Children's Home run by Ravensbourne Project in Lewisham

Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 1 Registered provider: Ravensbourne Project Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is a short-breaks residential home and day service. It provides care for young people with learning or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. The home can provide overnight short breaks for up to five young people (providing that two of the five young people are brothers or sisters – of the same gender) aged between eight and 18 years of age. The home operates at weekends during term time only and all holiday periods.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since 2016.

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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

Date of last inspection: 2 November 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 3

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Statutory requirements

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

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‘s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children‘s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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Requirement Due date

In particular, a register of children. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (―the Level 3 Diploma‖); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or 30/11/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 4 in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32(4)(a)(b), (5)(a)(b), (6)(a)(b)) Fitness of workers

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children‘s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32(2)(a)(b), (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must maintain a system to ensure that all staff‘s enhanced criminal record certificates are up to date. 30/11/2018

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children‘s home‘s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home‘s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home‘s statement of purpose. 30/11/2018 Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 5 (Regulation 6(1)(a), (2)(a)(b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff must ensure that young people always have positive day-to-day living experiences when accessing the short- break service.

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Recommendations

 Children‘s homes should be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of the children. They will in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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Recommendations

In particular, the home must ensure that the garden room window is repaired and that the young people‘s bedroom washbasin tap is repaired.

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Recommendations

 Children‘s homes must comply with the relevant health and safety legislation (food hygiene). (‗Guide to the children‘s homes regulations including the quality standards‘, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

In particular, staff must ensure that all food is regularly checked for expiry dates and freshness. Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make good progress from their starting points during their short-break stays. As a result of partnership working with schools and parents, staff set age- and ability-based skills targets for young people. Young people‘s progress includes success in developing their independent skills, choosing different foods and improved engagement in structured play activities. Young people‘s short breaks are arranged in advance, with the allocation based on their differing needs, staffing ratios and, where possible, young people‘s friendship groups. This helps to ensure that young people have a safe and enjoyable stay. Young people safely participate in a wealth of exciting activities both inside and outside of the home. Seasonal themes such as nature are incorporated into planned holiday activities. Cooking, arts and crafts and summer barbecues, alongside visits using the home‘s minibus to the seaside, farms, shops and the pantomime, help to broaden and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

enrich young people‘s experiences. Adaptations around the home ensure that all young people have access to the communal areas, the fully equipped sensory room and the outside space, including the vegetable garden. The home is generally well maintained. However, a garden room window was found to be in need of repair, while one bedroom tap needs replacement. Staff know the young people very well. Their knowledge of young people‘s health, social and emotional needs, as well as their diet, routines, activity preferences and communication styles, helps to ensure that all of the young people‘s needs are met by staff during their short break. Many of the young people who use the service are non-verbal. Staff‘s effective use of alternative communication styles ensures that young people have a voice in the home. For example, young people are helped to make their own healthy meal choices or change their activity plans according to their wishes and feelings during their short break.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Comprehensive shift planning, alongside appropriate levels of staff supervision, enables staff to provide care that is bespoke to the individual needs of young people. However, one parent commented in a recent survey that the home‘s environment was ‗busy, and sometimes chaotic‘. Young people who use the short-break service share the home‘s communal spaces and activity arrangements with young people using the day-care service. During the inspection, lunchtime arrangements created a very busy and noisy environment. Staff appeared overwhelmed and the registered manager had to direct the staff to ensure that all of the young people‘s needs were being met. Leaders and managers agreed with the inspector‘s observations and said that they plan to take steps to address this. Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 7

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

The home provides a safe physical environment for young people during their short breaks. Young people do not go missing from the home. The use of an electronic keypad system to enter and exit the building helps to keep young people safe. Staff accompany young people in the community at all times. The parents spoken with said that young people are safe during their stay at the home. The registered manager ensures that all statutory certificates for fire checks and health and safety checks are both current and reviewed in line with regulations. Regular fire drills are conducted when young people stay, and each young person has a personal emergency evacuation plan. This ensures that the young people and staff are familiar with the procedures, should an emergency occur. Safeguarding practices help to protect young people and promote their welfare. All staff receive training in child protection and specialist nurses provide staff with bespoke

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

medical training to support young people‘s individual health and medication needs. However, the inspector found food products in the kitchen that were out of date, which could place the young people‘s health at risk. The home‘s risk management system highlights any risks in relation to each young person. Combined with behaviour support plans, staff manage risks well and use the young people‘s individualised plans effectively to help to minimise challenging behaviour. There have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection. Leaders and managers offer additional support to young people and their parents. Examples include the responsible individual supporting young people with dental appointments and staff providing help and advice to parents during professionals‘ meetings. A parent said, ‗Staff come to school, and support me with social worker meetings, and the key worker tells me about the support I can get.‘

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

Permanent staff are subject to robust recruitment procedures. However, not all agency staff have the appropriate level 3 qualification or an up-to-date enhanced criminal record check on their files. Moreover, the registered manager has not established a register of young people who attend the short-break service. The registered manager is addressing these shortfalls.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a detailed understanding of the strengths and opportunities of the home. The responsible individual and registered manager regularly join the staff on shift. As a result, leaders and managers know the service and the young people well. Leaders and managers have established links with professionals and the wider community. For example, staff work effectively with schools and parents. Staff and teachers share the young people‘s changing development needs. This helps to ensure Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 8 that young people‘s care plans are dynamic and responsive. This approach is enhanced by holding coffee mornings at the home, at which information is shared between staff and parents. Staff presentations help parents to understand the home‘s ethos and the availability of additional support services in the wider community. A parent said, ‗Staff are approachable, attentive and compassionate.‘

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe the registered manager as ‗supportive‘. Leaders and managers are highly knowledgeable. They share their skills and expertise in an advisory capacity with the local authority care panel. This enhances leaders‘ and managers‘ awareness and understanding of local services available to young people who stay at the home. The registered manager conducts regular reviews of the home‘s quality of care. The monthly independent visitor reports reveal the home‘s strengths and any areas for improvement. The home‘s monitoring systems are further enhanced by the registered manager‘s monthly telephone feedback surveys of parents and professionals. Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 9

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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 children‘s home: 1257289 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ravensbourne Project

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Inspector

Victoria Jones, social care inspector Inspection report children‘s home: 1257289 11 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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