Children's home run by Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 1 SC402370 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) 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 is a privately owned children’s home with a school on the same site. It is part of a group that provides care and education across the country. It is registered to accommodate up to 54 children, but its statement of purpose says that it can take up to 40 children, aged between nine and 17 years old. The current occupancy is 32. Children are usually experiencing social, emotional and behavioural difficulties and they may have additional needs. The home’s stated vision is: ‘To create a safe and caring community where there is a passion for learning and mutual respect for all. Young people have the opportunity to develop to their full potential in preparation for their future life.’

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager who is currently undertaking the relevant qualification.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/08/2018 Full Outstanding 05/09/2017 Full Outstanding 22/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/11/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional progress as a result of the coordinated support they receive from care staff, the clinical team and the teaching staff. One social worker said of a child: ‘He is transformed.’ Another social worker commented: ‘I am so impressed with the progress my child has made. He looks fantastic and is so different.’ Clear, detailed care planning, objective setting and regular reviews ensure that strategies remain relevant and effective. An exceptionally high quality of focused direct work with children addresses the issues that are current to them. The extremely positive relationships between children and staff are a significant factor in the effectiveness of bringing about change. One child said: ‘Staff have helped me a lot in the last few years.’ Another child commented: ‘The staff really want to help me. They have done lots of work with me over the past year and I feel that I have made massive improvements in all areas of my

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s physical and emotional health improves significantly as a result of a coordinated approach from the clinical team working in partnership with the community resources. The clinical psychologist completes a psychological formulation on each child and this is used to inform the care and support required. It uses a research-based theoretical model that all staff understand. Regular multidisciplinary child in mind meetings are used to review and adapt the plans so that children continue to make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The on-site nurse is extremely committed to ensuring that children’s health needs are fully met. He has developed excellent systems to monitor health assessments, vaccinations and routine optical and dental appointments to ensure that these are up to date. He has also worked with the care staff and the community services to significantly reduce visits to the emergency department and hospital admissions. Excellent communication and partnership working ensure that children’s health needs are met to an exceptionally high standard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children, many of whom had poor educational attendance prior to coming to this home, make good, and in some cases exceptional progress educationally. Attendance is excellent, and most of the children’s attainment is better than expected. Children who previously did not attend school and who presented significant challenges are now expected to get GCSEs. This progress significantly enhances their life chances. Children are now ambitious for their futures, they have plans for further education and employment and they are justifiably proud of their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff place a high premium on promoting contact with people who are important in the children’s lives. As many children live some distance from their home local authority, this is vital for them to maintain these significant relationships. Staff have worked hard to improve family relationships so that children can make a successful transition home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are encouraged and very well supported to maintain a sense of positive identity. Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 4 This includes gender identity, cultural and religious identity as well as the sense of belonging to their home area. For example, one child is supported to look at a local newspaper online so that he knows what is happening in his home town. The houses also have photographs of the children’s home towns and areas. Some children are supported to attend a local lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) group where they can meet other young people and gain peer support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children take part in an excellent range of activities and opportunities that enhance their self-esteem and confidence as well as provide some amazing memories of their time at this home. For example, last year 19 children went to Paris for a holiday. This was a fantastic experience and due to its success, it is being repeated this year. This is an opportunity that many of the children otherwise would not have had. One child said: ‘I like how my staff take me to theme parks and spend lots of time with me. I feel safe and happy with staff.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s wishes and feelings are given an exceptionally high priority. They are consulted about their care and support as well as their environment, the food they eat and the activities they do. Their living accommodation has been improved greatly since the last inspection. All the children have contributed their views about how to improve the home. Each individual house now has its own identity, and this reflects the interests and personalities of the children who live there. Their contribution to society has also been increased in the last year through fundraising activities for various charities. This helps the children develop empathy and a better understanding of the challenges that other people may face.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Transitions into and out of the home are very well planned. The home does not offer a place to anyone whose needs they cannot meet, or who may not fit in with the existing group. On the odd occasion when the manager has had to give notice, staff work hard to ensure that the move is as smooth as possible. There are examples of excellent work that staff carry out to ensure that the children are fully equipped with the skills they need to make a successful and confident transition out of the home when that time comes.

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

Children are significantly safer as a result of living in this home. Risks are very well managed using research-informed practice to develop comprehensive risk assessments and behaviour management plans. Children are fully involved in this process so that they can suggest the best ways that staff can support them. This contributes to successful risk management as children fully understand and have some ownership of why staff have to do what they do.

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

Behaviour is very well managed. Extensive analysis of incidents and physical intervention has led to a significant reduction, which in turn fosters a more positive environment. Excellent managerial oversight promotes learning and a more open and transparent way of working. Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 5 The home’s management of bullying is exemplary. Staff engage the young people in work of a very high quality so that they have an excellent understanding of the impact of their words and actions on others. Mediation is used as a way of addressing any conflicts and this works very successfully.

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

The manager is very responsive to emerging risks and ensures that staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to manage these. For example, child criminal exploitation was identified as a possible concern, so some innovative work was done with the young people concerned, and all the staff and children were provided with training so that they were fully informed about the actions they could take.

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

Some children engage in self-harming behaviour. The nurse completes a very thorough analysis of this on a quarterly basis to inform staff practice. Some children who were engaging in very concerning self-harming behaviour have reduced this considerably. The involvement of the clinical team ensures that staff are more confident and that children get the right support at an early stage.

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

Very few children go missing from care but when they do, incidents are managed very well. All children have comprehensive missing-from-care risk assessments that include preventative measures. Staff go above and beyond what would usually be expected when searching for a missing child. The manager is proactive in ensuring that children have a chance to talk to an independent person as soon as possible in case there is anything that can be done to prevent a reoccurrence. If local authorities have not completed a return home interview in a timely way, the manager has commissioned an independent service to undertake this on their behalf.

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

The manager has good links with the designated officer of the local authority and follows any advice given. When staff have not followed procedures, this is dealt with as a serious matter and has on occasion resulted in dismissal.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led and managed by an enthusiastic, child-focused manager who is aspirational for all the children to reach their full potential. She is ably assisted by a number of other staff, who together form the senior leadership team. The home is characterised by excellent communication, joint working and mutual accountability. For example, when the school was going through an unsettled period, senior care staff were seconded to assist to ensure that the impact of this on the children was minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are excellent systems to ensure that managers monitor and review the progress that children are making. Detailed analysis of all aspects of staff practice is utilised to drive improvement and promote better outcomes for children. This desire for constant improvement permeates throughout the home. Complaints are used positively to improve service delivery. For example, a stakeholder was concerned about some children having negative attitudes to figures of authority. To address this, the manager has worked with a stakeholder to engage children in positive contacts with authority figures and thus promote a better understanding. This has been very successful. Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 6 Staff love working at this home. They are extremely committed to the children and they display a high level of knowledge and understanding about the effect of trauma. Their training opportunities are relevant and extensive, and the impact of this can be seen in

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

staff competence. Staff are also well supported by regular supervision, staff meetings and access to specialist advice through the clinical team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Record-keeping is a strength. Children’s case records are very detailed, and these are enhanced by daily diaries that provide children with a positive record of their time in care, should they access them in the future. Staff take detailed minutes of review meetings, so that they have a full record of these while waiting for the local authority minutes. They also provide a child-friendly version, so the child has a record of what was said, and the decisions made as soon as possible. This is excellent practice.

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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: SC402370 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wings Education) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8 Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Inspectors

Ros Chapman, social care inspector Tracy Murty, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC402370 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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