Children's home run by The Place Young People’s Company in Rushcliffe

Inspection report children’s home: SC480655 1 SC480655 Registered provider: The Place Young People’s Company

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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 four-bedded home aims to provide a nurturing environment for children who have a range of emotional and behavioural needs. The manager registered in 2017 and he holds the required level 5 qualification.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC480655 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/05/2017 Full Good 25/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/06/2016 Full Good 21/12/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC480655 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children live in a caring and loving home that has a family feel. The therapeutic principles that underpin the team’s work help the children to gradually accept the love and care they are being offered. Children successfully build on this and now have an improved ability to develop attachments and build friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children can take time to trust staff. This is because of their past experiences, which include neglect, abuse, rejection and placement breakdowns. Over time, staff are able to build a strong rapport with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children say that they are happy here. This is evident in their interactions with staff and with each other. The children are proud of their home, particularly their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to have positive and more frequent family visits. When family contact is not positive, staff advocate for alternate arrangements to be made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

At the point of admission to the home, the children’s attendance at school was sporadic, at best. Children are supported to attend education and, when necessary, bespoke programmes have been created. Clear expectations and these personalised arrangements have comprehensively improved each child’s attendance and participation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children share their views and wishes with the staff in various ways, one of which is during house meetings. Children are provided with formal responses to their suggestions and requests from the manager. They speak proudly about things that they have selected and the decision-making they have contributed to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The introduction of cultural nights and themed events, such as the royal wedding, help children to understand their heritage and the wider world. Their participation in local and national charity events is helping them to recognise the needs of others and develop empathy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children participate in lots of positive activities and have positive experiences. These are captured in their memory books. These books provide lasting memories that can be taken with them when they leave.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A young person moving to an independent living setting was accompanied on the day they moved by staff and two of the children. This was in recognition of their relationships and mirrors what happens in many families when an older sibling moves out.

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

Since moving to this home, children have become increasingly safe as they are helped to address their behaviours and past trauma. They quickly respond to the boundaries, Inspection report children’s home: SC480655 4 structure and consistency of the staff team’s approach. The staff skilfully use their knowledge of the children to manage situations and they can pre-empt when children’s behaviour or their mood is changing.

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

Staff work with children in a non-risk-averse way. This gives children access to many of the age-appropriate activities and experiences that their friends have. Staff successfully use general conversations and key-work sessions to discuss concerns and areas of potential risk. These sessions and discussions have led to a substantial reduction in the number of significant events, self-harmful behaviour, incidents and physical interventions.

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

The comprehensive analysis of significant events assists with identifying triggers and alternative strategies to manage behaviour. The staff use their rapport with the children to defuse many situations. They successfully empower the children to identify alternative strategies to express their emotions and frustrations. Children who arrived with a history of running away from home or from school are no longer doing so. Where there were concerns about criminal and sexual exploitation and substance misuse these are no longer present.

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

A professional spoke about the grave concerns she had regarding a child’s mental health and well-being at the time the child was placed at the home. She spoke positively about the significant behavioural and emotional difference she has seen in the child since he came to the home.

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

This positivity is echoed by other professionals, including those linked to the young person who recently moved to an adult provision. They commended the staff team’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that the young person remains safe, even though the staff are no longer responsible for her care.

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

Staff are trained in a wide range of subjects to ensure that they can work effectively with children on how to stay safe. These include e-safety, recognising risks posed by social media, bullying and child sexual exploitation. The team’s practice demonstrates its ability to implement the learning into everyday practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager was registered in 2017. In the 18 months that have passed since then, the manager and his deputy have worked tirelessly to establish an ethos that is truly child- focused. Fully integrating the therapeutic principles that underpin the team’s work with the children has assisted in achieving this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers are ambitious for the children. They persistently do everything possible to ensure that the children have the best possible experience of care. The children are flourishing and see this as home and a place where they belong.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff say that they use their supervision and appraisals as tools for development. They describe their managers as versatile, supportive and willing to help. The managers Inspection report children’s home: SC480655 5 will sometimes cover shifts, do the school run and any other tasks that are required to support the staff and the children. The staff say that this involvement ensures that the managers continue to understand the needs of the children and the expectations placed on the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is providing ongoing support and commitment to the young person who moved out recently. This dedication demonstrates to all of the children that they will continue to be cared about and supported after they have moved on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers appropriately challenge decisions when necessary, such as decisions about family contact arrangements. Social workers and teachers commend them for these interventions and praise their ability to advocate for children. They speak highly about the quality of the care provided and the professionalism of staff. They describe the positive partnership working as pivotal in the exceptional progress that the children are making. They also praise the staff’s knowledge and ability to support the children, such as enabling a child to stay for the duration of their review meeting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home has a new independent visitor who visits the home on a monthly basis. The improved quality of reporting now provides the managers with the overview of a ‘critical friend’. This process is helping to further enhance standards in the home’s recording systems.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The shortfalls raised at the last inspection have been addressed. Managers have devised a new process that captures the children’s views after any use of physical intervention. Managers have strengthened the team’s knowledge of health and nutritional needs and this is now incorporated into children’s plans. Managers have ensured that staff are familiar with the home’s whistle-blowing process.

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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: SC480655 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Place Young People’s Company

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 7 Jericho Lane, Barkestone, Nottingham, Leicestershire NG13 0HF

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Inspector:

Sonia Hay, social care regulatory inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC480655 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 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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