Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 1 SC047978 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A privately owned company owns and operates this home. It provides care and accommodation for up to four young people. Young people will have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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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 outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/06/2017 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 02/11/2016 Full Good 22/01/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people benefit from exceptionally strong relationships with staff. Staff are dedicated to young people and provide care that consistently exceeds expectations. This provides a solid foundation from which young people make progress and thrive in all areas of their development. One young person said, ‘Staff here listen to you and now I am much more comfortable.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people make excellent progress in relation to their emotional and mental health. Most young people engage in self-harmful behaviour, at times exposing themselves to high levels of risk. The manager and staff work effectively with the community adolescent mental health services to improve young people’s mental health. For some young people, staff have implemented individualised approaches to managing and reducing the frequency of self-harm. These have proven to be successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people benefit from a calm and relaxed atmosphere. They spend a considerable amount of time caring for a wide range of animals on the farm. Young people say that they find this calming, and at times have found spending time with animals is a way to manage their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff develop very good education or training plans with young people. Staff implement these plans effectively and take into account the disrupted educational experiences for most young people. Young people have made very good progress and are now attending school or training centres. They are more confident, assertive and have friendships. This is outstanding progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people benefit from a comfortable, spacious and well-maintained home. Young people choose the home’s furniture and decoration and they are central to the decisions made about their home. Young people have lovely bedrooms that they can decorate to their taste. The home has lots of play equipment for the pet cats. Young people have a sense of pride in where they live so damage to the home is rare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager, staff and partner agencies promote positive relationships between young people and their families. Young people regularly see and communicate with people who are important to them.

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

Young people have placed themselves at significant risk of harm through self-harmful behaviours. Some young people have moved to the home following long periods in hospital due to self-harm. Incidents of self-harm have reduced considerably. One young person said, ‘I was on lots of meds [medication] and these have reduced. I can now think about how I feel. I can now talk things through without crying.’

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

The staff work hard to keep young people safe. Detailed risk assessments for each young Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 4 person help to guide staff practice and clarify what actions staff should take to safeguard young people. These assessments are regularly updated by managers and staff, taking into account the views of partner agencies and the young people.

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

The response by staff and managers to significant and concerning incidents is excellent, with the primary concern always being the safety and well-being of young people. Following such incidents, the manager undertakes detailed debriefs with staff and young people to understand the underlying reasons for such incidents.

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

Staff are vigilant to young people’s behavioural changes and mood swings. When such changes become apparent, they take immediate action. This is because staff understand the vulnerabilities and potential dangers to young people. Staff are effective in preventing situations from escalating, leading to an overall reduction in concerning incidents.

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

Some young people have previously experienced exploitation, have been missing from care and have had involvement in criminal behaviour. These young people are now safer because young people rarely go missing from this home and there is no criminal activity. High levels of staffing mean that young people are usually with staff. If not, young people’s whereabouts are known to staff and they are in constant contact.

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

The manager has completed a very good location risk assessment. This assessment is comprehensive and considers the risk to each young person arising from the location of the home and the environment. This is excellent work and helps to keep young people safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2017. She will be completing imminently the recognised qualification in management. She receives excellent support from her deputy manager. Both are passionate, committed and relentless in their pursuit of providing excellent care to young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers are central to all the care planning decisions and are strong advocates for young people. They attend professional meetings and consult with partner agencies. When the managers are not satisfied with the responses from other agencies, they will advocate strongly for young people. This is because they understand the importance of having the right services in place to support young people’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is highly motivated, enthusiastic and shows exceptional dedication. The staff team members enjoy spending time with young people, regularly coming into work when not on duty to take young people out. Staff demonstrate patience and perseverance to help young people to overcome very difficult emotions and this has led to the formation of strong bonds between staff and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager provides the staff with exceptionally good support. This includes regular formal supervision and being available to staff at all times. The manager supports staff development through regular training and developmental opportunities. This has created Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 5 a knowledgeable, stable and content staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager understands that central to a successful home are strong quality assurance systems. She has a range of systems to evaluate the service, including:  monthly visits from a challenging and insightful independent visitor  monthly monitoring of all young people, including moods, incidents, attempts at self-harm and relevant analysis  actively seeking information from other professionals on the care and services provided  staff complete anonymised questionnaires on all aspects of the home, including management support. These measures help the manager to drive this home forward and provide an outstanding service to help young people to succeed.

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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: SC047978 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Flat 17, Leeland Mansions, Leeland Road, London W13 9HE

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector(s)

Phillip Morris: social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC047978 7 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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