Children's Home run by The Together Trust in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 1 SC025739 Registered provider: The Together Trust

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is run and managed by a charitable organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for four children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is led by an experienced registered manager who has been in post since 2009.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 September 2019

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

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.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 27 November 2018

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/11/2018 Full Good 20/11/2017 Full Outstanding 27/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 19/12/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 3

p.2

Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent monitoring (including under regulation 44) to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24). In particular, the independent person’s report should be reflective of the observations and information obtained at the time of the visit. Where actions are identified, these should be recorded clearly and concisely with timescales for completion.  The registered person must have systems in place so that staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children in their care. A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision

p.3

Recommendations

is delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs 13.2 and 13.3). In particular, the frequency of supervision, outlined in supervision contracts, should match the details in the organisation’s supervision policy.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Young people who have experienced significant adversity and instability in their childhoods make exceptional progress. They receive a consistently high quality of therapeutic care from a skilled and stable staff team. Young people share a home environment which is like an extended family. Relationships between young people and staff mirror what would be expected in a nurturing family home. Young people are encouraged to take part in a range of positive activities in the community, which helps to broaden their experiences. This raises young people’s aspirations of what they can achieve. Young people who arrive at the home with no self- confidence develop belief in themselves and flourish. Young people are making good progress in education. Young people who did not attend school before coming to the home are now regularly attending and engaged with education. The home has good communication with schools and advocates on behalf of

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

young people. As a result, young people’s educational needs are understood, and their achievements recognised and celebrated. Young people benefit greatly from the support that the home gives them in respect of their emotional health and well-being. Young people and staff receive a high level of support from the organisation’s clinical psychologist. As a result, young people are Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 4 enabled to understand their past and build resilience for their future. Young people spend regular time with their families. This is prioritised and encouraged by the home. Staff have excellent relationships with parents and offer them support to ensure that they can spend time with their children. An independent reviewing officer told the inspector that, due to the home’s support, a young person could spend time with their family in the community rather than at a local authority contact centre. As a

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

result, this time was a more enjoyable experience for the young person.

p.4

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

Young people who demonstrate their emotional distress through negative behaviours receive a caring and reflective response. Staff are skilled in de-escalating situations to avoid confrontation. As a result, the home environment is calming and nurturing for young people. Practice in the home is underpinned by a clear, therapeutic framework. This is embedded in practice. Staff understand how this impacts on their own behaviour and their relationships with young people. As a result, young people receive an excellent quality of care which addresses their individual needs. Physical restraint of young people is infrequent. Where physical intervention is used, it is a proportionate response in order to keep young people, and those around them, safe. The use of restraint has reduced over recent months. Young people have been supported to identify their feelings and to develop coping strategies. This means that

p.4

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

young people are making progress with managing their own emotional health. Young people are confident to talk to staff about concerns. Records of the individual time young people spend with staff demonstrate that they have trust and confidence in these relationships. A member of staff said, ‘We want to give young people this message. It doesn’t matter what you do, you are not going. We are not giving up on you.’ Young people are supported to take risks which are appropriate to their individual circumstances. Young people travel to and from school on public transport. This promotes their independence. Staff actively work to resolve situations which may stigmatise young people due to them being looked after. For example, one young person is being given an opportunity to go out of school and buy lunch with friends. This means he is supported to develop and maintain friendships as he is not treated differently from

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is well established in her role and provides inspirational leadership to the staff team. One member of staff said, ‘The manager is the glue that holds us all together.’ The staff team is highly skilled and experienced. A number of staff have worked at the home for many years. Staff who have been appointed more recently bring with them a wealth of relevant experience from other settings, which adds value to the whole staff team. Staff receive regular supervision. This provides them with an opportunity to reflect on their practice and supports them to improve the quality of care they provide to young Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 5 people. There is a discrepancy between the frequency of supervision detailed in staff supervision contracts and the organisation’s supervision policy; however, this does not impact on the quality or effectiveness of supervision. The home receives regular monthly visits from an independent person. Although the

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

visits are at the right frequency, the reports provided by the independent person are not always of the highest quality. Some recommendations lack clarity, and timescales for completion are often not provided. Some of the reports are not evaluative, and therefore do not assist the registered manager to improve the quality of care in the home. Decisions in relation to admissions of new young people to the home are very child- focused. Thorough assessments are undertaken of the impact of the admission of new young people on those already living in the home. The progress and experiences of young people already in placement are given utmost priority. This promotes the current stability and progress of these young people and makes them feel valued. The physical environment of the home is maintained to a high standard. It provides young people with a family environment. Communal areas of the home and young

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

people’s bedrooms are personalised with photographs. Young people have chosen the decor of their bedrooms. The home provides young people with an environment in which they can flourish. The requirements and recommendations arising from the last inspection have been addressed effectively. The behavioural management policy has been updated to include incidences when external doors are locked to ensure the safety of young people. Case records now include the current local authority care plan for each young person. In response to the recommendations made, risk assessments have been improved to include a clearer rationale for the assessment reached regarding the level of presenting risk. In addition, the procedure for medication has been updated to include incidences where young people may hold their own medication.

p.5

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.

p.5

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: SC025739 6 Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 7

p.5

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Together Trust Centre, Schools Hill, Cheadle, Cheshire SK8 1JE

p.7

Inspector

Dawn Parton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC025739 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8