Children's home run by Doncaster Children‟s Services Trust Limited in Doncaster

Inspection report children’s home: SC481464 1 SC481464 Registered provider: Doncaster Children’s Services Trust 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

This children’s home is operated by an independent trust. The home provides care and accommodation for up to five children and young people.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered in August 2017. She is suitably experienced and is currently undertaking a level 5 qualification in leadership and managment

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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: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC481464 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

30/01/2018 Full Good 01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Good 03/11/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC481464 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

All of the children and young people have made exceptional progress in every aspect of their development. Their enhanced day-to-day experiences are having a positive impact on their outcomes both at the home and in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff understand the children’s and young people’s life experiences and the impact that these have on their behaviours and their sense of self-worth. The staff’s understanding of and insight into children’s and young people’s lives underpins the individualised, responsive and extremely child-focused care the children and young people receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people who have had difficulties in maintaining their attendance in education have been supported to re-engage in educational settings. All of the children and young people have benefited from greatly improved attendance and attainment. Some are progressing towards reintegration into mainstream school, which is a significant achievement for them. The staff celebrate the achievements of the children and young people, and encourage them to have high aspirations for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff give parents the confidence to be authoritative, and children and young people the skills to deal with their emotions. The children and young people develop an understanding of boundaries and consequences and this has significantly improved relationships within families. This is enabling some children and young people to return to the care of their families. A parent said, ‘They have taught us how to talk to each other. They have backed me up and I’ve never had that before.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The staff challenge other agencies extremely effectively in the interests of the children and young people. They build strong partnerships with agencies such as health services and the virtual school. The professionals who work for these agencies speak highly of the manager and staff. One said, ‘They sprinkle their magic dust on the young people and improve their lives and education alike.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children and young people are empowered to make their views known through several creative methods. One child is the ‘voice champion’, and meets regularly with the manager to provide feedback on behalf of the other children and young people in the home. This is raising her self-esteem and giving the other children and young people the opportunity to raise issues confidently through a peer.

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

Highly effective planning and safeguarding practice result in improvements in the safety of the children and young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC481464 4 Children and young people rarely go missing from this home. When they do, the manager carefully unpicks the reasons and puts plans in place to address them. This is proving successful in stopping any further missing episodes.

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

There have been no allegations from children and young people and no complaints since the last inspection. Physical intervention is uncommon, but when needed it is used appropriately to reduce the risk of harm to the children and young people. Records are comprehensive and are evaluated by leaders to ensure that there is a culture of learning from incidents.

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

Careful consideration is given to the matching process to ensure that the children and young people placed together are a positive influence on each other, and that relationships in the home are harmonious.

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

Key-work sessions around behaviour are comprehensive and contain clear messages that are grounded in a restorative approach. The children and young people are encouraged to reflect on their behaviour, and have made significant positive changes. They are now able to regulate their emotions so that they can react in a more socially acceptable manner.

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

The staff work closely with other professionals, such as the police, to identify and address unacceptable risks to the children’s and young people’s safety in the community. The manager has used her outstanding knowledge of the risks posed by gangs and criminal exploitation to good effect in order to make the environment in the immediate vicinity of the home safer.

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

The children and young people learn how to keep safe online through extensive individual work with staff and the use of appropriate online safety tools.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is highly confident and engenders a culture of positivity in all aspects of the running of the home. Her aspirations for the children and young people are those of any parent and she does not hesitate to challenge and advocate on behalf of them. In this way, she ensures that services are in place to meet children’s and young people’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The members of the leadership team are highly experienced and competent. They provide inspiring role models for the staff team, the children and young people and their families, and are deeply committed to ensuring that the home provides positive experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager uses a range of creative ways to show the children and young people how much they are valued, such as leaving positive messages in their rooms and making the home environment highly personal to them. The children and young people grow in self- confidence and security as a result. Inspection report children’s home: SC481464 5 A research-based approach has been embedded throughout staff practice. It is used effectively to identify and plan for the needs of the children and young people, to monitor their progress and to clarify thinking in case supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervision and support for staff are outstanding. The management team provides an open learning culture, with each manager and staff team member taking responsibility for their own practice. A long-standing member of staff said, ‘It is the best it has ever been. The manager is so good. We are so well supported, and everybody works together.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are comprehensive, clear and up-to-date monitoring systems in place. These provide the manager with an excellent overview of the service. She uses this to ensure that practice is of a consistently high standard.

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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: SC481464 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Doncaster Children’s Services Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Colonnades House, Duke Street, Doncaster DN1 1ER

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Inspector

Janet Black: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC481464 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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