Children's home run by Rushcliffe Specialist Schools (Mickleover) Ltd in Nottingham

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 1 SC463386 Registered provider: Rushcliffe Specialist Schools (Mickleover) Ltd Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care and accommodation for children and young people who have autism spectrum disorder and associated communication and behavioural difficulties. It is registered for 24 children. The purpose-built building is split into a number of lodges. It is owned and operated by a private company. There is a school on site, which all children attend. The home has been without a registered manager for 38 weeks.

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 5 September 2018

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: The inadequate inspection outcome in May 2018 resulted in compliance notices being served under regulation 12(1)(2)(e) and regulation 13(1)(a)(b). The monitoring visit on 10 July 2018 found that regulation 13(1)(a)(b) had been met. A compliance notice under regulation 12(1)(2)(e) was reissued. This was found to be met at the full inspection in September 2018.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged requires improvement to be good at the last full inspection. At the interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home continues to experience instability in leadership and management. The home‟s most recent acting manager has left her employment suddenly. The home has been without a registered manager for 38 weeks and interim arrangements change frequently. This has an impact on the quality of care provided, and on the staff providing care.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home‟s most recent acting manager had begun to implement some positive Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 2 changes. Improvements have been made in the recording of supervision and team meetings. Attempts have also been made to improve children‟s participation.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The home‟s former management consultant is now acting as the home‟s manager. He is working to address the shortfalls identified at the last inspection. This inspection found that six of the nine requirements made in September 2018 remain unmet. In addition to this, the inspection identified a number of shortfalls, most of which related to the leadership and management within the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

There is a lack of management oversight regarding the safe and effective deployment of staff. Managers and leaders are not consistently able to provide information about rotas, including staff on shift and the children in residence. This inability to confirm who was on-site at any given time fails to safeguard children or staff. It is also difficult to ascertain whether agreed staffing ratios are in place.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

New staff spoken with during the inspection said that they have not received an induction. Several long-established staff do not hold the required childcare qualification. This, combined with limited induction processes for new staff, has resulted in children being placed at risk of being cared for by unskilled staff who are unable to deliver the outcomes as set out in the home‟s statement of purpose.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

A regulation 45 report has not been forwarded to Ofsted for over a year. This failure prevents Ofsted from having an insight into the home‟s functioning. There is no management analysis of the progress that children make. This is also a missed opportunity for managers to evaluate and provide an insight into any emerging themes and patterns, such as staff turnover.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Complaints have been received from children and parents. One of these complaints related to there being insufficient food in the home. This situation was confirmed by staff on duty and later by the responsible individual. Processes to ensure that each house had enough food had clearly failed and this was exacerbated by staff being unable to access petty cash in a timely way.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Recording and risk assessments are not yet of a good enough standard. One child‟s assessment outlined the need for a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) in the event of a fire or other emergency. A PEEP has not been put in place. This fails to ensure that staff are aware of the steps necessary to safely evacuate the child in the event of a fire. Another child had been accessing inappropriate material online. Measures had been put in place to reduce risk, but staff could not demonstrate what work had been done with children to help them to be safer online.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Two children have moved out of the home since the last inspection. Both of these transitions from the home were unplanned.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some children living at the home have made progress. Some children have thrived and have also made good academic progress. Residential staff have supported this progress. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 3 Children have opportunities to take part in extra-curricular activities as well as social and community-based activities. Some parents have expressed concern about how these activities are funded, with examples of children‟s activity monies having to cover the cost of accompanying staff.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some aspects of the children‟s home are inconsistent with the aim to provide high- quality accommodation and a nurturing environment. Staff do not routinely eat with the children. This is a missed opportunity for social and emotional development, and to create a homely environment.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Plans are under way for an internal move that will enable the three children to live together and provide an opportunity to further develop the children‟s social skills. The aim is to enable staff to work together in one house and make improvements to the care provided. This is seen as necessary ahead of accepting any new admissions to the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The lack of effective support and leadership by registered persons, particularly when managers are new in post and yet to be registered, is a contributing factor in the ability to retain managers and provide suitable care to children.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/05/2018 Full Inadequate 08/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 21/06/2016 Full Good

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children‟s home‟s overall aims and the outcomes 19/03/2019 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 4 it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children‟s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

understand and apply the home‟s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home‟s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child‟s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child‟s needs, as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans, taking account of the child‟s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult;

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Requirement Due date

make decisions about the day-to-day arrangements for each child, in accordance with the child‟s relevant plans, which give the child an appropriate degree of freedom and choice.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(ix))

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child‟s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 19/03/2019 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 5 (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the quality and accuracy of children‟s risk assessments.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

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.

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Requirement Due date

This relates to the home‟s systems for the safe use of the internet. 19/03/2019

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home‟s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home has sufficient staff to provide care for each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home‟s workforce provides continuity of care to each child.

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the 19/03/2019 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 6 quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on— research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that, where applicable, children have a Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan. 19/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b)(5)(a)(b)) 19/08/2019 Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 7 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction;

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 45 (1)(2)(a)(b)(c)(3)(4)(a)(b)(5)) 19/03/2019

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 8

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Recommendations

 Staff should be familiar with the home‟s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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

This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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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‟. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 9

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rushcliffe Specialist Schools (Mickleover) Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor Butt Dyke House, 33 Park Row, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG1 6EE

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Inspectors

Sonia Hay, social care inspector Bev Allison, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC463386 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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