Children's home run by North Yorkshire Council in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC034220 1 SC034220 Registered provider: North Yorkshire County Council

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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 offers pre-planned and emergency short breaks in a residential setting to children and young people who have a sensory impairment, learning disability or physical disability. The home also offers extended and bespoke packages of care on a shared- care basis. The home is owned and managed by a local authority. The manager has been registered since March 2015.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 December 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

Date of last inspection: 30 January 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034220 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Full Outstanding 13/12/2016 Full Outstanding 25/05/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/11/2015 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC034220 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children and young people enjoy a variety of fun activities when they stay for their short breaks. The home has an extensive range of specialist equipment so that those who have complex physical and learning disabilities can experience new challenges and opportunities that they wouldn’t otherwise encounter at home. This includes children and young people going trampolining, to a music festival or camping overnight. The new garden, that was developed and funded through the local community has provided the children and young people with additional sensory stimulation on top of the many existing activities available to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Alongside having fun, the children and young people are set targets to help them develop new skills. Staff work closely with school staff and parents to ensure that a consistent approach is used to help them to achieve these. This has resulted in significant progress for some children and young people from their starting point, such as improved speech, becoming toilet trained or learning to eat independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff team’s careful planning allows children and young people to have their stay at the same time as their friends. Those that have similar interests go out on trips together. This makes their short breaks even more enjoyable, which was evident from the children and young people’s smiles and laughter.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

On many occasions, the manager meets the requests from parents or carers for emergency short breaks. The staff team goes over and above to change their working hours if needed to facilitate this. Staff have been instrumental in keeping some children and young people with their families. One parent said, ‘Staff have helped us both. I can’t explain the difference it has made to our lives.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Transition planning is carefully considered at an early stage and planned in advance of any move. The staff team writes social stories to prepare the young person to move to adult provision. The manager and staff team work closely with other professionals and parents. This results in a well-coordinated and individualised plan and supports a smooth transition to the young person’s new home. Some young people that have been accessing short breaks at the home for a considerable period are gifted an electronic tablet with messages from staff. This provides them with life-long memories of their time and the positive relationships they make at the home.

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

Children and young people benefit and thrive from high levels of supervision, support and monitoring. Staff provide a safe, caring environment where children and young people are nurtured. The vigilant staff maintain accurate records of any new cuts or bruises, enabling thorough investigations of any unexplained injuries. Such effective joined-up working safeguards the well-being of the children and young people coming to the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC034220 4 The home offers stability and continuity to a very high number of children and young people. They build close and trusting relationships with the nurturing staff team. Parents speak of the trust they have in the competent and skilled staff. One parent said, ‘I feel confident when my son is here. That’s a massive thing to know your child is safe and well cared for.’

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

The staff team has an extensive knowledge of the children and young people and its members are well versed in how children and young people communicate their individual needs. Staff quickly identify any changes in a child or young person’s presentation. They work with health and social care professionals to understand the cause of any distress or discomfort. For one child, this led to changes with his equipment and the way he was lifted to make him more comfortable.

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

Comprehensive plans help staff to manage the children and young people’s behaviour well. Staff respond swiftly to self-harming or self-injurious behaviours, often predicting these before escalation. Consequently, there are only a few occasions when children and young people are held to keep themselves or others safe. Following these incidents, the reflective staff team discusses their responses to the situation. Different strategies and approaches are used, which leads to a reduction in the number of negative outbursts.

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

The staff team provides information to children and young people about road safety and stranger danger and conducts keeping-safe work. Children do not go missing due to the high levels of supervision to meet identified needs. Staff are keenly aware of the safeguarding risk factors relating to this and child exploitation in all its forms. A child participation day with a safeguarding theme was an innovative way of offering children and young people further education about how to keep safe. The photographs from the event show the children and young people enjoying the interactive workshops with the police and other safeguarding professionals. The positive feedback from the event demonstrates that children and young people developed new skills to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has worked at the home for several years and has extensive experience and knowledge of residential care. Her strong leadership and management are driven by high aspirations for children and young people. Her passion and commitment extend to the enthusiastic staff team, whose members speak of the love for their job.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The development of monitoring tools helps the manager to audit the staff team’s work effectively. The staff team is a close-knit team whose members are open and transparent and sufficiently challenge best practice with each other. One staff member summed this up by saying, ‘There is great teamwork, great management and an approachable staff team as a whole. Everyone is passionate about making a difference to young people’s lives.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff feel highly supported by the approachable manager. They receive regular Inspection report children’s home: SC034220 5 supervision and the new team meeting format provides staff with the opportunity to be more reflective about their work. Parents also speak of the manager’s dedication, which extends to offering them support and advice. One parent said, ‘Every time I speak to her, she gives me the time and always listens.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is keen to develop her own skills and those of the staff team. The workforce development plan demonstrates this. The members of the staff team regularly attend training, including specialist training delivered by medical professionals. Staff use up-to-date research and information, such as guidance and advice relating to speech and language development. They adapt their pictorial aids for children and young people, which results in improved speech and communication. The use of a recognised sleep programme has led to a better sleep pattern for one child.

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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: SC034220 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: North Yorkshire County Council, County Hall, Northallerton DL7 8AD

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Inspector

Tina Ruffles, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034220 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 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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