Setting in Guildford

Registered provider address

Disability Challengers, Stoke Park, Guildford, Surrey, GU1 1TU

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Registered provider address

Inspector Emeline Evans Inspection date 22/08/2016

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children and young people

Good The residential holiday scheme provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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because:

 Young people thoroughly enjoy their time on the holiday scheme, with staff being attentive to young people’s needs.  Young people try new things. This enables them to feel confident as staff celebrate their progress at every opportunity.  Through the constant praise and encouragement they receive, young people are able to develop new skills during their time away.  Young people’s welfare is paramount and this enables young people to be able to relax and enjoy themselves.  The relationships between staff and young people enable staff to be aware if a young person is upset and then intervene appropriately. Behaviour is very well managed.  The managers provide strong and effective leadership. They both work alongside the staff to ensure that young people’s needs are met and also provide advice and encouragement to the staff team.  Risks are known and taken seriously but young people still learn to take new

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because:

risks in a safe environment to develop their skills and experiences.

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions which must be taken so that the registered person(s) meets the Care Standards Act 2000, The Residential Holiday Schemes for Disabled Children (England) Regulations 2013 and the national minimum standards. The registered person(s) must comply with the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that in relation to accommodation provided by the scheme that adequate precautions against the risk of fire have been taken. In particular fire risk assessments for activity centres are followed (Regulation 28(1)(a)). 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure the statement of purpose covers all the matters listed in Schedule 1 (Regulation 3(1)). 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that a copy of the written report prepared on the conduct of the scheme is supplied to HMCI (Regulation 29 (4)(c) (5)). 30/09/2016

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Requirement Due date

Ensure that a report in respect of the monitoring of the matters set out in Schedule 6 is provide to HMCI (Regulation 30 (1) (a) (2) (a)). 30/09/2016

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

 Ensure good recruitment practice is consistently followed. This specifically refers to verbal verification of written references is completed. (National Minimum Standards, 9.2)

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children

This residential holiday scheme for disabled children is part of a charitable trust. The scheme provides weekday or weekend residential trips throughout the year for up to 10 young people at each venue who may have learning disabilities, physical disabilities or sensory needs.

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Good

Young people thoroughly enjoy their time on the holiday scheme, where staff are attentive to young people’s needs. Very positive interactions between staff and young people were observed, and all young people received very individual attention to ensure that specific needs were met. Young people were seen to relax. For example, one young person was seen to arrive feeling anxious and later seen to be running around laughing and enjoying himself. This was achieved through staff reassurance and patience.

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Good

Staff are child focused and support each individual to bring out their confidence through assessing a range of different activities and social situations. Young people try new things, which enables them to feel confident as staff celebrate their progress at every opportunity. Young people are able to make choices throughout the holiday and to just have fun. They can make choices in relation to activities and food and what they wish to do in their free time. Young people are encouraged in developing their independence skills and socialisation in an enjoyable way. For example, two young people were encouraged to make their bed when they arrived and they were proud when they achieved this. Through the constant praise and encouragement they receive, young people are able to develop new skills during their time away.

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Good

Young people are provided with a range of activities, some of which are new to them. During the inspection, young people were able to be involved in cycling, water rockets, kayaking and donutting. One young person stated that she liked all the activities they do and felt it was sad when it ended. Young people’s body language shows that they are very happy, relaxed and have the support to be involved in activities at a level that works for them.

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Good

Accommodation at the holiday centre is well maintained, with lots of space to socialise and time to spend together as a group. Staff take turns to do part of the waking night and this is managed to ensure that staff do not then work the next morning. This enables staff to be available to young people at any time of the day or night. One young person who gets anxious at night time was reassured by this. Young people are able to contact their families if they wish. Staff manage any episodes of young people feeling homesick with sensitivity and reassurance and this results in good outcomes, with young people then enjoying their holiday. Judgement grade

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Good

Young people are kept safe due to staff vigilance in maintaining a safe environment at all times. The events are run on a large complex and safeguards are in place to ensure that no one has unauthorised access to young people. Young people’s welfare is paramount and this enables young people to be able to relax and enjoy themselves. Staff taking part in the events receive regular training in relation to safeguarding procedures and when spoken with, staff were very aware of their responsibilities in this area. They are able to recognise the diverse needs of the young people accessing the service. For example, staff are alert but not overly intrusive in their supervision of young people and are very aware of individual vulnerabilities. Risks are known and taken seriously but young people still learn to take new risks in a safe environment in order to develop their skills and experiences. Staff encourage this and do not let young people’s disability

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Good

Staff have regular opportunities, through the ‘briefings’ in operation at the start of the event and in the evenings, to communicate any concerns that they may have and to share information. Leaders are able to recognise any potential risks and will adapt activities or sleeping arrangements if required. Any safeguarding concerns have been reported appropriately and care planning documentation has been adapted as required. Staff are clear that they work in a team where they are all open and they would not hesitate if they saw a safeguarding situation to report it to a manager immediately.

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Good

High supervision levels minimise the risk of young people going missing. Procedures are in place and are known by staff in case this situation should arise. This ensures that prompt action can be taken to secure the safety of any missing young person.

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Good

The relationships between staff and young people enable staff to be aware if a young person is upset and to then intervene appropriately. Behaviour is very well managed, with situations being de-escalated well. There has been no use of any restraint because staff know the young people well and how to reduce young people’s individual anxieties. This enables the young people to enjoy their time away.

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Good

Medication arrangements are thorough and there are effective arrangements in place to ensure that medication is safely stored and administered. Emergency medication arrangements are considered when allocating staff to work with particular young people and there are clear protocols in place in respect of medical needs such as epilepsy. There is a good procedure for selecting and recruiting staff and processes have been strengthened to ensure that staff cannot work until all appropriate checks have been undertaken. There is now clear oversight during this process. The organisation is continuing to move to an electronic system to enable comprehensive tracking. The necessary people involved in the recruitment process have undergone training in safer recruitment. However, currently, verbal verification of references is not undertaken to fully explore all relevant information when recruiting new staff. This would further strengthen the process to ensure

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Good

Prior to using a new activity centre, the scheme will conduct risk assessments to ensure that the environment is safe. During the inspection, fire doors in the residential accommodation were observed to be held open with door wedges; these are taken to the venue by the scheme’s leaders to keep various doors open due to medical and behavioural needs. This is not in line with the centre’s fire policy. Senior staff members in the organisation took immediate action to resolve this. Before using a holiday centre, managers do not currently request fire risk assessments. These assessments would enable managers to familiarise themselves with the policies relating to fire prevention.

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Good

There are two managers in post who share the role, both who are suitably experienced and qualified. They clearly prioritise the individual needs of the young people who access the holiday schemes. Young people having fun and receiving positive experiences is clearly the aim of the scheme and this is seen in practice. The managers provide strong and effective leadership. They both work alongside the staff to ensure that young people’s needs are met and also provide advice and encouragement to the staff team.

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Good

Staffing is adapted as necessary with high levels of staffing available at all times of the day and night. Staff work well as a team at the same time as working with their allocated young person. When plans during the holiday change, this is very well communicated to young people using appropriate methods of communication. Staff are very well informed of the support needs of young people through briefings and also through the regular reading of individual care plans. Staff have a nurturing approach in how they support the young people to be able to learn and grow in confidence.

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Good

Staff receive regular training. The programme of training provides staff with the appropriate skills to support young people who have disabilities. The organisation invests in the training and induction of new staff into their roles and as a result staff have an energetic and enthusiastic approach to how they care for the young people. There is a sense of fun and enjoyment between staff and young people. All staff are given the opportunity to become familiar with the young people’s needs throughout the holiday and when allocations are changed, staff read young people’s care planning document. They are fully aware of what their designated young person’s needs are as well as other young people on the holiday.

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Good

The scheme’s statement of purpose is informative and clearly outlines the aims and objectives of the scheme. However, it does not contain all the necessary information as required in regulations and requires reviewing to ensure that parents and commissioners have a clear understanding of the scheme and all it has to offer.

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Good

Parents spoken with feel that communication is good and that the staff and managers take swift action to resolve any issues without the need to formally complain. There are very good relationships between the organisation and the parents, who value to service and what it has to offer. One parent stated they have chosen to stay living in the area as they are happy with the level of care and they want their child to carry on accessing the scheme. Managers continually seek feedback from young people and families who use the service. Managers see this as vital and this enables them to reflect on the quality of the service provided and to identify any improvements that can then be made. Managers clearly understand the strengths and weaknesses of the service and regular monitoring is undertaken by someone within the organisation as well as the managers themselves. Reports are produced as a result of this monitoring process. However, these reports

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Good

produced are not currently being sent into Ofsted.

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What the inspection judgements mean

The experiences of children are at the centre of the inspection. Inspectors will use their professional judgement to determine the weight and significance of their findings in this respect. The judgements included in the report are made against ‘Inspection of residential holiday schemes for disabled children: framework for inspection’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences of children attending the residential holiday scheme. Inspectors considered whether the work of residential holiday scheme is founded on safe care and individualised support. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children and each other, and discussed the effectiveness of care given to children. Wherever possible, they talked to children and parents. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the residential holiday scheme knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for children. This 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 Residential Holiday Schemes for Disabled Children (England) Regulations 2013 and the national minimum standards. in the guidance ‘Raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from

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Information about this inspection

Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of this guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234 or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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