Children's Home run by The Ryes College Limited in Suffolk

Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 1 SC429702 Registered provider: The Ryes College Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned by a private company. It is registered for up to four children who have a combination of needs, including mood dysregulation disorder, oppositional defiance disorder, attention deficit disorder and moderate learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2012.

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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2018 Full Good 19/04/2017 Full Good 18/10/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/04/2016 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

p.3

Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

p.3

Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.3

Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 10(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)) 27/01/2020

p.3

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.3

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there. (Regulation 40(4)(c)) 31/12/2019

p.3

Recommendations

 For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

p.3

Recommendations

In particular, ensure that any damage to the home is repaired in a timely way and that the communal areas are consistently decorated to a good standard.  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. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 4 including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

p.3

Recommendations

In particular, ensure that staff receive supervision regularly in line with the home’s policy.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have positive experiences and make progress from their starting points. Children provided good feedback about the staff and said that they enjoy spending time with them. The staff have established secure relationships with the children through nurturing, open and consistent communication.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a wide variety of activities. These include visiting trampoline parks, bowling centres, arcades, cinemas and theme parks. The staff find local clubs for the children that support their hobbies. These opportunities provide the children with new experiences that develop their interests.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s views are gained regularly and contribute to the everyday functioning of the home. The staff encourage high levels of participation through house meetings, daily activities and key-worker meetings. These help the children to develop reflection skills and emotional resilience.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that all the children attend school regularly. They work closely with education staff to address any complex and disruptive behaviours, helping the children to meet their education targets. Children who have previously experienced gaps in education have been able to sustain consistent attendance and attainment.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the impact on the existing group of children of individual children moving in and out of the home. Group impact risk assessments are thorough. Admissions are planned well and the staff update the children about new admissions. This inclusive approach helps the children to feel involved and prepare themselves for new arrivals.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from personalised bedrooms in line with their interests and they take pride in their bedrooms. However, the communal areas of the home are not consistently decorated to a high standard. Damage to the home has not been repaired in a timely way and this detracts from an otherwise homely setting.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of one child have not been managed well. The targets from the child’s health plan review have not been met. The staff have not consistently advocated healthy eating and have failed to monitor the child’s weight. Although physical activities are encouraged, there is little uptake. The failure to meet the suggested targets and lack of effective action has led to poor health outcomes for some children.

p.4

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

Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 5 The implementation of good, individual risk assessments actively ensures that the children are safer. Children regularly review their own risk assessments with the staff during key-worker sessions and house meetings. The children understand why their risks may change and what they need to do to reduce these risks.

p.5

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

The staff ensure that behaviour management plans are suitably detailed. There is an emphasis on proactive strategies. These include recognising positive achievements and acts of kindness. Individual incentive programmes positively reinforce alternative behaviours. The staff use negative consequences proportionately. These approaches are effective in helping the children to change their behaviour, and this improves their self- esteem.

p.5

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

The staff use physical interventions as required. However, when a child has developed relationships with the staff, these incidents reduce significantly. When physical interventions have been necessary, they are proportionate and subject to good managerial oversight. The manager checks that the staff’s responses reflect the child’s identified needs and behaviour management plan. This encourages the staff to provide safe, individualised care.

p.5

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

Difficult incidents between the children have been managed well. Effective restorative meetings help the children to reflect and resolve their differences to reach common goals. This helps the children to improve their relationships with one other.

p.5

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

The staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and they have good knowledge of the procedures. The children know how to raise concerns. Allegations against the staff have been managed appropriately. The children have been consulted with and appropriate referrals have been made, providing external oversight.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and well qualified. The management and the staff team are child-focused and have high aspirations for the children to succeed and achieve.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff benefit from a wide range of training courses. This is supplemented by well- attended staff meetings that centre around the children. These meetings ensure that the staff are equipped to meet the complex needs of the children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managerial monitoring of records is good. Children’s records are detailed and managerial oversight is effective. Internal quality reviews are realistic and evaluative. External monitoring visits offer a good level of challenge. As a result, the manager is able to highlight strengths and developmental areas, consistently making effective use of the quality assurance systems. This improves the quality of care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are good, detailed records of staff supervision and staff appraisals. However, some staff have not received regular supervision in line with the home’s policy. This does not ensure that the staff have the time to reflect on their practice consistently. Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 6 Although the managers have responded effectively to allegations against the staff, they have failed to consistently notify Ofsted about these incidents in a timely way. As a result, Ofsted’s capacity to monitor safeguarding arrangements has been limited.

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.6

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: SC429702 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Ryes College Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Skyview Business Centre, 9 Church Field Road, Sudbury CO10 2YA

p.7

Inspector

Mark Anderton: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC429702 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 children looked after, 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