overall experiences of children and young people

Young people are provided with a good range of activities, some of which are new to them. Staff take time to explain the new activity and the rules of the game, for example, some young people have not played dodge ball before. Staff explain the rules in the young person’s preferred method of communication, and give lots of praise and encouragement. This provides young people with new experiences and builds their confidence. One young person said ‘it’s fun’ and young people gave a rating of 8/10 and 9/10 for the activities. Their enjoyment is measured by the laughter, smiles and enthusiasm when taking part in the activities.

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The overall experiences of children and young people

Those young people undertaking the young leaders week course said that the scheme is promoting their skills and confidence.

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The overall experiences of children and young people

Some young people have not met or spent quality time with other deaf young people and this is important to them. One young person said ‘my confidence has increased; I’m making new friends, keeping in touch and seeing them again.’ Other young people said ‘you do not feel like pushed out because you are deaf’ and ‘I’m not the only one in the country with hearing problems.’ They are delighted to make new friends.

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The overall experiences of children and young people

Young people enjoy an excellent range and choice of meals, including healthy and vegetarian options. They said that they liked the food and gave marks of 9/10 and Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 4 of 8

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The overall experiences of children and young people

10/10 for the meals. They are encouraged to drink plenty of fluids and to eat well. Staff and volunteers are aware of young people’s specific dietary needs

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The overall experiences of children and young people

Staff and volunteers provide young people with high quality care and support. They place the well-being of young people at the centre of their practice. Comprehensive care and support plans provide them with guidance in how to meet young people’s individual needs. Parents and carers are involved in the development of the care plans. Young people said that staff and volunteers respect their privacy and dignity.

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The overall experiences of children and young people

The accommodation provided at this holiday scheme is of a satisfactory standard. Sleeping accommodation for males and females is separate. Staff and volunteers bedrooms are located in easy access for young people if they need support during the night. However, one young person said that water from one of the shower facilities was cold and another was not satisfied with the en-suite shower facility. This facility was not maintained to a satisfactory standard and was not acceptable. In addition, some washbasins did not have plugs for the sinks. Leaders and managers were not aware of these shortfalls, but took immediate action to resolve the issues.

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The overall experiences of children and young people

Young people are able to keep in contact with their families if they so wish. Staff and volunteers manage any episodes of young people being homesick with sensitivity and with good outcomes. One young person commented that he felt homesick at first but a member of staff got him to play a card game and make new friends. He said ‘I felt happy after that and I have now made new friends.’

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The overall experiences of children and young people

The scheme provides information about how young people can make a compliant. However, they are not clear how to complain.

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):  Ensure all children understand how their views have been taken into account, and where significant wishes or concerns are not acted upon, they are helped to understand why. In particular, to understand how to make a complaint (NMS 1.2)  Ensure each scheme is carried on at premises that supports its aims and Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 5 of 8

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Recommendations

objectives for children and young people. In particular, undertake venue checks on arrival so that the accommodation is of good standard and well maintained. (NMS 6.1)

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The service is Good at helping and protecting children and young people. Young people are safe and the scheme has robust safeguarding practices and procedures. All staff and volunteers have had safeguarding training and demonstrate a good awareness and understanding of safeguarding practices and protocols.

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Young people said that they feel safe and that they can speak to any staff member if they are worried or have a concern. One young person said ‘staff keep us safe’ and another young person said ‘I trust the staff if you have a problem.’

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There has not been any use of restraint at the scheme and young people have not been missing. Young people’s behaviour is good. Staff demonstrate a good awareness of behaviour management approaches and receive training in positive behaviour management.

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Staff provide young people with high quality and individualised support. A strength of the service is that the staff have excellent skills to communicate with young people effectively. Young people use various forms of communication including British Sign Language (BSL) and speech. The Registered Manager ensures that staff can communicate with all young people attending the scheme and that they can understand them, depending on their preferred choice of communication.

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There are good systems for the managing, administering and the recording of medicines. Specifically trained staff are identified to manage the administration and safekeeping of medicines. Care and support plans clearly identify the specific health needs of young people and the support they require to keep them safe and healthy. Staff have a good awareness and understanding of the emergency medical protocols for young people. Staff follow the agreed protocols following an accident and detailed records of the action that staff take are clearly recorded.

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Staff and volunteers are sensitive to the needs of the young people, but at the same time have high aspirations for all young people. They offer tremendous encouragement and support for them to participate in everything that the scheme offers. This is a strength of the scheme.

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Prior to the holiday taking place, the Registered Manager ensures that a satisfactory and comprehensive risk assessment of the venue is obtained. This includes risk assessments of the accommodation area and fire safety. In addition, the scheme completes a detailed risk assessment to ensure that the environment is Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 6 of 8

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safe. All young people, staff and volunteers take part in a fire drill.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The effectiveness of leaders and managers is Good The Registered Manager and the scheme’s leaders lead by example and provide strong and effective leadership. They are committed in providing young people with an enjoyable holiday and high quality care and support. Leaders and managers work alongside staff and volunteers to ensure young people’s identified needs are met. The Registered Manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the scheme and is committed in improving the services that the scheme provides.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The scheme’s Statement of Purpose is informative and provides comprehensive information as to the aims and objectives of the scheme.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is good preparation before the start of the holidays. A comprehensive ‘session plan’ is devised that identifies the aims and objectives of the holiday, the purpose of the planned activities, the resources that are required, collaboration with partner organisations and how the proposed targets for the holiday can be aligned to the scheme’s Statement of Purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is robust internal monitoring of the scheme. There are visits to each holiday and comprehensive reports are completed that evaluates the quality of care. The reports cover the quality of the safeguarding, health and safety arrangements, evidence of good practice, interviews with young people, staff and volunteers and care planning arrangements. The Registered Manager takes any recommendations made from these visits seriously and acts upon them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The scheme obtains formal feedback from parents following each holiday and has received very positive feedback from them. In addition, all young people are encouraged to complete an evaluation of the holiday.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

There is sufficient number of suitably skilled and experienced staff and volunteers to meet the needs of young people. Comprehensive records are kept of the training that individual staff and volunteers have undertaken. The Registered Manager ensures that they receive the required mandatory training including safeguarding, first aid and the schemes preferred chosen method of de-escalation and restraint training. Additional training provided includes, health and safety awareness, missing children, anti-bullying and equality and diversity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The scheme ensures that the recruitment and vetting of newly appointed staff and volunteers is robust and meets regulations. Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 7 of 8

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children and young people

The effectiveness of leaders and managers is Good at working in partnership to improve outcomes for children and young people

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children and young people

The scheme is good at working in partnership to improve outcomes for young people. Since registration on 31 March 2015, the scheme has provided four holidays. The Registered Manager ensures that there is good engagement with parents and establish good and effective relationships with young people.

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children and young people

The Registered manager ensures that links are established with the local authority, local safeguarding children’s board, the Local Authority Designated Officer and the local police prior to a holiday taking place in that area. To date, there have not been any safeguarding concerns. In addition, the Registered Manager ensures that all staff are aware of the contact details of health and emergency services. Inspection Report National Deaf Children's Society, 18/08/2015 Page 8 of 8

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About this inspection

The purpose of this inspection is to inform children and young people, parents, the public, local authorities and government of the quality and standard of the service provided. The inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service and to consider how well it complies with the relevant regulations and meets the national minimum standards. The report details the main strengths, any areas for improvement, including any breaches of regulation, and any failure to meet national minimum standards. The judgements included in the report are made againstResidential holiday schemes for disabled children: The inspection framework, evaluation schedule and grade descriptors.

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