Children's Home run by Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council in Tameside

Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 1 Registered provider: Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is run by an 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: 12 February 2019

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 3

p.2

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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;

p.3

Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

p.3

Requirement Due date

is instigated; or concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry);

p.3

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious.

p.3

Recommendations

 Children should be in full-time education whilst they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained within the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates this is not in their best interests. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)  The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement. They should be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice. (‘Guide to the children’s

p.3

Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24) Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children that are new to the home are beginning to form positive and nurturing attachments with staff. Staff provide care and attention to children who have not previously experienced such caring and loving interaction. This could be as basic as making a hot cup of cocoa at bedtime for a child. Simple staff actions such as this effect positive change and help to build nurturing attachments between adults and children which promote children’s good and steady progress.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a well-appointed and comfortable environment where all children thrive. Children are encouraged to personalise their bedrooms and the communal areas of the home, which gives children a real sense of belonging and ownership of their living space.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most young people receive well-planned care that is based on their clear care plan documents. For one young person, the uncertainty about her future living arrangements caused disruption in her placement as she presented with a significant number of episodes of going missing. The episodes of going missing have since decreased, and she is beginning to invest more in the home since there has been clarity about her future living plans.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make fair progress with their education. Personal education plans for each child require a clear plan of targets and progression to ensure that children continue to reach their educational attainment. Although managers have escalated the quality and content of education plans, this is ineffectual, as there is no clear plan for unsatisfactory escalation to senior managers. This is frustrating for children who may wish to integrate back into mainstream education. Children on part-time timetables would benefit from structured learning activities to ensure that they continue to have a rich and varied timetable. This is particularly important for those children who may be socially isolated. A recommendation has been made to address education matters.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a framework for participation and are encouraged to have an active voice in their home. Regular children’s meetings and direct consultations ensure that all children are listened to. Children are encouraged to express their individuality and own uniqueness in a safe and supportive environment.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in the home have come from the local area. This ensures that children are familiar with their local geography, and quite often, remain at the same school. Children can maintain links with their family and friends, and where appropriate, contact arrangements are more fluid. One child has successfully transitioned to live with her family.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Throughout the inspection, professional and parental feedback was positive. A parent said, ‘I am really happy with the level of care for my daughter. The communication is good. It’s a loving environment for her to be in. I have no issues with the staff. They are Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 5 very good.’

p.4

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

Every attempt is made to ensure that children feel safe, are helped and are protected. There is good evidence of detailed individualised risk management and behaviour plans. These detailed plans are implemented in practice and include de-escalation techniques, and indicate a clear understanding of children’s behaviours, and how they are managed. Although children access the internet through the home’s computer, corporate parental guidance is in place to ensure that children can only access appropriate websites. This ensures online safety and safeguarding.

p.5

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

When children have been missing from the home, missing-from-care procedures are followed. One child was frequently missing from the home, and this was reported to the police. Her whereabouts were known. Staff followed suitable processes to ensure that they kept in frequent contact with the child. A breakdown of communication between the home and police led to some frustrations for staff. This has been escalated through the safeguarding team to help improve future relationships. The impact on the child has been negligible as staff took every measure to ensure that the child was safe.

p.5

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

Children have access to, and utilise, primary care services to support their medical and dental needs. The home has a healthy eating award, and menu choices can be adapted to ensure that children receive a well-balanced diet.

p.5

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

Staff cover a range of themes and subject areas through key-work sessions. Some of the sessions cover sensitive issues around identity and mental health. Staff use their knowledge, skills, empathy and understanding to support children. Staff utilise a wide range of child-friendly resources adapted to ensure that children can grasp topical themes.

p.5

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

A restorative model replaces sanctions to help manage challenging behaviour and maintain consistent boundaries. For one young person, there was a period of increase in his incidents. Primarily, this was due to frustrations around an education care package. Staff were expected to provide tutoring, and this led to conflict and confusion in relationships between the child and staff. There is now regular tutoring in place, and subsequently, the incidents have decreased.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager of this home is an experienced and knowledgeable manager. At the time of the inspection, she was absent from work. Her competent and knowledgeable practice manager led the inspection. Both managers bring a wealth of experience to the home, and have high aspirations for children to achieve and do well.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have a good understanding of the children in their care and the progress they make. Managers are supported by a skilled staff team whose members love their work and are passionate about the children. Staff provide a high level of nurture and support Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 6 to children. Staff focus on building trusting relationships and understand the importance of addressing basic care needs to help children feel safe and cared for.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff and managers receive good-quality, detailed and regular supervision. Reflective discussions with managers help staff to enhance their practice and encourage them to think about how they may handle challenging situations with children. A detailed training matrix, which is available to all staff, provides for continued professional development. The members of the staff team are increasing their learning and skills in a recognised therapeutic model that focuses on nurturing attachments with children. This model helps staff to have a better understanding of childhood trauma and attachment, so they can apply this learning in their day-to-day practice.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is evidence that managers will robustly challenge the local authority on behalf of children in their care. Managers escalate areas of poor practice in relation to care plans and/or education plans for children. Despite this, there is often slow progress within the wider authority to respond to the concerns. Managers become frustrated due to their persistent challenge and lack of response. The impact on children is a lack of clarity and uncertainty about their care plans and education plans.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

While serious incidents have been notified to Ofsted as required, those notifications that have been instigated following a child protection enquiry are not always followed up with the outcome of the investigation. Senior managers and leaders with direct management responsibility for the home should be aware of the outcome of such enquiries and notify Ofsted once an outcome has been reached. A requirement has been made to address this matter.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers utilise external and internal monitoring systems to help improve their practice. An independent visitor attends the home to provide independent scrutiny and evaluation. There has been an improvement in this area. However, further improvements are necessary to ensure that managers are challenged effectively, to bring about changes in practice. A recommendation has been made to address this matter.

p.6

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 Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 7 children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 8

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider : Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Market Street, Hyde, Tameside SK14 1AL

p.8

Inspector

Kamal Bhamra, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1263766 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.

p.8

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.9

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9