Children's home run by The Together Trust in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC025713 1 SC025713 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 registered to provide care for up to two young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The home is run and managed by a charitable organisation.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has a suitably qualified and experienced registered manager.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 19 December 2018

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC025713 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2018 Full Good 27/09/2017 Full Good 24/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/10/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC025713 3

p.2

Recommendations

 All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)  Under regulation 46, the registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people benefit from high-quality care from a fully committed staff team. Consequently, young people make progress from their initial starting points. One placing social worker reported, ‘[Name of young person] has formed positive relationships with staff who have offered consistent care and support alongside assisting him to develop age-appropriate independence. [Name of young person] has enjoyed a period of stability in his life since being here.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two young people have moved on from the home. One young person has moved to semi-independence and the other to a placement more suitable to his needs. Both moves were well planned to ensure a smooth transition. Staff made each young person a DVD with photographs on it, so that they have a positive memory of their time living at the home. One young person sent a card when he left, with individual messages to each member of staff saying, ‘Thanks for all the times you supported me,’ ‘I will miss you so much and I loved every second I spent with you,’ and ‘Thank you for always being there for me.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people’s health needs are well supported. Regular clinical consultation is provided to the staff team, which helps them to understand young people’s complex behaviours. This ensures that staff can support young people’s emotional well-being effectively.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know young people well, listen to them and invest time in them. Key-working and individual consultation records show that a wide range of topics are discussed that relate to young people’s day-to-day lives. Staff use the PACE principles of positive parenting to help young people overcome experiences of trauma. Over time, young people build trusted and secure relationships with staff. This provides them with a sense of permanence and belonging. Inspection report children’s home: SC025713 4 Staff have high aspirations for all young people. They challenge any barriers to a young person’s learning and advocate on their behalf. Staff work well with educational professionals to support young people’s attendance and participation in their education. Young people’s choice of education provision is considered and where possible met. The organisation held an awards ceremony to celebrate young people’s achievements during

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people are supported to try new experiences and pursue their individual hobbies and interests. This enables them to make friends and socialise away from the home. Staff encourage young people to develop skills that help prepare them for independent living.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Young people live a warm and homely environment. A large extension is currently being built to the rear of the home. The building work is having minimal impact on young people. Young people’s bedrooms have been personalised to reflect their own interests and styles.

p.4

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

Young people confirm that they feel safe in the home. Safeguarding training is regularly updated to ensure that staff are clear on their roles and responsibilities in promoting the welfare and safety of young people.

p.4

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

Young people respond well to clear and consistent boundaries. Staff are well trained in behaviour management. They use these skills effectively to respond to incidents of challenging behaviour. The use of sanctions and restraint is kept to a minimum as behaviour management focuses on negotiation and compromise.

p.4

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

There have been very few incidents of young people going missing from the home. Clear protocols are in place, and records provide an accurate picture of the action taken by staff to ensure the young person’s prompt return.

p.4

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

Staff have a good understanding of young people’s risks and vulnerabilities. Comprehensive risk assessments identify young people’s risks and ensure, where possible, that they are kept safe. The home’s locality risk assessment needs updating to reflect any potential risk from the railway bridge that is located close to the home.

p.4

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

The recruitment of staff is rigorous and prevents unsuitable people from being able to work with young people. Inspection report children’s home: SC025713 5

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. She is very well supported by her management team. Together, they are highly motivated and aspirational in improving the lives of young people in their care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A child-centred approach is fully embedded in the running of the home. Managers and staff work effectively with parents and professionals to ensure that young people receive the best support possible to meet their needs. A parent reported, ‘ I can’t fault the home, [name] is like a new person since she has been at [name of the home]. The staff are brilliant, and they do great things with her. I couldn’t be happier with her placement at the home.’

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well resourced and meeting the aims and objectives of the statement of purpose. The manager demonstrates a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She makes effective use of both internal and external monitoring to ensure that high standards of care are maintained. The previous recommendations made at the last inspection have been addressed.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is sufficiently staffed to meet the needs of the young people. Staff are qualified to level 3; one member of staff is currently undertaking their level 3 qualification. Staff access a range of mandatory and specialist training to ensure that they are equipped with the skills and knowledge to meet the needs of young people.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by the management team. Staff use their supervision sessions, team meetings and clinical consultations to reflect on young people’s progress. This ensures that the staff team remains motivated to deliver high-quality childcare. Annual appraisals challenge individual staff performance. However, not all appraisals include the views of young people to support staff development.

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: SC025713 6

p.5

Children’s home details

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

p.6

Inspector

Michelle Bacon: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC025713 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.

p.6

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.7

Inspector

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

p.7

Inspector

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

p.7