Children's Home, Residential special school run by Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd in West Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 1 SC482300 Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services 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 privately owned children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to six children who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties. The company also provides an on-site education provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The home’s manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 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: 25 October 2018

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 31/01/2018 Full Good 17/10/2017 Full Inadequate 18/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 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 quality and purpose of care standard requires

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Requirement Due date

that the care is delivered by a person who— has the experience, knowledge and skills to deliver that care; (Regulation 6(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that refreshers for safeguarding training are completed to planned timescales. 31/10/2019

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Recommendations

 Homes should work closely with health and education professionals to ensure that outcomes identified, and progress made by children in building relationships and achieving socially acceptable behaviours can be recorded and measured. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 38, paragraph 8.4) Specifically, to review systems for capturing and evaluating progress for children.  Children should have access to a computer and the internet to support their education and learning, unless there are specific safeguarding reasons why this would be inappropriate. In such cases, the home should consider whether and how it can support the child to access a computer and the internet safely. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.19) Specifically, to review internet security measures to ensure that they are proportionate to the risk levels of the children currently in the home.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should monitor and review the patterns and trends of turnover of staff, whether agency or directly employed, and be able to understand and where possible, address any negative trends. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.19) Specifically, in relation to the impact of seven-day shift patterns on retention and quality of care for children in the home. Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are thriving at the home. The registered manager and her team have worked tirelessly to integrate therapeutic ways of working with children into their practice. This is evident in the positive and loving relationships they have formed with children in their care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Good progress is evident in conversations with children, staff and professionals. Children who have struggled socially are being enabled to make positive relationships with peers and staff. Children are supported to spend time, where appropriate, with their family and there is evidence of improved relationships as a result. Children are making positive progress in education. They are also being supported to develop their emotional intelligence and, in turn, how they are able to manage their own emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise that there could be improvements in the way they capture evidence of how their work is making a difference to outcomes for children. This is a current focus.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have put a lot of time and thought into creating a homely environment. While the layout of the building tends towards a more institutional feel, this has been successfully overcome with the creative use of colour and soft furnishings. Children really like their rooms. A child said that they have everything they need to feel comfortable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some of the children said that they are frustrated by the security restrictions on internet access. The registered manager explained that this had been put in place for a child who displayed some high-risk behaviours around e-safety. This child has now moved on and a review of the internet security systems and access rights is overdue.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has overseen huge improvements in the integration of the home’s therapeutic practices. Staff can talk confidently about the PACE model that forms the core of their direct work with children. They talk about the way this has enhanced their understanding of the children in their care. Staff say that this has enabled them to find more innovative ways to deal with challenge when it arises.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s attached clinical psychologist plays a key role in the team. She attends handovers and team meetings. Staff also attend group sessions with her to explore current issues with the children in the home. They also use these sessions to explore their practice and seek improvements in strategies for working with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The clinical psychologist conducts a detailed assessment report when a child enters the home. This report highlights suggested therapeutic interventions. It also includes detailed advice for staff about effective support and behaviour strategies specific to each child in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The therapy service also provides rapid support for staff to manage specific presenting behaviours of children when they arrive. More recently, this has been demonstrated to Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 5 good effect with managing self-harm and working with children with pathological demand avoidance (PDA).

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff keep a ‘Book of Awesome Adventures’ which highlights all the days out and activities that children engage in. Activities are varied and reflect the focus on play as an effective way to build relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from regular one-to-one work with staff. It was clear to see that children enjoyed the sessions and took an active role.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has reviewed and improved the admissions process for children arriving at the home. This has also included a change in the gender make-up of the home. Staff also place an emphasis on maintaining high levels of support during and after transitions.

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

Staff practice around risk management is much improved. Strategies are clear and regularly updated to react to any changes for children. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of the risk assessments for each child. Incident logs show reductions in risk-taking behaviours for all the children in the home. Staff are reflective and quick to update risk strategies with learning from incidents. The senior team shows strong oversight of risk management processes and supports staff to ensure that they can work safely with children in their care. Improvements in staff confidence is having a direct impact, with negative incidents reducing significantly since the last inspection.

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

Most staff have up-to-date safeguarding training, but records show a significant number are overdue safeguarding refreshers.

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

The registered manager has completed a comprehensive location review. Associated risk assessments are very clear and provide good guidance to ensure that risks are minimised. Admissions procedures also assess the suitability of referrals considering specific environmental risks around the building. Clear activity risk assessments allow children to take healthy and positive risks in a planned way.

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

The registered manager takes all allegations very seriously. Full disclosure and consultation with relevant professionals ensure that allegations are dealt with promptly.

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

Incidents of physical intervention are very low. Staff training emphasises the importance of stepping back from incidents to gain an understanding of children’s motivation before intervening. This leads to effective de-escalation and minimises the need to use physical restraint. Staff use a ‘reattunement’ form for every incident to capture children’s views and explore learning to take forward into future strategies. Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 6

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager recognises that she has a new team and they are at the beginning of a journey. However, great progress has been made in a relatively short space of time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a clear vision for the future development of the service. She is proud of her team and the recent progress that they have made. She is committed to influencing and making positive change. This is embraced by her staff team and the wider organisation. She inspires confidence in the staff, parents and children. She talks passionately about children and her hopes for their futures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager acknowledges that there are challenges around staffing levels. Recruitment has taken place and it is hoped that the team will be full soon. Some staff spoke about the pressures of seven-day shifts. They questioned whether this was negatively impacting on recruitment and retention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has dedicated a lot of time to creating stability and security for all at the home. She feels the time has come now to make bold and creative changes that will have a greater impact on the lives of children

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff talk positively about the support and supervision they receive. The registered manager has introduced a format which places an emphasis on reflection and learning. She has also ensured that safeguarding is at the heart of the supervisory relationship. Staff are encouraged to look at specific incidents and scenarios from their working lives. They are encouraged to assess the impact of their practice and explore learning opportunities to improve their skills. Staff describe a strong support network across the team. The team takes part in detailed debriefs every night to look at the day’s events and ensure that staff get the support they need if things have been challenging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff praise the quality of training. The registered manager also has some very positive ideas about bespoke training packages to encourage staff to explore specialisms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are strongly encouraged to participate in regular meetings and consultations. Staff feel that they have a strong voice in decision-making in the home. They feel confident to put their views forward and see evidence of their views being integrated into practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates strong advocacy skills when dealing with education and social care staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All professionals, children and parents that access the service with young people are asked to complete feedback forms. They clearly acknowledge the good progress made by children. They also show confidence in safeguarding practice and leadership at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children spoken to by the inspector said that they feel listened to and can contribute to day-to-day decision-making in the home. They can also identify the impact of their input Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 7 around the home.

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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: SC482300 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hillcrest Children’s Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Turnpike Gate House, Alcester Heath, Alcester, Warwickshire B49 5JG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Rodrigo Ferreira

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC482300 9 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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