Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in West Berkshire

Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 1 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 home is run by a privately owned organisation with many homes around the country. The home provides assessment and treatment for children who present challenging behaviour due to their early traumatic life experiences. It is set in a rural village location. Children may attend the organisation‟s school, located five miles away.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and its manager registered with Ofsted on 26 July 2018 and this is its first inspection.

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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: not applicable Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 2

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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

In order to meet the protection of children standard the registered person must ensure:

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Requirement Due date

that staff assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that identified risks are addressed by strategies to reduce their likelihood or their impact on the child or others. Also, ensure that staff assess physical activities and settings that have inherent risk factors and/or are familiar with a setting‟s own risk assessment and its suitability for particular children. 28/12/2018

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular, provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that these records include consultation with the designated officer of the local authority regarding safeguarding concerns raised about staff, even if it is agreed that they do not require the officer‟s further involvement. 28/12/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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Recommendations

In particular, consider training in the promotion of tolerance, equality and diversity. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 3  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the general principles for behaviour management in children‟s homes are respected. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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Recommendations

In particular, when the home‟s manager has implemented such a measure a senior manager should monitor its use.

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Recommendations

 Any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In some cases it will be important for children to make reparation in some form to anyone hurt by their behaviour, and the staff in the home should be skilled to support the child to understand this and carry it out. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a workforce plan which should detail the process for managing and improving poor performance. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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Recommendations

 A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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Recommendations

In particular, records should be produced in a timely fashion to ensure that they are relevant, checked for accuracy and promptly acted on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a home where children are accepted and loved even though their previous experiences and consequent behaviour may have led them to feel rejected and unlovable. The manager and staff create a warm and nurturing environment that has boundaries and expectations that make it a secure place too.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is exemplified by a conversation in which a child said he was „very naughty‟ for damaging his room, to which the manager replied that he was „telling us you are really upset‟ and „if you break things we will try to make it right for you when you come back from school‟. This approach lessens children‟s sense of shame and builds their experience of caring adults valuing them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are responding positively, for example by learning to play together or trying new experiences, although, as none have been here for more than a few months, the longer-term impact is still to be realised. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 4 Staff help children to meet challenges, great or small, by creating safe and accepting relationships between themselves and the children, and between children. This includes going into school to support children, which improves their engagement with learning, and developing camaraderie.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff espouse a restorative approach to misbehaviour, but most sanctions are straightforward consequences, and a few are unrelated to what happened. This means that the emphasis is on a child learning that there are implications for conduct rather than the importance of repairing relationships. More generally, though, the manager and staff use their knowledge of the effect of trauma to inform practice. This leads to interventions that meet the emotional needs of children as a priority, such as helping them calm when in a heightened state before explaining why their behaviour is unhelpful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in the home, especially the space available to them in the house and the garden. One professional related how a member of staff accompanied her and a child travelling to the home, saying, „She was great with him… explaining about bed times and routines and what the house was like. When we arrived he said, “Wow! You were telling the truth!” He loved his bedroom and said, “this is amazing”.‟

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to develop their own interests and attend activities in the community to extend their range of experiences and social contacts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When possible, the staff work with families or former carers, promoting the importance of these relationships for children. The fact that parents and others know where they live and have seen where they sleep helps children to accept the care given here.

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

The manager and staff have a clear understanding of the risks children may present due to their behaviours and inability to regulate their feelings, and of risks children may be subject to.

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

The manager obtains comprehensive information when children are referred and draws up detailed impact risk assessments that consider the match with existing residents. This ensures, as far as possible, the compatibility of children placed in the home.

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

Individual assessments address ongoing risks, but corresponding strategies to minimise them are not always identified. This could lead to new staff not having a clear idea of how to react if a risk presents itself. However, the practice of existing staff is strong; as one professional commented, „They are clear and explicit about how they will handle things, such as missing. There is a sense of experience and knowing what could happen.‟

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

Staff have not produced assessments for activities that have added risks, such as horse riding, or obtained these from the owners of stables and other establishments. This means it is not clear that staff are aware of potential hazards or have assessed how suitable venues are for specific children. Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 5 The staff are aware of how to respond to safeguarding concerns, including how to escalate them if they are not satisfied that proper action has been taken. The manager has informed local and placing authorities when children have made disclosures or allegations. However, in one case, when the designated officer of the local authority was consulted the manager did not retain a record of the conversation, which it is understood would have confirmed that further action was not required. This left a deficient audit trail.

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

Observations made during the inspection demonstrated that children were comfortable with the adults looking after them and had developed trusting relationships, asking to spend time with particular members of staff. A foster carer said she had seen that staff „are consistent and relationships are getting stronger and stronger‟.

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

The interactions between members of a new team with relatively recently placed children are remarkably well attuned. A professional said of a child that, „Staff were genuinely concerned about him, wanting to get things right.‟ Children gradually understand this too, despite frequent instances of hostility towards staff. The careful handling of these incidents and the reassurance offered by staff afterwards helps children become safer and better able to cope themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an ambitious vision for the home, with clear ideas of how she wants it to evolve to meet the needs of children by using therapeutic approaches and encouraging developmental progression. Integral to this vision is the development of her team‟s knowledge, skills and confidence, which is achieved by high-quality induction, continuing training, effective supervision and motivational leadership. Staff comment very favourably on this; one said, „I could not ask for a better manager. She is calm, approachable and a role model with children. I see how she works with them and think, “Yes, I‟m going to do it like that next time.”‟

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A professional said she was, „impressed with the manager‟s detailed observations and plans for care and education, which were really child centred‟. This leads to high standards of individualised care, underpinned by clear placement and behaviour support plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff seek children‟s ideas and implement them whenever possible. These include menus, decor and how rewards for positive behaviour are set. As a result, children know that their ideas are important and that they can influence their environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Positive relationships are being built with agencies and community organisations to ensure the support of children. Within these relationships, the manager and staff have appropriately challenged the practice of other professionals and successfully advocated for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff are meeting the aims set out in the home‟s statement of purpose. However, this document needs to reflect the standard for the frequency of staff Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 6 supervision that is set in the workforce plan. Records show that sessions are sufficiently frequent, but written notes from the manager‟s own supervision are not produced promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team has given some thought to promoting equality and diversity by celebrating the feasts of different faiths. Ideas remain at an early stage and records do not show that these issues permeate thinking. Children‟s understanding of difference and capacity for tolerance is therefore not yet being effectively developed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff and managers comprise a strong team. There is good evidence of reflection on and challenge to practice, with all tiers of staff having ideas to enhance children‟s experiences and showing a pervasive desire to improve children‟s life chances.

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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: 2483715 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(s)

Chris Peel, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 2483715 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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