Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1256061 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to five children and young people who have complex needs, which may include challenging behaviours. The home has two registered managers.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 18 to 19 November 2019

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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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.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 17 December 2018

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1256061 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/12/2018 Full Outstanding 13/02/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1256061 3

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Recommendations

 Staff should provide a nurturing environment that is welcoming, supportive, and which provides appropriate boundaries in relation to their behaviour. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are making exceptional progress as a result of high-quality, consistent, nurturing care. The excellent quality of care is underpinned by strong leadership and management. Children thrive in an environment of warmth and love. A social worker said, ‘It’s family orientated. It gives him the feeling that he is part of a family. It’s like a very big family. It doesn’t feel like a children’s home. That is what he needs at the moment.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Sensitive one-to-one work helps children to understand their emotions and develop emotional resilience. This work is a strength of the home. The social worker of a child who had recently moved out of the home said, ‘Numbers of incidents had significantly reduced. He got better at expressing his emotions. In the wrong setting that wouldn’t have happened. He could express his views, not just have an outburst. He’s taken a lot of those skills with him. If he wasn’t in such a stable place at the time, he wouldn’t have made as much progress.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children feel happy and settled. They trust the adults who look after them. Because of this secure base, children are thriving in the other aspects of their lives. All children have education placements. They attend regularly and try hard. When children struggle emotionally to learn in a classroom environment, managers quickly engage a team around the child to review progress and seek alternatives if necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The relationships between staff and children are incredibly warm. Children seek out staff for a hug and enjoy the time they spend with staff. A child said, ‘I love it here. They have so much time to spend with me. They really help me. They helped my family relationships get better.’ Staff speak about children with pride. Dinner times are lively, fun occasions. Children enjoy sharing news about their days with staff and each other. The home is full of photographs of children and staff, helping to foster children’s sense of belonging. Whole picture frames are devoted to special times that the children and staff have spent together such as a trip to Europe during the summer.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have a range of very positive experiences that provide them with lasting memories of their time in care. Children’s interests are encouraged, such as drama, swimming and football. Equality and diversity are strong themes within the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1256061 4 Children are encouraged to ask questions and are supported to explore their own identity in a safe environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

When it is time for children to move on from the home, staff focus on ensuring that they have the most healthy, happy and well-planned transitions possible. Leaders and managers are passionate about ensuring positive endings for children and trying to break the cycle of placement breakdown. A manager said, ‘We will work hard to ensure their transition is meaningful. The real success is about making a beautiful transition. It’s not about just looking at the short term.’

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

Children say that they feel safe living in this home. Within a short period of time, the risks posed to children with complex needs or who are at high risk of harm are reduced. Children’s engagement in any risk-taking behaviour, such as going missing from the home, is rare.

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

Where any shortfall in safeguarding practice is identified, managers follow safeguarding procedures appropriately. They undertake a thorough review to understand what happened and how it can be prevented from happening again. Managers are tenacious in challenging other professionals, to ensure that children’s voices are heard, and that safeguarding issues are thoroughly reviewed in a multi-agency group.

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

When physical intervention is required, it is used appropriately, recorded well and evaluated by managers. Debriefs of staff and children are of a high quality. Physical intervention record-keeping was a shortfall at the last inspection, but records are now clearer and more detailed, helping to ensure that there can be proper monitoring of incidents. Managers monitor the use of physical intervention very closely to identify trends or patterns.

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

Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities and feel confident about raising any concerns with managers. Thoroughly written risk assessments ensure that staff know and understand how to minimise the risks to children. These are reviewed regularly so that they provide staff with up-to-date information.

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

Behaviour is well managed. Children understand the clear rules and boundaries in place. On occasion, boundaries are not enforced the same way by all staff, leading to children receiving some minor inconsistencies in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led and managed by a committed, passionate and child-focused management team that leads by example and creates an environment where children thrive. Despite some children having difficult starting points, managers are very ambitious for children and set high expectations. This ensures that children are given every opportunity to achieve to their full potential. Inspection report children’s home: 1256061 5 There is strong advocacy for children, ensuring that children’s voices are heard. Staff and managers are not afraid to challenge other professionals. Because managers ensure that children have access to the services that they need, the best possible outcomes are achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnership working is excellent, and this contributes to the positive outcomes that children achieve. An education professional said, ‘Their attention to detail is second to none. Also, their availability if things go wrong. We talk a lot about team around the child and it truly is. Strengths for us as professionals is their ability to work collaboratively and for managers to do what they say they are going to. They go over and above what is expected of them.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are thorough and effective monitoring systems. Leaders and managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home and are always looking for ways to improve. The progress and welfare of children is monitored and staff quickly address issues where they arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are very well supported. They have access to good-quality training that meets their developmental needs as well as the needs of the children. Staff receive regular, reflective supervision and they have regular team meetings. This ensures that communication is very clear.

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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: 1256061 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Homes 2 Inspire Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shaw Trust House, 19 Elmfield Road, Bromley, Kent BR1 1LT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Angela Muchatuta

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Children’s home details

Registered managers: David Bartlett and Rebecca Smith

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Inspector

Catherine Honey: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1256061 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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