Children's home run by Phoenix Childcare Ltd in North Devon

Inspection report children’s home: SC408149 1 SC408149 Registered provider: Phoenix Child Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to two young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a local provider which owns a number of children’s homes in this region.

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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 good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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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: 21 February 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC408149 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/08/2017 Full Good 22/08/2016 Full Requires improvement 27/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/11/2015 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC408149 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and the staff achieve exceptionally positive outcomes for young people. The manager and the staff team provide young people with high-quality and nurturing support and the young person living at the home has established trusting relationships with carers for the first time in their life. In this home the young person has flourished, gaining a sense of belonging and permanence. The progress that the young person has made is exceptional.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff at the home use effective strategies to ensure that young people succeed with their education and that they regularly attend school. One young person was not engaging with education when they arrived at the home and had not attended school for some time. The manager and the staff challenged the local authority until an educational provision was found that met the young person’s educational needs. As a result of the exceptional support provided by the staff, the young person has flourished in the school environment, achieving their educational goals and making a successful transition to college.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff succeed in supporting important relationships for young people. They ensure that the young person remains in contact and maintains positive relationships with their family. The staff support young people to socialise with their peers. They now travel independently to visit their friends and family and have built a supportive social network.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young person’s health needs are fully met at the home. The young person benefits from regular support to help build their resilience. Innovative and creative strategies are being used to support the young person to understand their life story. Staff use nurturing strategies, which the young person finds helps them to feel calm. The young person is now able to manage their emotions and has coping strategies to use if they feel upset.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The young person will, in the next few months, be preparing to move on from the home. The staff team is working closely with the placing authority and the young person to ensure that the move goes smoothly and successfully. The young person has made excellent progress in developing the necessary independent living skills, such as cooking, budgeting, shopping and personal care, to make a successful transition to adulthood. In addition, they are being supported to develop other important life-skills, such as driving.

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

Safeguarding procedures are effective. The young person reports that they feel very safe living in the home. They could name the members of staff that they could speak to if they ever felt unsafe or worried. The staff use the home’s comprehensive safeguarding procedures and have a good working relationship with safeguarding professionals.

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

A strength of the home is how effectively the staff implement behaviour management Inspection report children’s home: SC408149 4 strategies. The young person has made exceptional progress with their behaviour. They are able to manage their feelings and take the appropriate action to help themselves calm down.

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

The young person does not go missing. The staff successfully implement effective boundaries and consistent routines in the home that the young person has learned to respect and adhere to. The young person enjoys free time out of the home with their friends and travels long distances alone to visit their family. The staff succeed in achieving a balance of allowing the young person to take age-appropriate risks, while keeping them safe.

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

The staff working in the home are carefully recruited in accordance with safe recruitment practice and procedures. Extensive checks are undertaken to ensure that only suitable people are employed in the home.

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

The manager and the staff undertake comprehensive assessments of identified risks. Control measures are put in place along with guidance for the staff to follow about how best to safely manage any identified risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The long-standing and experienced registered manager provides strong and stable leadership to the staff team, whose members comment on how much they appreciate the support he offers to them. He is due to leave the home for another role in the company. A replacement manager has been appointed and is spending time in the home to familiarise herself with the staff team and get to know the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current manager has been instrumental in supporting the young person to build trusting relationships with all the staff and to achieve exceptionally positive outcomes in all areas of the young person’s life. The manager encourages the staff to challenge other professionals to ensure that the young person has all the services that they need to succeed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff receive regular and good-quality supervision from the manager. The supervision sessions are comprehensively recorded and focus on professional development and the care needs of the young person. The manager makes sure that new members of staff receive a thorough and informative induction programme; this ensures that they can fully meet the needs of the young person.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the young person is fully involved in all decisions made about the day-to-day running of the home. The young person’s views are gathered informally, often when on journeys in the car.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff comment that the home is run as a family home. The staff team is consistent and stable. The staff will fill vacant shifts rather than the young person having to be cared for by an agency member of staff whom they do not know. The team members work closely together. They have a clear commitment to the young person and are Inspection report children’s home: SC408149 5 dedicated to ensuring that the young person makes progress and succeeds.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The monitoring of the quality of care given to the young person is effective. An independent visitor visits the home each month. A very comprehensive report is given to the home, along with any recommendations of how to further improve. The registered individual regularly visits the home and spends time with the young person, so that she fully understands the young person’s care needs and can judge how well the manager and the staff are meeting them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff, together with the young person, ensure that the home is very well maintained, comfortable and homely. The young person reports that they like their bedroom, which is highly personalised with the young person’s possessions. There are numerous framed photographs of the young person, their family and the staff throughout the home. The young person has worked hard with the manager and the staff to greatly improve the garden. Throughout the home, the young person’s hobbies and interests are evident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the staff have very positive working relationships with other professionals. One social worker commented: ‘This is an exceptionally well-managed home… there is excellent communication.’

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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: SC408149 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Phoenix Learning And Care Ltd, First Floor, Rolle Quay House, Rolle Quay, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1JE

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC408149 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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