Aldine House Secure Centre

Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 1 SC046524 Registered provider: Sheffield City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This secure children’s home is operated by a local authority and is approved by the Secretary of State to restrict young people’s liberty. The children’s home can accommodate up to eight young people who are aged between 10 and 17 years. It provides accommodation for up to four young people placed by the Youth Custody Service and for four young people accommodated under Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 who are placed by local authorities. Admission of any young person under Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 who is under 13 years of age requires the approval of the Secretary of State. Education is provided on site in dedicated facilities.

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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

Outcomes in education and related learning activities 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2017 Full Outstanding 13/09/2016 Full Good 02/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/10/2015 Full Good Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered persons must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered persons must comply within the given timescales.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

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(2)(a)(i)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that young people’s risk assessments contain sufficient detail to guide staff on the actions that need to be taken to help keep young people safe. Devise a system so that it is known when young people spend time alone and evidence the checks carried out on them by staff that are in line with risk assessments. Devise a system for ensuring the viability of ligature knives. 28/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35(3)(vii)) 28/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40(4)(e)) 28/10/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care 28/10/2018 Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 4 provided for children (‘a quality of care review’) at least once every six months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (‘the quality of care review report’).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45(1), (2)(a), (3), (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the report submitted to Ofsted refers to:  the monitoring systems that cover all areas of welfare, care and safety  monitoring of young people when alone, day and night  whether the ligature knives remain fit for purpose and are appropriately stored  the quality of records kept. The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33(4)(b)(c)) 28/10/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child; the home’s staff; each child’s family/carers where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23) Ensure that observations of teaching and learning, both in-house and by external partners, are resumed as soon as possible so that staff receive regular and constructive feedback to improve and enhance their practice.  Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 5 and learning unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes

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Recommendations

regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19) In particular, ensure that young people’s access to information technology is increased and enhanced. Improve access to safe internet provision so that they can further develop their computer skills, independent learning and research skills.  Any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the incident. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60) Specifically, following a restraint incident, identify with the young person the trigger that led to the restraint and use this information to help to prevent future incidents.  Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of

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Recommendations

health and well-being. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18) In particular, the care staff and health providers should review the children’s paper health records to ensure that all current and relevant health information is immediately available.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Many of the young people make substantial progress during their time at this home. The young people respond to the dedicated and committed support and care that they receive from the staff. This enables them to recognise the changes that they need to make, going forward in their lives, to build emotional resilience, to have confidence and to gain new life skills and educational learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people develop warm, trusting relationships which enable them to reflect on their past and develop positive coping skills and resilience. The staff have a genuine fondness for the young people who, in turn, seek out their company and reassurance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have numerous avenues that they can follow if they wish to complain about their care. These include an independent advocate whom they can telephone and who visits on a regular basis. The young people were observed to be confident in expressing their views with the staff and each other, so that any issues can be addressed. Assistance for the young people who need increased support to communicate, such as a specialist interpreter, is readily accessed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people attend weekly meetings where they can voice their views and make choices in areas such as activities, menus, furnishings and rewards. They are also involved in the recruitment interviews for new staff. Consequently, the young people have a valued and Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 6 meaningful impact on the running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The parents and professionals speak highly of the service which the young people receive. A parent said: ‘We are so relieved our son came here. We have hope now.’ A professional commented: ‘He’s doing well because of them.’ The young people also made very positive comments about their care and the relationships with the staff. A young person said: ‘They listen and care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are written plans that the staff follow which set out how the young people are to be cared for. The staff are aware of each child’s vulnerabilities, and ensure that they support all the young people by implementing dedicated care plans that focus on harm reduction and risk awareness.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All health staff communicate well with each other and with the residential staff. The health team records and updates information appropriately on the local electronic systems. A paper health record is maintained at the home. However, the information contained in the paper record is variable and does not always adequately detail recent interventions. For example, it was not easy to follow the young people’s health progress against individual care plans in the paper records.

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

The young people said that they feel safe and trust the staff. The positive and well-established relationships that the young people have with the staff form a strong foundation to support good behaviour management. The flexible and individualised incentive scheme provides the young people with clear objectives to achieve. In turn, this helps to ensure that they greatly improve their social skills and the ability to build positive relationships and better regulate their emotions.

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

The staff know and understand the identified risks for each young person in their care, and this helps to keep the young people safe. The young people do not experience bullying. Risks to the young people are assessed, recorded and regularly reviewed. Although the risks are clear, the actions to be taken to reduce or eliminate the risk are not always sufficiently detailed in the individual written risk assessments. The staff clearly demonstrate their knowledge and the strategies to be used to keep young people safe. Therefore, this shortfall in the recording within the risk assessments is not currently impacting on the safety of the young people.

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

The home has good links with the local authority’s children’s services and the Local Safeguarding Children Board (LSCB). There have been several child protection matters that have been referred to local authority since the last inspection. All have been recorded and dealt with in line with the home’s procedures. All but one matter relate to the young people’s experiences before they came to the home. It is notable that the young people feel safe with the staff and have such levels of trust that they feel able to disclose highly sensitive matters, knowing that the staff will support them and deal with the issues appropriately.

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

Physical restraint incidents have reduced and are closely monitored by managers. A member of LSCB visits the home periodically to review restraint practices, providing independent scrutiny. Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 7 Good records are kept of incidents. Although the young people’s views are sought and recorded, they are not fully explored.

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

Physical restraint, single separation and managing the young people away from their peers are used in line with regulations. Risk assessments identify any health concerns that the young people have that require consideration if physical restraint is used. The staff were aware of information in the risk assessments and how to manage the young people safely. Nevertheless, the restraint records do not fully explore what triggered the event and how future incidents could be avoided to inform risk assessments or behaviour plans. Some of these records were not updated after a health review had advised that no action was required. In addition, another record required more detail to advise staff of the actions needed if a medical condition arose.

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

Sanctions are used appropriately and are relevant to the presenting behaviour. Restorative practice is extensively used to promote good behaviour. This helps the young people to understand how their behaviour impacts on others and that they are supported to put right and make good what they have done wrong. As a result, incidents of restraint decline for young people. Records of sanctions and restorative practice are well kept, for the most part. However, the effectiveness of sanctions is not adequately recorded so that managers can monitor whether methods of control are always having the desired impact.

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

The home has a ligature knife that is securely stored and accessible when required. Managers advised that they do not keep records to show when this was purchased, the blade’s viability and lifespan advice from the manufacturer to ensure that it remains fit for purpose. As the knife is relatively new, there is no evidence to suggest that there is a risk of it not performing the task that it is intended for.

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

The combination of good staffing levels, shift planning and a small-scale environment provides close supervision and monitoring of the young people. However, the home has not kept records on when young people who are vulnerable spend time alone. This could impact on their safety.

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

Managers and the staff have a very good awareness of radicalisation and the government’s initiative to prevent young people from becoming radicalised. There are links with the local authority’s lead officer, the regional counter-terrorism team and other relevant professionals to share information and act on any concerns that come to light. There have been no concerns relating to these matters since the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recently completed the level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential childcare. The requirement made at the last inspection has been met. This qualification complements the manager’s wealth of experience in working with young people and his style of leading by example, ensuring that young people receive very good care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Action has been taken to meet the two recommendations made at the last inspection. Two teaching assistants have been recruited to the education staff team to further improve teaching support. The arrangements for pupil premium funding entitlement have been reviewed and enable access to additional funding, to better meet the educational needs of the young people. Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 8 The staff recognise the importance of collaborative working with other professionals and agencies. Professionals confirm that they work exceptionally well with the service, noting that the young people’s needs are given priority. Information is shared, and the manager uses the very positive relationships to advocate for the young people when required. This helps to ensure that the young people receive all the services and support required to achieve the best outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an abundance of communication forums, such as regular managers’ meetings, staff meetings, health team meetings, debriefing sessions and daily shift handovers, that contribute to staff having clear direction and an understanding of the young people’s care. The staff interviewed confirmed that they are well supported and receive formal supervision. Most, but not all, staff routinely receive formal supervision. This does not meet the home’s policy on providing supervision at regular intervals and fails to provide all staff with the same opportunities of formal, one-to-one support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The young people know about their rights and how to complain. The young people who make complaints benefit from being listened to, and swift action is taken to investigate. The outcomes of these investigations are shared with the young people, who comment and express their satisfaction with the conclusions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a range of systems to support good monitoring of the service. This includes the independent monthly monitoring through the regulation 44 visits, progress reports on the young people, behaviour management, health, safety and security checks, and regulation 45 monitoring reports. Recently, the management team has been depleted, with some managers assisting in other services within the local authority and one post being temporarily vacant. Nevertheless, several omissions from the quality assurance monitoring systems have been identified. These include the regulation 45 report not being sent to Ofsted in line with the regulations, and the omission of detailed checks and information on the viability of ligature knives, the management monitoring for the young people spending time alone and the quality assurance checks to ensure that the staff undertake routine checks on the young people at night.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Ofsted were not notified of a serious event at the time that it occurred, as required by the regulations. This incident involved a young person causing damage to property, a serious assault on a staff member and a security breach. The registered manager promptly undertook a detailed review of this incident and concluded that it was not well managed. Comprehensive action was taken to address both the identified shortfalls in practice and the missed opportunity to curtail the serious event much sooner. However, the managers had failed to identify and act upon a key issue from an incident that had taken place two days earlier. That may have prevented the subsequent incident or minimised its impact. The incident of the breach in security was promptly passed onto the relevant supporting agencies. This falls short of the expected response to such a serious occurrence, and has impacted on the safety and well-

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

being of the young people. Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 9

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The quality of education and related learning activities is good, with some outstanding features.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The strong nurturing ethos in education provides a safe and enabling place for young people to achieve well. Initial assessments are undertaken promptly. Specific diagnostic testing ensures that young people with learning difficulties and disabilities receive the right type of additional support for dyslexia, and signing for a profoundly deaf young person. The head of learning has worked tenaciously to call local authorities to account by ensuring that the pupil premium payments and additional resources are accessible for those young people whom they are responsible for.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

All young people make good and sometimes excellent progress from their starting points, achieving at least one grade above their expected levels in English and mathematics. In addition, the young people gain accreditation in an expanding range of subjects. These positive outcomes support good transitions back to school or college when they leave.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good. Teachers plan well and ensure that learning objectives and resources match and extend the young people’s abilities appropriately. Teaching assistants provide good support in lessons, which helps young people to fully participate. Strong teaching in mathematics ensures that there is good concentration, with everyone working purposefully to complete a coordinated task. In English, the young people were learning about immigration in the 1960s, and most engaged well. However, one young person struggled to understand some of the words and ideas being discussed, and soon lost concentration.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Lesson observations and learning walks have declined over the last few months and, while informal walks have continued, learning points have not been formally captured to help staff to reflect upon and improve their practice.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Monitoring and tracking systems regarding progress and achievement are good. Information about the young people’s progress and attainment is regularly recorded, and a very helpful data dashboard correlates weekly performance regarding attendance, behaviour and attitude in lessons. Regular reviews with the young people ensure that they remain motivated and on track to meet and often exceed their targets.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

There is constant and positive feedback and encouragement of the young people in lessons. However, marking of work files is less evident. When given, written feedback is clear and constructive, and young people say that these comments help them to improve.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The young people enjoy their time in education. Relationships between staff and young people are good, and this ensures that participation levels are also good. The young people generally work safely and sensibly on activities. Behaviour is mostly good, and any minor disruptions are managed efficiently and quietly. Attendance is now consistently high, and there are very few exclusions or unauthorised absences.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The curriculum meets the young people’s needs appropriately. The introduction of the science, Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 10 technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) strand offers the young people new opportunities to extend their knowledge and creativity in learning. Practical activities are balanced well with academic study. Physical education is popular, and music is a highly valued and successful activity. Enrichment programmes are well coordinated and support the curriculum effectively. Equality, diversity and British values are embedded across the curriculum, and young people demonstrate good awareness in these areas. Poor internet access and limited use of information technology have lessened young people’s opportunities to develop their computer skills and undertake independent learning and research.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Education is well managed. The head of learning is highly ambitious for young people. She brings innovation and a ‘can do’ attitude to her work, encouraging her team to do the same. Plans for the new building and staffing structure demonstrate her drive and ambition. The advisory board is proactive. Members are highly supportive of the provision and expect the best possible outcomes for young people.

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Information about this inspection

For inspections of secure children’s homes, Ofsted is assisted by an inspector from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in Ofsted’s evaluation of health services provided for children (authorised by HMCI under section 31 of the Care Standards Act 2000).

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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 difference 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 secure children’s home: SC046524 11

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Children’s home details

Registered Provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspectors

Debbie Foster: social care inspector Shaun Common: social care inspector Paul Taylor: social care inspector Stella Butler: social care inspector Tim Byrom: health and justice inspector, Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection report secure children’s home: SC046524 12 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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