Children's home run by Medway Council in Medway

Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 1 SC038070 Registered provider: Medway Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a local authority. Its statement of purpose specifies that it will provide care and accommodation for up to eight children who have experienced rejection and breakdown in their care arrangements.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home has been registered with Ofsted since 30 April 2013.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 September 2018

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and children, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and children 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 who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 20 February 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Recent inspection history

Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2018 Full Good 14/02/2017 Full Outstanding 12/07/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/03/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person should work closely with the placing authority to understand the child’s relationship history and the impact that the child’s arrival may have on the group living in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.3)  There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous

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Recommendations

improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4) In particular, managers should utilise the regulation 44 review process more proactively to continually improve practice.  The registered person should seek to establish a diverse staff team with a range of interests, skills and experiences. They should lead staff to share those interests, skills and experiences with children to enrich the children’s lives. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.6) In particular, further develop methods to better identify the interests, skills, and experiences most relevant, when following staff selection procedures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and children: outstanding

The dedicated staff team consistently provides a warm, caring environment alongside clear boundaries and structure. This enables the children to develop significant and enduring attachments and a sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and children: outstanding

The strong sense of permanence, stability and continuity that is evident in the home helps the children to feel secure. The consistency of care provided to the children helps them to trust others and to begin to explore their difficulties, to develop their sense of identity and to expand their experience of the world. This is reflected in children’s enthusiastic engagement in a wide and rich range of activities, both inside and outside of the home and in their enjoyment of a recent holiday abroad. Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 4 The children invest enthusiastically in the life of the home and readily communicate their ideas, preferences and dislikes and feelings of dissatisfaction, when these arise. The care provided to children is highly individualised, and staff are finely attuned to their needs and fluctuating moods. The sensitivity and insight with which staff respond to the needs

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Overall experiences and progress of children and children: outstanding

of the children has recently been strengthened further by the completion of a formal course in counselling skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and children: outstanding

The staff team is highly committed to the progress that the children make, particularly in developing a strong sense of self and the ability to function effectively in the adult world. Staff strive to identify the most critical areas for each child’s development and to focus on these for maximum gain. In some instances, the progress that some children make is remarkable. For example, one child is now able to catch the train on her own. This is a substantial achievement for her. Most children make significant progress in all areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and children: outstanding

An established culture of shared meals and other joint activities in the home provides the children with plenty of opportunities to develop their social skills and their ability to sustain positive relationships, despite their differences. The development of the home is ongoing. An example of this is the recent increased use of the expansive outdoor area of the home. The children have enjoyed and have learned a great deal from the planting and harvesting of an impressive kitchen garden.

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How well children and children are helped and protected: outstanding

The staff team has succeeded in maintaining a safe physical environment for the children through the meticulous adherence to health and safety checks and high standards of fire safety practice in the home. This is achieved with little impact on the homely atmosphere that has been created.

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How well children and children are helped and protected: outstanding

The action taken by managers to address the previously identified gap in the safe recruitment of contractors has been swift and effective. Current procedures to ensure that any person who has not been through a proper recruitment process does not have unsupervised access to the children are rigorously enforced.

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How well children and children are helped and protected: outstanding

The children express trust and confidence in their carers and are not anxious about their safety. One young person, when asked how safe he feels living in the home, said, ‘I don’t really think about it. There is nothing that has made me feel worried so far.’ A culture of tolerance, care and consideration is promoted in the home, and staff are alert to any suggestion of bullying. This includes taking a proactive and sensitive approach when behaviour might threaten the well-being of the children when they are away from the home.

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How well children and children are helped and protected: outstanding

High levels of staff vigilance, knowledge and skill help to protect the children from the threat of exploitation, including when they are online. On the rare occasions when children go missing from the home, the staff response is swift, focused and sustained until they are located and safeguarded.

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How well children and children are helped and protected: outstanding

Occasions when de-escalation approaches are not successful are rare. When positive Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 5 physical intervention is required, staff respond with skill and expertise, and to the lightest possible degree. Post-intervention practice is of the highest standard and a high priority is placed on helping children to reflect on events. This helps the children to gain insight and to increase their control over unhelpful behaviours. The recording of these events is of a high standard.

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How well children and children are helped and protected: outstanding

Staff are not over protective and support the children to take proportionate risks in line with their levels of ability. This helps to build children’s confidence and feelings of accomplishment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A strong feature of this home is the manager’s clear, confident and considered leadership of a cohesive and dedicated staff team. This manager is supported well by a very capable deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager demonstrates an acute knowledge and understanding of each young person’s journey so far, as well as the current issues and challenges that they face. He understands the capacity of his staff team and effectively oversees all aspects of the home’s operation. However, leaders do not always make the very best use of the regulation review process to consider fully the potential for further improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Members of staff are creative and aspirational in their thinking, planning and ambition for the children and are not complacent about the good standards of care already achieved. The continuous drive to improve standards is reflected in the steps that staff have taken to meet the most critical needs of each young person, and to monitor the progress they make. Managers and skilled staff have developed an effective tool that enables all staff to systematically target the key areas for development for each child, to monitor the effectiveness of these efforts and to evidence the progress that children make. This is an impressive and helpful innovation. Plans are in place to use this approach to improve other aspects of the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The system for considering the likely impact of children moving into the home on the children who are already living there requires some further development to ensure that when it is needed it identifies all the relevant issues clearly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Expert recruitment practice has led to the development of a diverse, enthusiastic, cohesive and skilled staff team. Managers have not fully analysed how they have achieved this or how they might continue to replicate this in the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When staff are appointed, their induction into the caring role is carefully considered and thorough and their probationary experience is clearly documented. Staff value highly the supervision that they receive; this is regular and clearly recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

High standards of care, a highly young person-focused approach and consistently dedicated and effective leadership have created an environment in which children flourish. Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 6

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and children. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and children. They watched how professional staff work with children and children and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and children 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 children 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: SC038070 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Gun Wharf, Dock Road, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TR

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Inspector:

John Pledger, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC038070 8 achieve excellence in the care of children and children, 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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