Children's Home run by Bristol City Council in Bristol

Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 1 SC034301 Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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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 home is owned by a local authority. It is registered for up to five children aged up to 18 who have had adverse childhood experiences that have led to associated trauma and presenting complex behaviours.

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Information about this children’s home

The 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 11/12/2018 Full Good 29/07/2016 Full Requires improvement 31/05/2016 Full Inadequate Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)) 31/10/2019

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 31/10/2019

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Recommendations

 When a child returns to the home after being missing from care or away from the home without permission, the responsible local authority must provide an opportunity for the child to have an independent return home interview. Homes should take account of information provided by such interviews when assessing risks and putting arrangements in place to protect each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people make significant progress with their education and social development because of the warm and nurturing care staff provide. Staff have high expectations for young people. For example, all young people attend full-time education provisions, and one young person gained a C in mathematics in her general certificate of secondary education (GCSE) exam.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that internal care plans include clear aims and objectives, and young people read their plans. Staff help young people with life story work in collaboration with social workers to enable them to understand their past. Young people’s wishes and feelings are central to their care plans. Staff listen to and include young people in everyday decisions about their care. For example, one young person has been part of an interviewing panel Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 4 and spoke positively about this experience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand and respond to the individual needs of each young person. They help young people to understand their aggressive and insecure behaviours. This is because of well-written behaviour management plans and an in-depth understanding of trauma and abuse. Consequently, staff respond appropriately and sensitively to the needs of young people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people enjoy spending time with staff. Staff engage young people in playing board games such as Ludo and Monopoly, colouring by numbers and in doing mathematics work. Staff encourage trips to the park, bowling, cinema, Zumba classes and swimming. Managers have a caravan holiday planned and trips to a music concert for one young person at her request. Consequently, young people feel listened to and explore new opportunities while having fun.

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

Young people are safe because of living at this home. There have been no complaints, allegations or serious safeguarding issues since the last inspection. This is because staff have a thorough knowledge of safeguarding processes and respond effectively to incidents.

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

Since the last inspection, there have been no incidents of physical restraint. Staff are highly skilled at calming incidents of challenging behaviour in line with risk management plans. This enables young people to learn from and reflect on their verbally abusive and destructive behaviours to make improvements.

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

Managers ensure that incidents of missing from home are responded to appropriately. Staff search for young people, contact them frequently and speak with their friends when they are missing. Staff follow procedures in line with individual safety plans and undertake detailed discussions with young people on their return to find out where they have been and to identify ways to keep them safe. Despite the manager asking and escalating requests with senior leaders in the local authority, independent return home interviews are not completed with young people. Consequently, young people are not given an opportunity to talk with someone independent of the home about how they feel or why they went missing. The manager is continuing to pursue this.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and highly passionate about her role. She has a thorough understanding of complex abuse and the impact this has on young people, including trauma. She is supported by an experienced and dedicated staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported and listened to by the manager. However, some casual and permanent members of staff are not receiving supervision regularly and in line with organisational policy. The manager is aware of this weakness and is taking appropriate steps to rectify it. When staff do receive supervision, this is good-quality and enables Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 5 them to reflect on their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has completed a thorough and evaluative review of the quality of care in the home. It includes the views of young people living at the home. Internal and external monitoring processes are effective and are likely to improve the day-to-day experiences of young people living in this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that team meetings take place regularly. They are used as opportunities to share the wishes of young people and to respond to their requests, for example those about activity requests for the holidays and daily routines. Staff use team meetings as an opportunity to develop awareness and knowledge about issues that affect young people. For example, a guest speaker recently attended to talk about mental health and the impact on young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Nearly all of the staff team members working at the home have the necessary qualifications, and those who do not are completing the level 3 diploma for residential childcare. This ensures that the staff are competent in meeting the needs of young people in their care. Some staff have not received refresher training in first aid, fire safety and food hygiene. The manager is taking effective action to address this and ensures that enough suitably trained staff are on each shift.

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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: SC034301 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, Bristol BS1 5TR

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Inspector

Anna Gravelle, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC034301 7 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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