Aldine House Secure Centre

Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 1 SC046524 Registered provider: Sheffield City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This secure children‟s home is operated by a local authority and is approved by the Secretary of State to restrict young people‟s liberty. The home can accommodate up to 10 children or young people who are aged between 10 and 17 years. It provides accommodation for up to five young people placed by the Youth Custody Service and for five young people accommodated under Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 who are placed by local authorities. Admission of any young person under Section 25 of the Children Act 1989 who is under 13 years of age requires the approval of the Secretary of State. Education is provided on- site in dedicated facilities. The manager is registered with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 10 to 11 December 2019

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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

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good

good The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

Outcomes in education and related learning activities good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/07/2018 Full Good 20/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 03/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards.’ The registered persons must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (‘the behaviour management policy’) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used, or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (‘the authorised person’)— 14/02/2020 Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 4 has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within five days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(3))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the records detail the manager’s response to the children’s feedback in restraint records. In addition, single separation records must detail the management oversight and permissions sought for the single separations of children to continue. The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 diploma. (Regulation 32 (1)(3)(b)(4) (a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all care staff undertake the level 3 diploma qualification in a timely manner. 01/03/2020

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Recommendations

 The principle of listening to the child and taking their views, wishes and feelings into account when planning and undertaking their care applies to all children, including children with disabilities, special educational needs or other complex needs. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16) In particular, ensure that the feedback and outcomes from the children’s suggestions at council and community meetings and the final outcomes to all complaints are recorded.  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. The homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 5 rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 4, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

In particular, ensure that the communal areas are made homelier with soft furnishings.  Registered persons must ensure that procedures for dealing with allegations of bullying are in place and staff have the skills required to intervene, protect and address bullying behaviours effectively. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16) In particular, ensure that records held in the home capture what support is provided for the victim of bullying.  The behaviour management strategy should be understood and applied at all times by staff and must be kept under review and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) In particular, ensure that the home’s behaviour management programme is reviewed and that all staff and children fully understand how it is used and implemented.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should oversee the welfare of the children in their care through observation and engagement with: each child; the home’s staff; and each child’s family/carers where appropriate. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23) In particular, ensure that the ethos of the home supports each child to learn. Specifically, support all children to make good or better progress in education by engaging with other specialists, for example speech and language specialists, to provide the specialist help that children need to overcome the barriers that they have to participate well in education.  When making a decision about arranging care (as described in paragraph 3.29) for children in secure children’s homes, it is good practice for all the relevant people involved in the child’s healthcare commissioned through NHS England to be informed so that there is an integrated approach to health and well-being.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 19, paragraph 3.39) In addition to the current staffing profile, consideration should be given for provision of an occupational therapist to support children and staff in relation to regulation of emotions from a sensory processing perspective. The addition of an occupational therapist would offer support and expertise on how the environment of the home could provide opportunities for children and staff to maintain alertness through sensory, emotional and cognitive regulation on a day-to-day basis. Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 6

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s opportunities and experiences are good. Children are kept safe and they make good progress in all aspects of their development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff skilfully form positive and trusting relationships with children. The staff team’s approach is nurturing, calm and focused. The staff are positive role models and maintain clear and consistent boundaries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The relationships that staff form with children can often have a lasting effect for their futures. For example, an ex-resident wrote a letter to the staff which said, ‘You will always be in my heart, my head and soul because you showed me love and trust.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of care significantly contributes towards children’s positive experiences in this home and to the good progress that they make. The children recognise the positive effect that living in this home has on them. One child was reflective on how living here helped to prevent a negative spiral of behaviour from continuing. A child told an inspector, ‘I have enjoyed being able to explore my talents in music and art and I have even started to enjoy mathematics and English.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children know how to raise a complaint and are confident that their complaints are listened to and taken seriously. However, they do not always know what actions have been taken in response. Generally, records are well maintained and comprehensively detail the actions taken and the outcome.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged to make choices about their daily lives, and their wishes and feelings are sought in a variety of ways. Some of this feedback is used well but is not evidenced effectively. For example, community meeting minutes and council meetings do not consistently detail what actions have been taken when children have made requests or suggestions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is clean and decorated to a good standard throughout. A full redecoration programme has been completed. If appropriate, children can personalise their own bedrooms with photographs, artwork and certificates of achievement. However, communal areas in the home, including the admissions room, are sparsely decorated and lack personalisation. This detracts from the otherwise positive environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff provide children with a consistent daily routine. Staff are skilled at supporting and motivating the children to maintain personal interests and hobbies. Similarly, they are very good at providing children with the opportunities to experience new activities and interests, utilising staff skills, for example learning to play the guitar, playing rugby and cooking. This helps children to grow in self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transition plans are managed well for most children. The children are enabled to make good use of mobility opportunities, which has a direct impact on improved outcomes. Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 7 External professionals, such as social workers, spoke positively of the service and quality of care provided to the children. They confirmed that care plans are being met, communication is good and that the management team responds positively to feedback and requests.

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Health services: good

There is a good mix of expertise and experience in the mental health team that is very passionate about improving the mental and emotional well-being of the children it supports.

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Health services: good

The mental health team is flexible in its approach and works hard on engaging with every child. The whole ethos of Secure Stairs (an integrated care framework that addresses the needs of children and young people in secure children‟s homes) has been embraced by all staff. This well-led, coordinated centre-wide approach has created an environment which enables the children to feel safe and has improved their emotional health and self-esteem. Reflective practice and supervision for all staff help to provide a supportive and consistent approach to continuous development.

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Health services: good

The children are involved in their care mapping as much, or as little, as they desire. The children are provided with many opportunities to have a voice and express their needs. Care plans are personalised and reflect their current needs.

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Health services: good

Despite the physical health provider not fulfilling their contractual obligation, children have good access to an age-appropriate range of health services. Visiting health professionals attend promptly when needed or external health appointments are well facilitated. However, there is no occupational therapist to support children and staff in relation to regulating their emotions.

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Health services: good

The new healthcare clinical room was clean and met infection control standards. Administration of medicines is safe and effective.

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

The children told the inspectors that they feel safe at the home. They know that they can talk to staff if they have any concerns or worries. The children benefit from high levels of support and supervision provided by a staff team that is trained in all aspects of safeguarding.

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

The staff are knowledgeable and confident in implementing the home’s safeguarding policies. When necessary, swift action is taken to report and address any safeguarding concerns and allegations, including the involvement of external protection agencies.

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

Incidents that involve the use of physical restraint do occur and are carried out in line with regulations. Records are kept of all incidents and are of a good quality. Inspectors viewed the CCTV of these physical restraints and found that they were carried out in line Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 8 with regulations. There is a rigorous management overview of all restraints. Furthermore, an independent safeguarding review is carried out quarterly, which includes an overview of physical restraints. The children are consulted after each restraint. However, there is no recording of managers‟ responses to the children‟s comments and views.

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

Single separation and managing away are appropriately used when children are presenting a risk to themselves or others. Detailed records are kept and confirm that staff maintain appropriate levels of supervision and make every effort to reintegrate the child back into the group. However, despite very good management evaluation, the records do not include details of when, and from whom, management oversight and permissions were sought for single separations to continue for children.

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

The children’s behaviour is assessed constantly, and there is a reward system in place to promote and incentivise positive behaviour. However, children and staff told inspectors that the system was over complicated and at times hard for children to achieve.

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

The management of any concerns relating to bullying is effective and includes the appropriate use of restorative practices that improve relationships and increase children’s sense of personal responsibility. However, the records held in the home fail to capture what support is provided for the victim of bullying.

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

A coordinated and targeted system of key working enables the staff and children to work together in addressing their anxieties, as well as individual needs which are outlined in their plans. The children who display self-harming behaviours are helped to stay safe through effective risk assessments and well-considered staff responses. These plans are agreed with mental health practitioners, who provide direct support for children as well as information, advice and guidance for staff. The home’s care planning process includes arrangements to identify and address potential individualised risks posed to children in their day-to-day care and mobility.

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

Staff recruitment is safe. All staff are carefully vetted before they start working in the home. This ensures that children are cared for by people who are assessed as safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children benefit immensely from the clear vision that the manager demonstrates to make sure that they have positive experiences and succeed. He inspires the staff to build confidence and instil in the children a belief in themselves. This is accomplished through a strong emphasis on nurturing children. In addition, the staff team is experienced, extremely motivated, dedicated and child-focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an array of daily and weekly meetings for the managers and staff. The meetings include all care staff, health and education to provide excellent communication forums and the sharing of information. This ensures the delivery of consistent care. Therefore, the staff know the children extremely well and this enables them to meet their needs. Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 9 Staffing levels in the home are good. This affords children suitable support, attention and the opportunities to have one-to-one time with staff and access to a variety of activities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team provides quality formal supervision to the staff team. The use of reflective practice enables the staff to learn from their experiences. In turn, this further supports the staff to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff access a wide range of training. There is a comprehensive induction programme, supported by mandatory training and more specialist training. This includes child attachment, child trauma, behaviour management, mental health, self-harm and ‘Prevent’. Some staff have received training to support the children’s interests, for example trampolining. However, there are deficits in the number of staff holding the level 3 diploma in caring for children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Action has been taken to implement the recommendations made at the last inspection. Teaching staff receive regular and constructive feedback to improve and enhance their practice. The children have increased access to information technology. There has been improved access to safe internet provision that further develops the children‟s computer skills, independent learning and research skills. There has been a review of the children‟s health records to ensure that all current and relevant health information is immediately available to all staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Thorough auditing systems include internal monitoring by the management team and external monitoring by an independent person. These quickly uncover deficits and omissions, enabling the manager to address them promptly. The manager’s awareness of the strengths and weaknesses of the services makes certain that effective action is taken to remedy the shortfalls identified. Together with the direct oversight and frequent supervision of the staff practice, this maintains the continuous high standards of care provided to the children.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The quality of education and related learning activities is good, with some outstanding features. Education in well managed. The head of learning has successfully overseen significant personnel changes since the last inspection. He has provided new staff with good support to adapt to teaching in the school. The head of learning uses data and the outcomes of quality monitoring activities in lessons well to accurately evaluate the quality and impact of education and uses the findings to inform planning and improvements. The advisory board takes a keen interest in the quality of provision and progress that children make, providing a good balance of support and challenge for leaders.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The children’s starting points and any specialist support needs are established promptly when they arrive at the home. The information is used to develop learning and support plans and to set targets which are individual to each child. The children’s progress and achievements against these are carefully tracked. Most make at least good, and in some cases excellent, progress in relation to their starting points. When children have been at Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 10 the home for long enough, they have improved their English and mathematics attainment level by at least one grade. The children can also achieve a variety of motivational, vocational and personal development qualifications. A few children have achieved GCSEs.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Teachers set clear objectives for children in lessons and clarify their expectations in relation to the children’s achievements and how they should behave. Teachers plan a variety of learning activities, with frequent changes to maintain children’s concentration and interest. Most children respond to this well and engage in and enjoy their time in education. Topics that raise children’s awareness about equality, diversity and British values are embedded well into the curriculum.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The staff work sensitively and effectively with children who have complex needs to help them to participate in education. However, a small number of children with the most challenging needs struggle to overcome the barriers they have. As a result, these children make slower progress in education than their peers.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Good links with care and health professionals enable education staff to develop a good understanding about children’s care and support needs and the individual approaches that work well with individual children. The head of learning attends the weekly children and adolescent mental health service meeting and disseminates key information to education staff. The care staff work well with education staff to ensure that children complete set homework.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Relationships between children and staff are good. However, the disruptive behaviour of a minority of children can, at times, distract and disrupt the learning of others.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

Attendance at education is high for almost all children. At the time of the inspection, one child was being taught on his own and was reluctant to participate fully in education. Two children attended education for part of the day. The staff work proactively and sensitively to try to re-engage these children in education, but they still miss important learning activities.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The curriculum provides a good balance between academic, practical and personal development subjects. The children use tablets and laptops keenly to research topics and develop their ideas. The staff ensure that children understand the risks of internet use and understand how to use information and communication technology safely. Learning takes place in well-equipped classrooms and workshops. Facilities for physical education are good and the music room and recording studio are high-quality specialist facilities, which children value and enjoy.

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Outcomes in education and related learning activities: good

The staff provide good advice and support for children to help them progress to their next stage in education, training and work when they leave the home. For example, they have introduced a certificate in childcare that is helping one child who plans to continue this course at a further education college when they leave the home. Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 11

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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 secure children‟s home: SC046524 12

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sheffield City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Town Hall, Pinstone Street, Sheffield S1 2HH

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Inspectors

Debbie Foster: social care inspector Sharron Escott: social care inspector Malcolm Fraser: HMI inspector Elaine Allison: social care inspector Tim Byrom: CQC inspector Inspection report secure children‟s home: SC046524 13 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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