Children's home run by Norfolk County Council in Norwich

Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 1 SC065883 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Children’s Services 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 short-term breaks for children who have severe learning or physical disabilities, including complex health needs. The home can accommodate up to nine children at any time. The home has a registered manager who has been in post since October 2009.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 12 to 13 November 2018

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/08/2017 Full Good 05/10/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 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

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety. The registered person may only— 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

The requirements are that— full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to verifying, as far as is reasonably practical, why staff left any previous role working with children or vulnerable adults. 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11) In particular, this refers to the registered manager making sure that all staff have and maintain the knowledge that they need to provide safe and appropriate care for the children and being mindful of this in the planning and timing of any training.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As this is a short-break service, the staff work with a high number of children. They use their handovers and planning time to make sure that they know the plans and needs of Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 4 the children who are staying on any day. By doing this, they can use the clear and informative plans that are written for the children to provide a good level of care which meets the children’s individual needs well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have good relationships with placing social workers, schools and the children’s parents, which helps to make sure that everyone knows how the children are doing and how they can help them to do even better. Some parents said how much their children enjoy visiting the home and how their children get excited when they know they are going.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff make sure that the children get chances to take part in a wide range of activities, which expand their experiences and give them chances to enjoy themselves and to take age-appropriate risks. The level of activity is based on the children’s levels of needs and abilities. Activities include:

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

 playing with sensory toys  playing with water  cooking  using communication mats  using the sensory room  camping  kayaking  going to the theatre  visiting the beach, museums, parks and cafes  using buses and trains.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well equipped with specialist toys and equipment so that the children are not inappropriately limited in their opportunities. This includes a wheelchair swing and specialist bath as well as the range of communication aids that the staff use.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children get to spend time with other children and to make friendships. One child invited several of the friends he had made at the home to his birthday party.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff help the children to develop their independence. For some children, this can be using a drinking cup unaided and for others it can be using public transport, helping to wash themselves or helping with the hoovering.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The managers and staff make the moves into and out of the home as easy for the children as they can. The children have planned introductions so that they start using the service at a pace which is right for them. A social worker and a parent spoke about how well the staff had helped the children to move on to adult services. When the children leave the home, the staff mark this with a cake and a card. The children are given a journey book with photographs of their times at the home and the activities that Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 5 they have taken part in.

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

The managers and staff have effective systems in place to assess and manage the risks for the children. Some children reduce their risk-taking behaviours because of the work that the staff do. For example, they have worked with one child to help him understand about appropriate boundaries as he could be overly friendly to people in the community and this could have put him at risk. Some parents spoke about how well they feel that the staff keep their children safe.

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

There is a very low level of risk-taking behaviours because of the high levels of staff supervision. This includes how the staff oversee the use of the computers on which the children can access the internet. They supervise this to prevent any inappropriate use. The staff also work with the children’s families to make sure that they are using any personal devices (such as mobile phones) safely.

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

The managers and staff take a sensitive approach to behaviour management. A social worker said that this is something that they do well. The staff may put a consequence in place in response to a child’s behaviour but only if they feel that the child will understand it and that it will help them in developing appropriate behaviour. Staff do not use sanctions in response to behaviour if the children will not understand them.

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

The managers and staff identify and share any safeguarding concerns, which is important in making sure that the children are protected. They know that the children can be more vulnerable because of their disabilities.

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

There is a recruitment process to assess the suitability of potential new staff to work with children. It was a recommendation of the last inspection that this included checking why they left any previous roles working with children or vulnerable adults. There are no records of this for one new member of staff. Although the registered manager said that it was discussed at the interview, it is not included in the interview notes, the employment checks or the verbal verification of the previous employer’s reference. While this is only one part of the recruitment system, and the previous employer’s reference was positive, failing to ensure that this information is sought and recorded does limit the effectiveness of the checks to a degree.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff care about the children. They monitor children’s progress and want them to do well and to have good experiences when staying at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably qualified and has a good level of experience. The staff team is highly qualified and experienced. This helps to make sure that the children receive good levels of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children have good opportunities to express their views and the managers and staff Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 6 use these views to influence elements of the home and the care of the children. As with other aspects of the children’s care, this is done in ways which meet the needs of each child. For example, for some children, this may be staff offering a choice of toys, food or drink and staff interpreting their response. For others, it may be choosing what activities they would like to do. The staff have arranged activities such as swimming and have more dressing up materials because children have asked for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers give staff appropriate supervision and the staff value the support from the managers. There is a wide range of training available. Some staff have not had refresher training at the frequency that the organisation sets. There has not been any training around child sexual exploitation since 2016 and some staff have started since this time. The registered manager said that she would expect any staff who are feeling uncertain about issues, or need additional information, to raise this in their supervision. However, this places the responsibility for recognising the need for training on staff, who may not see it or may feel unable to raise it. This has the potential to leave some staff less well informed and knowledgeable than they need to be to care for children consistently, safely and well.

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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: SC065883 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Norfolk County Council, Chief Executives, County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2DH

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Inspector

Clive Lucas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC065883 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 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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