Horsebridge House

Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 1 SC452713 Registered provider: Greenfields Adolescent Development 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

A private national company operates this home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed and she has submitted her application to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 27 to 28 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 requires improvement to be 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: declined in effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 2 07/03/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 23/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/01/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness 05/09/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 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

13: The leadership and management standard

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children to aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is close monitoring, scrutiny and evaluation of all records relating to body maps, accidents and sanctions. In addition, ensure that the records kept in relation to staff training are updated regularly. 31/12/2018

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Recommendations

 Ensure that all staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have left the home. This was because senior Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 4 managers decided that staff could not keep the children safe. Following this, no children lived at the home from April 2018 until August 2018. At the time of this inspection, two children had moved in. They said that they enjoy living here.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers ensure that an effective assessment and admissions process is in place prior to children moving in. In addition, the manager completes a detailed assessment of the children’s compatibility, before they move in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop positive relationships with children. They have a good understanding of the children’s individual needs and how these are to be met. Children enjoy living at this home and are making good progress. A child gave ‘nine out of 10’ for living here and said, ‘I’m happy here, it’s my home.’ Another child said, ‘It’s nice here and much better than where I used to live.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Social workers spoke highly of the care and support that children receive. A social worker said, ‘The staff are like her family and she has come on leaps and bounds.’ Another social worker echoed this and said, ‘It’s early days, but he has settled in well and staff have built positive relationships with him.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are healthy, and staff support children to maintain and improve their health. This includes regular visits to the doctor and the dentist. Children have access to specialist support when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children to do well in their education. A headteacher spoke positively about one child and said, ‘I am pleased with the progress she is making, she’s happy at school and has very good attendance.’ Staff are supporting one child with his education at the home until a permanent provision is secured. In the meantime, staff are providing him with meaningful learning opportunities. They record the learning activities in detail and these records are accompanied by photographs and evaluations of the activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, significant improvements have been made to the environment. As a result of this, children now live in a homely environment that is well maintained. Children have personalised their bedrooms and said that they are happy with their rooms. Photographs of children are displayed around the home and the children showed the inspector some of the decorative items that they have made in preparation for Christmas.

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

The arrangements for safeguarding the children are good. The manager acts promptly when there are potential safeguarding concerns. She communicates effectively with safeguarding agencies and other professionals. Staff receive regular safeguarding training and demonstrate a good awareness of safeguarding processes.

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

Children receive effective help and support with managing their emotions and feelings. Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 5 Staff respond with clear boundaries and seek to understand the triggers for the children’s behaviour. A member of staff clarified their approach and said, ‘It’s about nurturing children and not looking at the behaviour but what is causing the child to feel unhappy.’

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

Staff are provided with detailed behaviour support plans and risk assessments that guide them in how to meet the children’s individual needs. The children currently living at the home get on well and there have not been any concerning incidents between them.

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

Since the last inspection, children have not been missing from the home. In addition, there are currently no concerns in relation to bullying, misuse of drugs and alcohol, or child exploitation.

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

Restraint is appropriately used as a last resort to keep children and others safe. Since the last inspection, restraint has been used once. The manager has scrutinised the records in relation to this incident, and the use of the intervention. She has looked for triggers and reviewed staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

At the last inspection, the home was judged to have declined in effectiveness. Following that inspection, senior managers met with Ofsted inspectors to discuss the future of the home. After the meeting, senior managers submitted a comprehensive action plan to improve the provision. Most areas identified on this action plan have been completed successfully.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

A period of consolidation is needed to ensure that the improved monitoring of the provision and the newly introduced systems and protocols become embedded into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed. She has submitted her application to register with Ofsted. The application is currently being processed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

This inspection has identified that the manager has not fully scrutinised and evaluated all documents in relation to accidents, body maps and sanctions. To date, this has not had a negative impact on the safety and well-being of children. In addition, some documents are not always well written, dated, clear or concise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers ensure that staff receive regular mandatory training and specialised training to meet the needs of the children. Staff are able to demonstrate how they have incorporated learning into their practice. However, training records are not up to date, to reflect the training that staff have received.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff receive regular support and supervision. They said that they feel well supported by the manager and deputy manager. The manager responds promptly in order to address any poor staff practice. Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 6 Quality assurance processes are mostly effective. They include regular audits by the organisation’s compliance team. These visits identify shortfalls and actions to improve the provision, and inform the development plan for the home. However, these quality assurance processes have not identified the weaknesses relating to the scrutiny of accident records, body maps and sanctions. Regular visits from the independent visitor continue to take place. The manager responds effectively to recommendations made by the independent visitor.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Social workers and a teacher spoke highly of the effective communication between them and the staff. They said that they receive regular updates in relation to the children’s needs and achievements and if there are any concerns. This demonstrates good collaborative working.

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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: SC452713 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Greenfields Adolescent Development Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Caretech Community Service Ltd, Metropolitan House, 3 Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire EN6 1AG

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Inspector

David Kidner: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC452713 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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