Children's Home run by Norfolk County Council in Norfolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC068076 1 SC068076 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Children’s Services

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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 local authority children’s home is registered to provide care for up to two children, irrespective of gender. It provides residential care for children when family, foster care or other community-based placements are not possible or desirable at that time. The substantive manager was registered with Ofsted on 6 October 2017. She is currently on maternity leave. An interim manager was registered on 22 February 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: 4 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: SC068076 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/09/2018 Full Good 19/12/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 01/11/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC068076 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for ensuring that each child’s day-to-day health and well-being needs are met. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) In particular, make sure that internal monitoring and external monitoring identify shortfalls in records.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children make good progress across different areas of their lives. They like the home and the staff. The staff know the children’s needs and vulnerabilities; they are pleased when children make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are doing well in their education. One child attends a mainstream school and is making good progress. A member of school staff said that he is making expected or above expected progress in all areas, and that the home’s staff are ‘incredibly supportive’. Another child, who went to the home with a very low level of engagement in education, has got a place to start at college next term. She is due to start a course that she has chosen. The child said that she would not have got on the course without the support of staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff encourage children to live healthy lifestyles through a sensible diet and exercise. They provide emotional support through good relationships and opportunities for children to talk to them. The manager takes her dog into the home regularly. The children enjoy spending time with the dog and benefit from the additional emotional support that the dog’s presence and their interactions with it provide.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In general, staff meet children’s physical health needs, but there have been a couple of exceptions. One child’s medical records show that she has not had her medication given Inspection report children’s home: SC068076 4 to her as prescribed. Often, this has been because she has refused it, but in some cases no reason for non-administration is recorded. In addition to this, there is a lack of clarity in the arrangements for the storage and use of her asthma inhaler. Records and plans have differing information about whether or not the child is using the inhaler and where it is kept. This had not been identified in the monitoring of the home. This lack of clarity over medication makes it difficult to make sure that her health needs are met consistently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a range of activities. These include going for bike rides and walks with staff, cooking and attending cricket and dance clubs. One child has recently started to go to the local cricket club. Through this, he is developing opportunities to meet and form friendships with other children in the local community. Children are involved in choosing their activities and can equally choose to stop them if they wish to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Activities such as cooking and forming social relationships in the community help the children to learn the skills that they will need in their adult lives. Staff help them with independence skills such as managing a bank account and applying for a bursary or a driving licence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from having good introductions to the home and staff support them well when they move on. One child has recently moved back to her family. For her, this has been a very positive move. However, the move was delayed unexpectedly as the child’s social worker had not completed the paperwork. This also meant that a child who was due to move into the home had to wait. The manager and staff managed this well and helped the children cope with the delays.

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

There are very few significant incidents in the home. One child said that one of the things that they like about the home is that it is calm and stable. There has not been an incident of a child being restrained since 2016.

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

The staff understand what the risks to the children are and how to help them manage these risks. This helps the children to become safer while they are at the home. One child spoke about the way in which the staff have helped her to recognise and leave a controlling relationship.

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

There has only been on incident of a child going missing from the home since the last inspection in September 2018. In this case, the staff responded appropriately, trying to contact the child, going out to look for her and liaising with her family and the police.

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

The children learn how to manage their behaviour while at the home. A member of school staff said that they could see how the child has benefited from his time at the home. His behaviour has improved, and this has helped him to make progress in his education and to take part in games and groups. The child had a week away with the school, which he may not have managed beforehand. Inspection report children’s home: SC068076 5 The staff help the children to take age-appropriate risks that will help them to learn how to keep themselves safe in the future, and enable them to have experiences that are similar to those of other children. The staff encourage one child to have free time in the community, away from the staff. Although the child enjoys the staff’s company, they recognise that he needs to develop some social independence skills and form appropriate friendships.

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

There have not been any complaints from children, but one child said that the registered manager had dealt effectively with a concern raised by her mother. The child was confident that she could make a complaint if she needed to. She said that she felt safe at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior managers have made suitable arrangements to cover the temporary absence of the substantive registered manager. The home continues to have a registered manager in day-to-day charge. This provides consistency for the children and the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager has developed good working relationships with other agencies, such as one child’s school. A member of staff from the school said that the home is the best home that they deal with. The manager and staff work well with children’s parents to make sure that the children’s needs are met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff know the children very well. They understand the progress that the children are making and will challenge other agencies when necessary to make sure that this progress is maintained. They speak about the children and their achievements with feeling, and clearly want them to do well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children influence their day-to day lives and also their wider care plans. The manager and staff listen to children and act on their views or help them to understand why it may not be possible to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have regular supervision meetings and appropriate training to help them look after the children well. They said that the manager is very supportive of them undertaking training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager monitors the service, but neither the manager nor the independent visitor has identified some of the shortfalls and the lack of clarity in records. This leaves some uncertainty over areas such as health. Some children’s plans have not been fully updated, but staff did know the updated and current information. Although the shortfalls have not had a direct impact on the children’s care, the lack of clarity in the records restricts their usefulness to the children in the future. Inspection report children’s home: SC068076 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: SC068076 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Children’s Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich NR1 2DH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Naomi Starbuck Rosanne Calton

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Inspector

Clive Lucas: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC068076 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 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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