Children's Home run by Hillcrest Children's Services (2) Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 1 SC398386 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited

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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 provides care for up to four children whose adverse childhood experiences and trauma can lead to them exhibiting complex behaviours. A large national provider operates this home.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2016. She holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 November 2018

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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 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: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2017 Full Good 21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 04/07/2016 Full Good 30/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Professionally qualified staff employed by the home, e.g. teachers or social workers, should be provided with relevant professional or clinical supervision by an appropriately qualified and experienced professional. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make excellent progress due to the high-quality care they receive. Children build strong relationships with a dedicated and stable staff team. Staff work tirelessly to provide children with a nurturing and family environment. One member of staff told the inspector, ‘There is nothing like when they are all sat at the table and laughing over their dinner; it’s just the best.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are well supported to move into and out of the home, with individual plans that are devised with the child’s specific needs in mind. For example, staff consulted with a new child about the design of her bedroom before she moved in. Staff then made sure that the bedroom was decorated as agreed in readiness for her arrival. For another child, staff went to work at his new home for two weeks after his move to help him to settle in and to ensure that staff at the new home were aware of his needs. This exceptional attention to detail means that children experience positive transitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support for education is excellent. Staff are aspirational for the children, which starts with having a culture where school is an expected part of the daily routine. Because of this, children with a significant history of disrupted education are now achieving 100% school attendance. One teacher told the inspector that teamwork with the staff is strong; ‘Anything we need they just do.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have fun. They have opportunities to try a range of new and exciting experiences, such as going horse riding, trying rock climbing, and attending a local boxing club and scouts. Children enjoy day trips and going on holidays, including holidays abroad. These are documented in the home’s monthly newsletter. Staff place high importance on the children enjoying the same opportunities as other children, and will not allow children to be socially disadvantaged because they are looked after. This enables children to develop self-confidence and self-esteem. Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 4 Children are provided with a range of opportunities to express their views. Children assess their own progress to help to inform their care plans. Children can plan their own activities and make decisions about the home. One of the children’s ideas was to organise a charity event. The event was held in the garden of the home and resulted in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

children raising over £150. This inclusive approach ensures that children know that their views are important and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are supported to develop age-appropriate self-care skills. Each child does their own household chores. Because of this, children take pride in their home. Older children have individual independence plans. These are devised with the children and include staff and children’s targets. They are reviewed regularly, which allows children to see their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are enabled to remain in touch with people who are important to them. This support includes staff travelling long distances with children to enable them to maintain family links. Staff are highly skilled at managing the emotional impact of these visits and will plan these visits with children to make sure they feel safe and supported. A social worker told the inspector, ‘They act as a buffer for him with his family. He has a chaotic family and they manage that for him so that he doesn’t get anxious.’

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

Children told the inspector that they feel safe.

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

Staff provide well-planned therapeutic care that is agreed with children and their clinical therapists. Staff make sure children have well-designed placement plans, behaviour support plans and risk assessments. These are reviewed and updated regularly. Because of this, children are supported to make positive changes to their behaviour.

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

Children have high regard for the staff and do not want to disappoint them. Staff support this with the use of positive praise and rewards, which is intrinsic to the home’s culture. When children have shown challenging behaviour, they are encouraged to rebuild relationships by apologising to each other and writing letters. Children learn that they can move on from difficulties in a positive manner.

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

Staff carry out individual work with children that helps them to understand risks and to develop their skills to keep themselves safe. This work is well supported with a range of resources. For example, all children complete a course about keeping safe online. The certificates they achieve are displayed in the lounge at the home.

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

Children recognise the progress that they make and attribute this to the care and support they receive from the staff. One child told the inspector, ‘It’s all down to them, to the staff and how they help me… I used to go missing all the time, but I don’t go missing at all now. It’s good because now I can go to the shops on my own on free time. They trust me to do that now.’

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

Because of consistent hard work by staff, the risks to children’s safety decrease. None of Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 5 the children living at the home go missing. In addition, police do not attend the home to support staff to manage behaviour. A police officer told the inspector that instead they have a positive relationship with the staff and children which has been established through informal visits to the home.

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

The registered manager ensures that staff who are recruited to work in the home are subject to all the necessary checks. This helps to ensure that staff who work at the home are safe to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about and dedicated to the children who live in the home. She leads her staff by example, with high expectations about the standard of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained and have the skills and knowledge to meet the children’s needs. Because of this, children know that the staff focus all of their attentions on helping and supporting them. One child told the inspector, ‘I am important to them you know. They will do anything for me, they will do anything to help me. If I need them then it’s not like, just wait a minute; they just drop what they are doing, and they are there for me, for us.’ When children have particular challenges, managers ensure that staff have access to specific training that enables them to look at alternative ways to work with each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has established strong professional working relationships that support children’s progress. Professionals are unanimous in their positivity about their partnership with the home. A social worker told the inspector, ‘We have a really strong team mentality.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by managers. Staff told the inspector that managers are available, and that staff have daily opportunities for debriefs. This supports them to understand and improve on their practice. Despite this, staff do not consistently receive supervision in line with the organisation’s policy. This means that formal opportunities for staff to consider their practice and identify development opportunities are missed. The registered manager acknowledges this shortfall and has plans in place to address this.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 6 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: SC398386 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services (2) Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Millward

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Inspector

Tracey Coglan Greig, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC398386 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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