Children's home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire Dales

Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 1 SC439882 Registered provider: Derbyshire County 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 local authority children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six children and young people who have physical disabilities and/or learning difficulties. The home provides long-term care and short breaks. The manager was registered by Ofsted in October 2011.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 November 2017

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 2 21/11/2017 Full Outstanding 27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/10/2016 Full Outstanding 16/02/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive exceptionally good care. This is made possible because the manager and staff develop excellent care and placement plans. These plans are detailed and thorough. They enable staff to fully understand the care and health needs of each child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A real strength of the service is the ability of the staff to engage with and support families. Parents and carers are able to be involved in all aspects of their children’s care. One parent said, ‘It’s brilliant here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children develop self-confidence because they have access to stimulating and exciting activities. For example, they recently went on an adventure holiday that included rock climbing and canoeing. Children said that they had a wonderful time. This holiday typifies the culture and ethos of the home, which focus on helping children with disabilities to lead a full and active life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy and benefit from very good relationships with staff. Staff have very good systems in place for communicating with children, such as symbols and Makaton. Staff provide each child with consistent and predictable care. This allows strong and affectionate bonds to form between children and staff. Children are happy, thriving and enjoying life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make excellent progress in their education. Their school attendance is consistently high. Staff from the school and the home liaise daily, providing a consistent approach across care and education. Because educational targets are fully understood by care staff, children are given the support that they need to achieve well.

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

Staff have a very good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of children. Risk assessments and safe care plans are of the highest quality. This helps staff and managers to understand and reduce risks to children. Staff are skilful in managing risk so that children can try new activities and safely challenge themselves. This builds children’s self-confidence and self-esteem.

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

The behaviour of children is good. This is because staff are skilled in recognising when children become heightened and preventing children’s behaviour from deteriorating. The manager and staff record behavioural incidents well. This helps them to analyse any patterns and trends so that behaviour management plans can be updated.

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

When concerns have been raised about the practice of staff in relation to keeping children safe, the manager has undertaken extensive investigations. The manager has taken robust action to put improvements in place when this has been required, and has learned valuable lessons for future practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 4 The manager and staff work well with partner agencies to protect children. Staff understand their role in protecting children. They attend important meetings and contribute effectively. Staff report any concerns that they may have to the relevant agencies in a timely manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is exceptionally knowledgeable and committed. She makes sure that the service is well organised. She has a recognised qualification in leadership and management, and is currently in the process of completing the level 5 diploma. The manager receives very good support from her own line manager, and is well supported by a deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The skills and knowledge of the staff team increase because they have access to high- quality training and development. The training and development of staff are further enhanced by regular team development days. These development days focus on individual children and their specific care needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff say that they value and benefit from regular professional supervision. These individual supervision meetings ensure that staff are accountable in their work. Staff can discuss any concerns they may have and review the safeguarding needs of children. Team meetings take place regularly. Staff enjoy these meetings. Staff feel valued, listened to and well motivated. A staff member said, ‘It is like a big family.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses a wide range of well-developed systems to review the quality of care. In addition to the monthly independent visitor report, the manager regularly canvasses parents and carers, social workers, children and staff for their views. These views are taken seriously, and are used to shape development plans.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 5 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: SC439882 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Matlock, Derbyshire DE4 3AG

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Inspector

Phillip Morris: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC439882 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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