Children's Home run by Considerate Care Limited in Liverpool

Inspection report children’s home: SC062674 1 SC062674 Registered provider: Considerate Care 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

The home is owned by a private company and it is registered to care for up to four young people. As outlined in the home’s statement of purpose, the service provides care for children, aged eight to 17 years.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2007.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 11 to 12 December 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

Date of last inspection: 18 October 2017

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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: SC062674 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2017 Full Good 15/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Good 23/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC062674 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 standard requires the registered person to ensure that staff provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably. (Regulation 6 (2)(b)(vii)) 16/01/2019

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm (Regulation 12 (2)(b)) 16/01/2019

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff support children with home study by encouraging them to learn independent study skills and helping them to practise those skills. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18)  Ensure to take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of the children and other professionals, when reviewing the performance of each member of staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  Ensure that children’s views are regularly sought by the independent visitor and reflected in their monthly reports. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An experienced and dedicated team nurtures warm and trusting relationships with the children. Staff understand the children’s needs well and invest time in supporting them Inspection report children’s home: SC062674 4 to reach their full potential. The children’s positive comments about the team confirmed this: ‘The staff are the best. If I need anything they are always there for me.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s school attendance and engagement with education are good. Central to these is the staff’s consistent routines and effective joint working with schools and colleges. As a result, children make measurable progress in their education from their starting points. This can be strengthened further by staff encouraging and supporting all children to invest in home study and revision.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from improved physical and emotional health because the staff make sure that they have access to a range of health services, including sexual health clinics, smoking cessation clinics and counselling support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to maintain and improve relationships with their parents and families. Children benefit from keeping in touch with their families in a well-planned and supportive way. With the staff’s support, some children have increased their contact and improved their relationships with important people, such as parents. This will benefit them in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Additionally, staff encourage children to pursue their interests. Children have lots of opportunities to try new experiences, make new friends and have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The communal areas of the home are decorated and maintained to a good standard. However, damaged furniture in a child’s bedroom is undermining the homely atmosphere and preventing children from living comfortably in all areas of the home.

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

Staff know the children extremely well and they have a good understanding of each child’s vulnerabilities. Staff are alert and responsive to safeguarding concerns, such as missing from home and child exploitation. Consequently, high-risk behaviour is successfully tackled and managed by the team.

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

Staff are skilled at nurturing positive relationships and gaining children’s trust. Because children respect staff, they take on board their guidance and advice. With staff’s untiring support, children are learning how to recognise danger, and they are developing skills to keep themselves and others safe.

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

Children have access to online training courses from which they can learn about important safety matters, for example first aid. Additionally, staff are proactive at seeking opportunities to teach the children about keeping safe in a creative way. The children recently enjoyed a visit to a local sculpture that represented an anti-knife crime message.

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

Staff are skilled at dealing with challenging situations. Their training in de-escalation is helping them to calmly and competently respond to potentially harmful behaviour. Inspection report children’s home: SC062674 5 Furthermore, children’s resilience improves as staff help them to develop the skills to manage their difficult emotions safely. As a result, the home provides children with a calm and safe living environment where the use of physical restraint has not been necessary.

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

Improvements can be made in the staff’s daily routines in the home to ensure that any potential hazards are quickly identified and resolved. This particularly applies to staff making sure that children do not smoke in their bedrooms and put themselves and others at risk of a fire.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager. An experienced and hands-on deputy supports the smooth running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team is skilled at developing long-lasting relationships with the children in its care. Some children who have moved on from the home keep in touch with the team. A consistent, stable and caring staff team makes this possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working with other professionals and services is strong. Social workers, teachers and children’s independent reviewing officers are highly complimentary about the team’s professionalism and the care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team is settled because it is well supported by the manager and the deputy. Most team members have worked at the home for many years. This shows their dedication and commitment to the children and the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes sure that there is always a sufficient number of staff on duty to provide children with the care, support and supervision that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent monitoring of the home can be improved by increasing consultation with the children and reflecting their views in the monthly reports.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A recommendation made at the last inspection is repeated, as the manager still does not consider the views of the children, and other professionals, about each member of staff when reviewing their performance.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC062674 6 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: SC062674 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Considerate Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Millers Accountants, 69 Windsor Road, Prestwich, Manchester M25 0DB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Aspinall

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Inspector

Marina Tully, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC062674 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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