Children's Home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 1 SC363422 Registered provider: Keys Educational Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated children’s home provides care and accommodation for girls with emotional, social and behavioural difficulties. The home is registered for up to three children. The manager was registered by Ofsted for this home in April 2019.

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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: 14 February 2019

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/04/2018 Full Good 21/08/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/06/2017 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 3

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Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance and supplement that provided by their school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children understand, and where necessary work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-

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Recommendations

being such as, but not limited to, nutrition and healthy diet, exercise, mental health, sexual relationships, sexual health, contraception and use of legal highs, drugs, alcohol and tobacco. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This home has experienced a period of stability since the last inspection. No new children have moved in or left the home. This stability has enabled the manager and staff to continue to develop good relationships with children and to consolidate their progress. Children have made progress in many areas of their development and have become safer over time, with an overall reduction in incidents. Children engage meaningfully with staff and they are becoming increasingly content.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made good progress in education, considering their respective starting points when moving to the home. Some of the children have previously experienced considerable disruption to their education, including school exclusions, general instability and poor attendance. Now children are engaging with school and are receiving the support that they need to make progress. Staff help children with homework, and for some children, staff will spend time in the classroom to help them cope with the emotional demands of school. This is proving successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength has been the positive way in which the manager and staff encourage and support arrangements for children seeing their family and friends. Staff work closely to the agreed plans for family meetings. Along with partner agencies, staff ensure that Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 4 arrangements are safe and meet the needs of children. The manager actively engages with family members and, if possible, family members visit children at the home and are supported with activities in the local area. This helps children to retain their families’ identities and supports these important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive the help that they need with their emotional and mental health. The organisation has a psychologist who carries out a range of assessments when children first arrive. These assessments help to develop plans to meet the emotional and mental health needs of children. The psychologist supports and guides staff about the most effective approaches to care practice. This has helped children to become more self- aware, more confident and to develop their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s physical health is impaired because they smoke tobacco. Staff have completed individual work with children about the harmful effects of smoking, but this has had minimal impact. Staff are not actively challenging children when they decide to smoke and so it has become an accepted part of the culture in the home. Children smoking should never be accepted given the adverse impact to their health and should always be challenged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children decorate their rooms according to their preferences. They also contribute to the decor throughout the home and the furnishings. Unfortunately, the home does appear tired and worn in areas. The garden area is particularly in need of attention. This detracts from what is an otherwise pleasant and comfortable home environment.

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

Children are safe and say that they feel safe in the care of staff. Incidents of concern have decreased over the past five months, in conjunction with children becoming more settled.

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

Staff promote good behaviour through using incentive charts and talking issues through with children. Children speak openly to staff and this helps them to express difficult emotions in an appropriate manner and without resorting to unacceptable behaviour. Should children’s behaviour become a risk to themselves or others, staff will use physical intervention, but this is only used as a last resort. The manager oversees all such incidents and staff carry out individual debriefs with children to explore their perception and views as to the reasons why things became unmanageable.

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

The manager and staff understand how vulnerable children can be when they use the internet and social media. They work in partnership with local authorities and develop plans, which are specific to the child, to keep them safe online. Some children have no access to the internet or social media, while others have clearly agreed contracts of use. The manager and staff ensure rigorous oversight of sites visited and social media usage. In addition, staff educate children through key-work sessions about the dangers and safe use of the internet.

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

The manager ensures that new staff are recruited using safer recruitment procedures. Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 5 This means that a full range of background checks are carried out prior to new staff working with children. Additionally, as part of the staff induction process, they become fully conversant with the organisation’s child protection policies. They undertake safeguarding training designed to meet the specific safeguarding needs of children living at the home. These measures help to keep children safe.

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

The manager has completed a detailed location risk assessment. In order to complete this, she canvassed the views of the local police and gained a good understanding of the specific risks to children in the area. The assessment is informative for staff in the event of children going missing as it includes areas to avoid relative to the specific risks and vulnerabilities of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is organised, committed and well respected by the staff team. The current period of registration for this home is her second, as she was previously registered for this home. She has worked at the home as a residential worker, as a deputy manager and now as a manager. She is nearing the completion of the relevant diploma level 5 qualification and understands the importance of completing this without delay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of each child’s plan and she advocates for children to secure the services that they need. Children have a good relationship with the manager, who they confide in, and they know that she will listen to them and take their views seriously. Likewise, one parent spoken to said, ‘If I have a problem or question, I can speak to the manager and it will be sorted.’ This demonstrates a manager who possesses a good overview of the day-to-day operation of the home and the plans for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff undertake a good, thorough induction programme that prepares them well to work with children. This programme includes the allocation of a more experienced member of staff to mentor and help the new staff member through the initial stages of working at the home. They undertake a full programme of training and development, which is overseen and approved by the manager and work mentor. This helps new staff to develop the skills and knowledge that they need to provide good care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the importance of good-quality services and how these help children to make progress. She employs a range of systems to help her monitor the effectiveness of the care provided. She quickly identifies any weaknesses and puts them right. The manager also ensures that the staff team learns from incidents and from what children tell them in key-work sessions or young people’s meetings. These measures demonstrate that the manager wants to harness crucial information to keep the home on its current improvement trajectory. Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 6

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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: SC363422 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Educational Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector:

Phillip Morris: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC363422 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:

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

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