Children's home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children‟s home: SC405977 1 SC405977 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group 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 registered to provide care for up to two children who display social and/or emotional difficulties and who may also have learning disabilities. The home is privately owned and forms part of a large social care organisation, which offers an education service and therapeutic support.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager was registered with Ofsted in August 2018 and is appropriately experienced and qualified to manage a children‟s home.

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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: 11 September 2018

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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: SC405977 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/09/2018 Full Good 25/10/2017 Full Good 07/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 14/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children‟s home: SC405977 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 registered person must ensure that all employees have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33((4)(c)) 08/07/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b)) 08/07/2019

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Recommendations

 Children should be encouraged by staff to see the home‟s records as „living documents‟ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations including the quality standards‟, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has left the home and two children have been admitted. The child who left the home was subject to a deprivation of liberty order. Her complex behaviours escalated, and she was moved at short notice to keep her safe. Despite the unplanned nature of the move and the escalation in her behaviour, social workers praised the commitment of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff talk to children with warmth and humour. They play games with them such as football and monopoly, and they actively encourage children to take part in varied and interesting activities to keep them occupied and to enhance their experiences. As a result, children have very positive free time and never get bored.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a clean and welcoming home. Children‟s bedrooms are bright and Inspection report children‟s home: SC405977 4 attractive, and children are encouraged to personalise them with posters and family photographs. The shared space is clean and comfortable, and children enjoy spending time with staff. Staff prepare good quality food which the children choose and enjoy. Children who are living in residential care for the first time say the experience is better than they expected.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain relationships with people who are important to them by working closely with social workers and families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work particularly well with teachers and colleagues who provide therapy to ensure that children‟s needs are understood. This well-coordinated support means that children‟s achievements, school attendance and behaviour all significantly improve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to express their views and explore their behaviours by having regular planned meetings and day-to-day discussions. Staff support children to contribute to their care plans and to decisions about their day-to-day care. These opportunities enable children to express their views and preferences and to contribute to decisions about their lives. However, staff do not always encourage children to comment on their records. This represents a missed opportunity to explore children‟s views even further.

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

Children are safe and feel safe in the home. There is no bullying and children have positive relationships with one another.

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

Staff have developed strong links with key safeguarding agencies such as the police. Local community police officers meet up with children and discuss their behaviours. This increases children‟s awareness and helps them to keep themselves increasingly safe.

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

Staff have access to good-quality behaviour management plans. Staff therefore know children‟s triggers and they act swiftly to calm children when they are agitated or anxious. Staff regularly update these plans to ensure that they always have the most up- to-date information.

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

Staff respond appropriately when children go missing from the home. They are diligent in searching for children and, when necessary, contact the police to report them missing. Missing protocols contain clear guidance for staff. This level of detail helps to keep children safe.

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

Staff use restraint as a last resort to keep children safe. Incidents of restraint are clearly recorded and allow staff and children the opportunity to talk about each incident and learn from it.

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

Allegations and complaints against staff are taken seriously and investigated in line with safeguarding procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children‟s home: SC405977 5 The registered manager leads by example. He talks passionately about the children in his care and he is proud of the difference the care of his staff is making to the lives of children. The registered manager uses systems to monitor the quality of care given to children. He has a development plan in place that includes the views of children living in the home. This means that children develop a sense of ownership that helps them to invest in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers give positive feedback about the care that staff give to children in their care. However, internal placement plans are not up to date and therefore do not reflect the current progress of each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a relevant range of training opportunities, including essential courses such as safeguarding and first aid. In addition, they receive training that is specific to individual children. This helps staff to understand the complex needs of the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has regular supervision and advice from an experienced manager in the company. He acknowledges how helpful this is. Staff in the home also benefit from regular supervision. However, some staff have not had annual appraisals. This means that the registered manager is missing an opportunity to further develop the quality of care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has used research-based practice to help staff to understand more about the risks that children can face. These include knife crime and online pornography. This work is helping to play an important role in keeping children safe.

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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: SC405977 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: SC405977 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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