Children's home run by The Together Trust in Stockport

Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 1 SC413985 Registered provider: The Together Trust

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a charitable organisation. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to five children who may have a learning disability. The home offers a combination of full-time or shared-care placements. There is a manager in post who registered with Ofsted in December 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 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

Date of last inspection: 19 February 2019

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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: SC413985 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 27/11/2018 Full Good 25/01/2018 Interim Not judged 19/10/2017 Interim Not judged Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 3

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Recommendations

 The design of the home should include any necessary adaptation to meet the needs of children with disabilities or specific health issues. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.24). This is with particular reference to the replacement of the gas hob.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). Specifically, this refers to the need for handwritten records to be legible.  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities

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Recommendations

and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11). This is with particular reference to training for the use of TACPAC (a system of communication through touch and music).  The registered person must have systems in place so that all 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 assigned to their care. A record of supervision should be kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation 33(4)(b). (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraphs

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Recommendations

13.2 and 13.3)  The registered person is responsible for ensuring that all staff consistently follow the home’s policies and procedures for the benefit of the children in the home’s care. Everyone working at the home must understand their roles and responsibilities and what they are authorised to decide on their own initiative. There should be clear lines of accountability. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.20). Specifically, this refers to ensuring that all staff should read and sign the minutes of team meetings. Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have complex needs experience nurturing care and support from adults who care about them and have aspirations for them. Children make good progress in all areas of their lives from their point of admission to the home. The good-quality care that they receive is a significant factor underpinning this progress. Children who communicate nonverbally or are developing verbal communication are supported to express their views and wishes. Staff use a variety of visual, tactile and verbal techniques to ensure that children are supported to communicate. As a result of this, children are enabled to contribute to decisions about their lives. Children with additional barriers to participation due to cognitive or physical impairments enjoy a range of social activities in the community and in the home. They are encouraged to be active, take risks and experience new things. Children have fun. Children are in full-time education. There is good communication between schools and

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

the home. Plans for children are well understood and the home works with schools to ensure that a consistent approach is adopted by all carers to each child. This means that children are supported to make progress. Children are, on the whole, cared for by staff who have the training, skills and experience to do so effectively. One child is receiving some therapeutic input from staff who have not had specialist training in this area. This leaves the child and staff in a vulnerable position. Although there is no evidence that the child has been harmed by this, it means the child may not be experiencing therapy of a sufficient quality. Children leaving the home experience a sensitive and skilled response from staff. Where children leave, due to a change in their care plan, this is planned to support the child as much as possible. For example, in relation to a child who has recently left the home, their move to a new setting was supported by a well-planned transition. The child, who

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

has some additional cognitive needs, was helped by the use of social stories to understand the reasons for the move. The way the staff team approached this and the outcome for the child is evidence of exemplary practice. One staff member said, ‘It felt like we had got her to a point where she could move on and her time here was a success.’

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

Children are well supported to manage their emotions and their behaviours. Staff use their extensive knowledge and understanding of each child to provide a considered and caring response. A social worker told the inspector, ‘Staff reflect on their own practice. They look if they could do things differently.’ The staff’s curiosity and willingness to learn means that children are being cared for by adults who want to do their best for them. A range of communication methods are used with children who are nonverbal or developing their verbal skills. These provide staff with opportunities to consider whether children are happy in the home and explore this further with them if this is not the case. Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 5 This contributes to keeping children safe. Some staff have received training in a preferred model of communication through touch and music. The use of restraint in the home is supported by a clear rationale. Plans and risk

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

assessments are in place, followed in practice and subject to regular review. There are detailed plans for the use of mechanical restraints such as car harnesses. The home is committed to a reduction in the use of restraint and restraint reduction plans are in place. The registered manager has a good understanding of the need to consider all actions by staff that may restrict children, however minimal. These are now recorded as additional measures of control. This promotes a culture which safeguards children and makes adults reflect on and be accountable for their actions. The physical environment of the home is good. Children are kept safe. They have places where they can be alone when they wish to, as well as large communal living areas. The back garden gives children a safe space to play and explore. At the time of inspection, the gas cooker hob could not be used when children were in the home due to safety

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

issues for a child. The registered manager informed the inspector that a new halogen hob will be fitted which will address these safety concerns. Staff have a good understanding of their role in sharing safeguarding concerns. This is evidenced by incidents where staff have raised concerns with the registered manager about the behaviours of other staff members, particularly agency staff. This has led to staff being removed form the home. As a result of this, children are now being cared for by staff who have the skills and experience to do so safely. The registered manager has a good understanding of the processes to follow when safeguarding concerns arise. The manager has effective relationships with local authority social workers and designated officers. This means that appropriate procedures are followed to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since the home opened and was registered by Ofsted shortly after this. The registered manager has a wealth of experience with children who have additional and complex needs. It is evident that she leads by example and shares her good practice and her extensive knowledge with the staff team to good effect. Since the last inspection, the manager has struggled to recruit a permanent staff team. This has resulted in inconsistency for the children. It has also meant that the home has used agency staff to ensure sufficient staffing. This has led to some incidents of poor practice. The registered manager has been quick to address this and ensure that these staff are removed from the home. Some vacancies have now been filled by staff who were previously ‘bank’ staff. This means that they know the children and the home. Their practice is also known by the manager. Other new members of staff bring with them a

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

range of experiences which add to the skills and knowledge of the staff team as a whole. The registered manager has a good understanding and oversight of the running of the home and the progress of individual children. There are systems in place for regular monitoring of the quality of care experienced by children. The manager has reflected on the recent unplanned move of one child to a new home to identify any learning from this Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 6 situation. The registered manager and senior managers in the organisation are good advocates for children. They challenge local authorities to act in the best interest of children. They consider the needs of all children in the home and the impact of change on each child as an individual. This means that decisions are made within defined timescales which meet the needs of children and supports their progress. Staff receive regular supervision from a management team that is suitably trained and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

experienced to provide this. Staff say supervision is helpful and supports them to do their jobs effectively. There is evidence in supervision records of staff being supported through challenging situations with empathy and skill by managers. Not all newly recruited staff are receiving supervision with the frequency detailed in their supervision contract. The quality of supervision recording is inconsistent. Recording does not always evidence supervision providing opportunities for reflective discussion about the progress of individual children. As a result of this, it is sometimes unclear how supervision is used to support staff to improve their practice with children. Team meetings take place on a regular basis. These are well-structured and well-planned meetings. The progress of each child is at the centre of discussions. Team meetings are used to address specific needs. For example, the organisation’s clinical psychologist

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

attended a meeting to train staff in relation to attachment and trauma. This helped them to understand the behaviours of a child at the home. The minutes of team meetings are thorough. Not all staff record that they have read the minutes. As a result, it is not clear that the information and learning from meetings is disseminated across the whole staff team. Children’s case records are comprehensive. Staff ensure that all information from outside agencies is on file and is current. This ensures that staff have the correct information to inform their own practice and placement planning. Some internal recording is difficult to read as it is handwritten. There is no evidence that this has had an adverse impact on children to date. It does mean that it is more difficult for the home to be accountable when the recording, in respect of actions and decision making, is illegible. It also creates a barrier for children and their families to access their case records now or in the future.

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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 Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 7 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: SC413985 8

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Dawn Parton, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC413985 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 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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