Children's Home run by Norwood Ravenswood in Barnet

Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 1 SC010415 Registered provider: Norwood Ravenswood Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A charity runs this home. It cares for up to nine children. The home aims to provide short breaks for disabled and autistic children, including those with profound and multiple difficulties. However, three children are currently staying longer term in the home. The home also provides day care. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 5 October 2018.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/05/2018 Full Good 22/06/2017 Full Good 07/12/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/07/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 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 registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1)(2)(a)(b)(3)(c)(d)) 01/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 01/11/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy which—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard children accommodated in the children’s home from abuse or neglect; and

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Requirement Due date

sets out the procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect.

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular— 01/11/2019 Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 4 provide for the prompt referral of an allegation about current or ongoing abuse or neglect in relation to a child to the placing authority and, if different, the local authority in whose area the home is located; and

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Requirement Due date

provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. (Regulation 34 (1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must share without delay with the local authority’s designated officer for safeguarding any allegations that a staff member mishandled a child or behaved in a way that endangered a child, and keep a record of any actions taken. The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed. (Regulation 45 (4)(a)) 01/11/2019

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Recommendations

 Personalised care is care which meets the child’s gender, religion, ethnicity, cultural and linguistic background, sexual identity, mental health, any disability, their assessed needs, previous experiences and any relevant plans. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2) Specifically, the registered person should ensure that children’s individual support plans specify more clearly how all aspects of their identity will be promoted by the home, including how their ethnicity and cultural and linguistic needs will be met.  Regulations 35–39 detail the records that must be kept in children’s homes. All children’s records must be kept up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3) Specifically, the registered person should develop more evidence-based practices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised support from caring and skilled staff. Children have positive experiences and make progress in many areas of their lives. Their ability to engage with others has improved. Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 5 Children develop emotionally warm relationships with staff. One mother described how her son happily runs towards the home and staff whenever he comes to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use every opportunity to promote children’s communication, independence and choices. Staff know children well and are highly attentive to their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Working in effective partnership with children’s parents/carers, teachers, social workers and health professionals has enabled staff to meet children’s needs regardless of their complexity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have received specialist training on how to meet the children’s complex medical needs, such as those relating to diabetes, epilepsy and difficulties in swallowing or breathing. The home’s safe procedure for dealing with medication underpins the good health support that children receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has excellent facilities and resources for children, including a well-equipped sensory room and music garden. Children enjoy arts and crafts, reading and storytelling, music making and exercises such as throwing a ball. One mother said how the home’s safe and spacious building supported her daughter’s love of crawling around and physically exploring the environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children also enjoy a wide range of recreational activities with staff and their peers in the community. Staff organise frequent trips to local attractions, such as museums, botanical gardens, parks and animal enclosures. These trips contribute to children’s enjoyment, learning and better social integration.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Stakeholders talk positively about the quality of care and its impact on children and their families. Parents described the home as welcoming, safe and flexible. Parents and social workers highlighted how well staff understood and managed children’s transitions, such as how children were introduced to the home.

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improvement to be good

Staff recruitment is not robust. Several staff files do not contain all of the required information. This shortfall unnecessarily increases the risk of children being looked after by people who are not suitable for their roles.

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improvement to be good

The home has a clear procedure for reporting allegations of abuse and neglect. However, on two occasions when potentially unsafe staff practices were brought to the management’s attention, managers did not consult with the designated officer for safeguarding at the local authority. Leaders and managers said that as a result they have learned to be more proactive in sharing information.

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improvement to be good

Parents reported that they had confidence that their children are safe. One mother talked about her child coming to live in the home while their child was in crisis. She Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 6 noted that her child settled really well and became calmer and safer.

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improvement to be good

Risk management practices in the home are effective. Staff have high safeguarding awareness and take prompt actions to minimise any risks to children’s safety. Despite children’s profound and complex needs, that include challenging behaviours, incidents are rare and when they occur, they are managed well.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour management practices in the home are particularly strong. Staff have created an emotionally warm environment, with clear boundaries and routines. They have been able to manage children’s challenging behaviours through positive support and without the need to use physical restraint.

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improvement to be good

The home environment is maintained in a secure and safe way. Health and safety checks are carried out regularly. The fire safety arrangements are comprehensive and include children having individual evacuation plans, which are well known by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run effectively and efficiently, and in line with its statement of purpose. Leaders, managers and staff always display a shared commitment to act in the best interests of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The change in the management team last year was managed well. The new registered manager has quickly gained the trust of staff, parents, children and outside professionals since she moved from the deputy manager’s role into becoming the manager. This is an example of the organisation developing its own staff and nurturing talent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team spirit is strong. The high staffing levels and consistency of the staff team contribute to the stability and quality of the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision, training and support that enable them to be effective in their roles. This includes the registered manager. Her line manager has a deep insight into the home’s functioning, as she managed it herself for many years prior to being promoted within the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Annual appraisals of staff performance are four months overdue. The organisation is introducing a new appraisal system from September 2019. This created a six-month gap with no plan on how to be compliant with the relevant regulation in the interim period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent person’s monthly monitoring visits contribute to the home’s quality assurance processes. The registered manager has compiled a quality review report for the period from August 2018 to January 2019. However, Ofsted did not receive this report until the inspection itself.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Developing more evidence-based practices is an area for further improvement. Not all records on children’s files are updated in a timely manner when things change. On one occasion, an important telephone conversation with the child’s social worker was not Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 7 recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some children have stayed living in this home for much longer than originally envisaged. It is important for the children who live at the home that their care plans cover in more detail how all aspects of their identity are promoted, for example how their needs relating to their ethnical, cultural and religious background are met.

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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: SC010415 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Broadway House, 80–82 The Broadway, Stanmore, Middlesex HA7 4HB

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Inspector

Seka Graovac: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC010415 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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