Children's Home run by Pebbles Care Limited in North Yorkshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 1 SC481305 Registered provider: Pebbles Care

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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 four children and young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager has been registered since January 2018.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 31 July to 01 August 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: Inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: A monitoring inspection was carried out on 25 June 2019 following the inadequate judgement at the full inspection. The monitoring visit found the home to be making progress. Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/05/2019 Full Inadequate 24/10/2018 Full Good 13/06/2017 Full Good 08/03/2017 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises. (Regulation 21 (b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, remove the locks on internal doors to rooms that young people have access to. 30/09/2019

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people are making good progress in this home. They are happy and settled and they feel very safe. Trusting and nurturing relationships have been reinforced by the staff team that is committed to ensuring that young people’s personalities and needs are clearly understood and supported effectively. This has helped the young people to re- engage with the staff and is enabling them to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

No new children and young people have been placed at this home since the period of instability several weeks ago. This has allowed for a stable time and a valuable opportunity for the young people and staff to reflect on previous events and move forward positively. The young people have forged good relationships and look out for each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people have resumed their education. They are making good progress and show a promising ability to achieve good exam grades. This demonstrates that the young people are focused on achieving their individual goals with a view to improving their life chances. Informal learning at the home through the young people partaking in meal preparations and baking and the promotion of self-care skills is helping them to develop independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people’s health needs are actively supported and encouraged by the staff who diligently promote their health in line with their plans. Health issues are regularly Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 4 addressed with the young people to promote their well-being, for example smoking cessation, which is an area in which staff persist with the young people. Medication management is appropriate and supports the maintenance of young people’s health conditions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people feel listened to. They feel sufficiently comfortable to confide in staff about their thoughts and feelings, which they acknowledge did not happen to the same extent previously. The young people know how to complain, and consultation is strong. Good, regular and focused keywork sessions and young people’s meetings support the young people’s individual needs, behaviours and risks. An advocate provides independent support and advice to the young people when they need it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The young people continue to benefit immensely from their engagement in a range of activities that enhance their social interactions, build their confidence and provide them with memorable times. Pictures of the young people’s activities reflect a positive impression of the young people’s varied experiences. Their involvement in a range of sporting activities, army cadets, trips and holidays enhances their fitness levels and integrates them into the local and wider communities. The young people’s contact with family and friends is facilitated by the staff team, which ensures that they remain connected, where possible, to their local communities and identity.

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

The young people benefit from living in a home that has fully recovered from the previous chaotic and unsafe period. They are living in a settled environment that enables them to relax and re-engage with their individual plans and feel considerably safer. The young people unanimously rate their safety ‘ten out of ten’.

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

Improvements made to the risk management strategies are well coordinated with the young people’s care plans, and the risk levels are clear. Individual risk assessments are up to date, indicate all the risks to children and include clear strategies and good management oversight. This practice increasingly safeguards young people and promotes their well-being, which leads to proactive and safer practice. The risks previously presented by the young people are no longer widespread but remain on the risk radar. This also helps to keep the young people safe.

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

Safety work with the young people helps them to keep themselves safe. Missing from home incidents, exploitative behaviours, police intervention and bullying incidents are not current issues of concern that involve the young people at this home. The previously high number of incidents has significantly reduced, and there has been just one recent incident that was addressed effectively. The young people have received fire awareness training. This helps them to understand the risk of fire to their own and other’s health and safety.

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

Although young people are not going missing from the home, they know that staff will go out looking for them and report them to the appropriate authorities if they were to. Young people feel cared about and safeguarded by this practice. Effective behaviour Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 5 management plans and strategies promote positive behaviours. They are monitored and kept under review to ensure that they remain current. Young people engage in restorative discussions with the staff to promote positive behaviours and help them to be more accountable for their actions towards themselves and others. The registered manager is addressing how any consequences used under the restorative approach can be agreed with the individual young person and included in their behaviour management plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and she is working towards achieving her leadership and management qualification. She has worked effectively with the staff team following a period of disruption and instability. She has successfully strengthened her management monitoring oversight of the home and the young people’s plans and progress. This ensures that the young people’s experiences and progress are enhanced, and they stay safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Increased senior management visibility and support to the registered manager have resulted in a shared understanding about the current improvements, what needs to happen in the future and how this will happen. The combined interventions from the responsible individual, managers and the staff team have successfully contributed to a good level of stability in the home and positive plans for the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff are enthusiastic and committed to their roles and responsibilities to the young people whom they highly value and like to spend time with. The staff feel supported by their managers, and team morale and enthusiasm continue to be strong. Stability in the staff team is maintained to a consistent level: one member of staff has left since the last inspection and one new member has started. The staff are receptive to training and development opportunities, for example developing practice in a therapeutic parenting model to equip them with the knowledge and skills to meet the young people’s needs. Regular supervision enables the staff to talk about the young people, reflect on their practice and discuss any concerns. Inconsistencies in some supervision records do not make clear how long staff supervisions last, to ensure that sufficient time is given to this important process. However, there is no impact on the young people, and the provider

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous requirements raised at the full and monitoring inspections have been addressed. This includes the improvements made with respect to the escalation process, promoting positive relationships between staff and the young people, strengthening management oversight and notifying Ofsted of significant incidents. Room search processes have been clarified with the staff team to ensure that the team understands what to do should incidents of this nature occur in the future. These actions demonstrate the home’s capacity to improve.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The refurbishment of the home offers the young people a comfortable and homely environment that they enjoy living in. However, the practice of locking some internal doors has the potential to restrict the young people’s free movement around their home. Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 6 One requirement is raised to address this matter.

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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: SC481305 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pebbles Care, 2 Wyther Lane, Leeds LS5 3BT

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Inspector

Jacqueline Malcolm, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC481305 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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