Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in Oxfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 1 SC482296 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

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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 is a privately owned children’s home that provides care and accommodation for up to eight children who, according to its statement of purpose, ‘may have specific emotional, behavioural and attachment difficulties due to early childhood trauma’. Currently all the children are boys. The organisation’s school is located on the same site.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 27 May 2009.

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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 good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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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: outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/08/2017 Full Outstanding 08/11/2016 Full Outstanding 21/04/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 17/12/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recommendations

 Each child should have permission for staff to administer first aid and non- prescription medication from a person with parental responsibility for them recorded in their relevant plan. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.14)

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Recommendations

 Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19) These records include logs for sanctions and physical interventions. If it is not appropriate or possible to obtain direct comments, staff should record children’s views ascertained through observation or other sources.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which should:  Detail the process and timescales for supervision of practice and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8) In particular, include commentary about individual and group supervision sessions in a way that sets a standard for what will be provided for employees.

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Recommendations

 Case records must be kept up to date, signed, and dated by the author of each entry. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff ensure that there are lots of opportunities for activities or accomplishments which children enjoy and that help them to feel good about themselves. These range from growing their own vegetables and getting to the top of a climbing wall with the help of a friend, to attending school more than ever before or learning to swim.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Successes are marked with rewards for reaching targets, for example by presenting children with a ‘wow sheet’ in response to them doing something positive. As a result, children’s self-esteem develops, and they come to see themselves as being able to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff chart progress by a regular assessment of ability across a range of developmental areas. Currently, the scheme allows staff to score and demonstrate change month by month, but it does not easily show improvement over a longer period. Nevertheless, staff, parents and professionals all recount the remarkable progress which children have made since first coming to the home. A social worker described this as ‘huge’ for one child and a mother said of her son, ‘The difference in him since he has been here is so good.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff go to great lengths to help children make successful moves into the home, preparing them and the boys already here for the transition. Boys feel warmly welcomed by adults and peers. They settle quickly, often after unhappy experiences elsewhere, and begin to benefit from the placement. A child who recently arrived spoke of making friends, trying new activities and enjoying school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The whole team is especially adept at helping children understand their feelings and cope with uncertainty, which can be a source of conflict and stress. For most children, these feelings reduce over time as they experience being valued and cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Each child has a stepping stone with their name on it in the garden that symbolises their ‘belonging’ here and exemplifies the remarkably nurturing environment in which children thrive. Although larger than most children’s homes, it has a homely feel. Boys individualise bedrooms with their choice of bedding and accessories. One was pleased to show off the feature wallpaper in his room, chosen because it strikingly illustrated his hobby.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Extensive grounds provide a great range of facilities, some shared with the school. Children feed the animals, tend an allotment and join in tidying up after themselves. In this way, boys feel that adults invest in them by supporting their interests and they, in turn, take admirable responsibility for their environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff meticulously plan children’s moves on from the home, whether returning to parents, being fostered or going to another residential placement. Excellent records show that children are prepared as well as possible, emotionally and practically. A parent described how staff worked with her and new staff to make a planned but rapid Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 4 move as smooth as possible, saying that they did ‘absolutely the right thing’ for him.

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

The manager and staff follow safeguarding procedures and liaise well with other agencies to keep children safe. The manager invited the designated officer of the local authority to visit the home and comment on the home’s premises review. She is following up the advice given. The designated officer described the home as being ‘proactive, timely and transparent in dealing with us’. The manager is keen to learn lessons from incidents to ensure that practice is safe, and processes are effective at safeguarding children and staff.

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

Key-work records demonstrate the use of a new bullying protocol and resource pack that gives a clear structure and helpful tools for addressing incidents. Observations during the inspection demonstrated that children are happy and feel safe in one another’s company and with staff.

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

Staff, aided by excellent behaviour support plans, are adept at identifying signs that children are not managing situations and they intervene to avoid potential difficulties. Children respond well to the clear and consistent boundaries set for them.

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

Managers and staff are concerned about the use of racist terms by children when emotionally heightened. They have utilised several creative approaches to address the issue, which typifies the extent to which the managers and staff actively address discrimination; they are determined not to be thwarted by a difficult problem.

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

The home has relied on placing authority paperwork that confers permission for staff to administer medication and to give consent for health workers to perform emergency treatment. However, it does not cover first aid. Therefore no one with parental responsibility has authorised staff to give such aid.

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

Children talk openly to workers about concerns, including their own behaviour, knowing that staff will not be judgemental but find ways to help. Staff help children understand that there are other people, such as independent reviewing officers, who take an interest in them and in what happens in the home, who they can talk to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a very experienced manager and benefits from a stable staff team whose members are confident in their roles and provide highly attuned individualised care. Staff members constantly think about how they work, challenging themselves and each other to develop practice further. This results in a service that is continually adapting to children’s needs and taking on new ideas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff have addressed recommendations made at the last inspection effectively, particularly in adopting a restorative approach to undesirable behaviour. Staff Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 5 help children to repair relationships rather than feel punished. This reduces conflict, feelings of shame and the need for sanctions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Spontaneous discussions among colleagues or conversations with a supervisor readily take place, allowing staff to obtain support and deal with issues promptly. Staff value formal individual and group supervision to reflect on their practice and focus on professional development. The home’s statement of purpose and workforce plan state that ‘all staff receive regular supervision with their line manager’, but ‘regular’ could be widely interpreted so does not set a clear standard for what employees should expect.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Case files are in good order, helped by a key worker’s checklist to ensure that documentation is up to date. However, the use of the checklist had not found gaps in information caused by a technical ‘glitch’ (rectified during the inspection) nor where the author or date of an entry was not clear. This leads to a lack of clarity or difficulty in tracing responsibility.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s views are extremely well detailed in behaviour support plans, which means that staff have a clear knowledge of, for example, what strategies are likely to work or not. However, contributions to placement plans are very general and neither managers nor staff record children’s views about sanctions or physical interventions. Staff assess what the immediate effectiveness of a sanction is but not its impact over time. These shortfalls make them less useful as sources of feedback for practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has produced a parents’ guide to complement the guide given to children; it contains helpful information for those who may have little else to draw on. Parents and professionals are very complimentary about working with the home to support children. One social worker said, ‘All the staff have the same approach, helping children to understand their actions and effects. I’m very pleased to work with them.’ Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 6

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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: SC482296 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Turnpike Gate House, Alcester Heath, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5JG

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Inspector

Chris Peel, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC482296 8 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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