Children's home run by Phoenix Learning & Care Holdings Limited in North Devon

Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 1 SC463647 Registered provider: Phoenix Learning and Care Holdings Ltd

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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 registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who have emotional and/or social care needs. The home is operated by a private provider that operates a number of homes in the local area.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: a monitoring visit was undertaken on 6 February 2019 to address specific concerns received by Ofsted. Several shortfalls were found. As a result, seven requirements were made. Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/05/2018 Full Good 05/09/2017 Full Good 09/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 07/06/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 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 positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— mutual respect and trust; an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children; are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(v)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff are trained and equipped to respond to children’s behaviour consistently and in accordance with the home’s ethos. 12/07/2019

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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— 12/07/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 4 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

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 quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(a)(f)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular:  ensure that placement plans specifically state achievable targets for children  embed management quality assurance and monitoring systems  ensure that staff receive planned, regular and thorough supervision (including action plans) and training  ensure that staff receive debriefs following incidents and that accidents are recorded and reviewed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The three children currently living in this home have differing life experiences and are learning to live compatibly with one another. Each has made progress to varying degrees, some significantly. Two children actively and successfully participate in full-time education programmes at school, when previously they have been unable to attend. Children develop self-esteem, confidence and enjoy activities. They have daily routines where they carry out age-appropriate tasks, such as drawing their curtains and making their bed, so they are helped to develop a feeling of stability and personal responsibility. The manager and team are resolute in providing a home-from-home environment and think carefully about promoting this and the language they use, to help children feel cared for. For example, they refer to staff members as adults, and the home no longer has an office but a second lounge. The adults are committed to the children they look

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

after. For example, the manager and staff team were determined that the children enjoy the Christmas period. They worked hard to incorporate festivities that children have enjoyed in the past but also introduced new fun traditions. Nearly all the adults came to the home on Christmas Day to celebrate with the children. Due to the thought and planning that went into what can be an emotional time for children away from their families, the children had a very positive experience. A particular strength of the home is the sensitive help children and families are given in Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 5 re-establishing their relationships. This has involved carefully planned meetings and venues, and supervising time spent together until the supervision is no longer necessary. The manager has gone out of his way to achieve this breaking down of barriers, often taking a route that is more inconvenient for him so as not to jeopardise the child’s

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

experience. Social workers and teachers are very pleased with the progress children have made. They value the team’s commitment and the manager’s challenge when the right services are not provided for children. They say communication is effective and that the children feel safe and secure.

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improvement to be good

The manager and team have reviewed how they help children to manage their behaviour. They no longer use measures that could be perceived as prohibitive. Their approach is to avoid sanctions and, instead, help children learn safely from the natural consequences that evolve from their behaviours. However, in their haste to achieve this, the approach is not embedded and has led to some confusion, which ultimately impacts on the children and their behaviour. The organisation has introduced trauma-informed training which assists with this approach, but not all members of the team have attended this yet. Additionally, some leadership and management shortfalls have the potential to weaken responses to incidents that occur, risking further escalation or safeguarding concerns. However, concerns raised about younger children witnessing incidents have been taken on board, and strategies are now in place to keep children safe.

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improvement to be good

Physical intervention is used appropriately and as a last resort. If a child makes an allegation, the child is listened to and the information is acted upon. When an older child goes missing from the home, the adults do their best to keep in contact and find them, taking protective action to call the police when necessary. The manager has arranged for external professionals to help when older children place themselves at risk, in an attempt to reduce this behaviour and missing episodes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager of the home has been registered with Ofsted for a year and is a caring leader who advocates strongly for the children he looks after. He has worked hard, alongside colleagues, to address the issues identified at the monitoring visit in February of this year. As a result, most of the requirements are now met, but some areas that relate to management oversight and practice still need further work. If these improvements are not made with urgency, there is a risk of unravelling the good progress made. A focus needs to be on ensuring that all members of the team are equipped and trained to manage some of the behaviours that arise from children’s previous adverse experiences. Currently, there are gaps, and this does not assist the team in working cohesively, based on a common understanding of what children need and how boundaries should be implemented. Alongside this, placement plans, while detailed

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

documents, do not have clear, specific and achievable goals to help guide and remind Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 6 adults. Supervision of adults is not consistently timely or planned. Documents do not reflect that issues are always addressed or that progress is monitored sufficiently. Not all staff are up to date with their compulsory training. Additionally, debriefs for adults following incidents do not happen routinely and accidents are not always recorded; there is not a culture of prioritising the need for adults to have necessary reflection time with an objective person. The team is united in its wish for the children to succeed, and adults feel proud of the children’s achievements. The staff team generally feels supported by the management team, and staff feel able to voice their opinions.

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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: SC463647 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Learning and Care Holdings Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Phoenix Learning & Care Ltd, Rolle Quay, Barnstaple, Devon EX31 1JE

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Inspector

Sarah Canto, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC463647 8 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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