Children's home run by Total Care Matters Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 1 SC414296 Registered provider: Total Care Matters Ltd

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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 run by an independent provider. The home has increased its number of places since the last inspection. It is now registered with Ofsted to provide care and accommodation for up to four children and young people with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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Outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none. Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2018 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 11/07/2017 Full Good 14/12/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive very good care because they are looked after by staff who are skilled and have high aspirations for them. They are settled and happy and have excellent relationships with staff, whom they trust and have fun with. As a result, children flourish in this positive environment and make very good progress over time. One child said that the best things about living at the home are ‘the staff’ and the actual house.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A culture of constant praise and recognition of children’s achievements, no matter how small, prevails. As a result, children become more confident and their self-esteem improves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Care records are very detailed and are reviewed regularly. All children have a daily living plan (care plan), which they help to produce and review. In addition to children’s daily living plans, managers are in the process of developing a placement plan. This will be used as a tool for setting targets for children and tracking their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Education is a high priority in the home. The manager is an effective advocate for the children. She has challenged schools and other agencies to ensure that children get the right support that they need with their education. Staff provide both practical and emotional support to all children. They are sensitive and careful not to put unnecessary pressure on those children who are experiencing additional difficulties. Consequently, all children make good progress in attending and engaging in education. Some children are making excellent progress and achieving good grades.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The child’s voice is strong in the home. They are at the centre of decision-making and know that their views will be listened to. This helps them to feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have excellent opportunities to pursue their interests and hobbies. Staff work very hard to ensure that children have every opportunity to have new experiences in all areas of their lives. Staff challenge any barriers to children accessing services and activities. For example, staff have ensured that children can go on school trips and one child is going to Paris with the school. Children and staff share fun activities. This helps children to further develop their already positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive very good practical and emotional support from staff in maintaining and, in some cases, rebuilding relationships with their families. Staff encourage children to make friends and support them in meeting up with them.

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

Children become safer and they feel safe in the home. This is because they are looked after by staff in a nurturing environment. Children are praised for their achievements and are not judged when they make a mistake. This means that children trust staff and listen to their advice and guidance, which helps them to become safer. Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 4 Risk management is effective and allows children to develop and change their risk-taking behaviours. Staff are strong advocates for children in enabling them to take controlled risks in a safe environment. A social worker described how a risk management plan to allow a child more freedom was devised by staff and the placing authority. He commended the staff and made the following comment: ‘This involved the home being confident enough to carry some risk were it not to work out. They agreed to do this, when some other partner agencies refused, and I feel this has had a tremendously

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

positive impact on the child’s care planning.’

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

Staff are good at managing children’s behaviours. Staff are well trained and have a very good understanding of why children behave the way they do. Children’s behaviours improve over time and the number of incidents involving the use of physical intervention reduces. Reflective practice is a key tool to managing children’s behaviours and both children and staff learn from these debriefings. The management team has introduced a new monitoring tool for behavioural incidents, including physical intervention. This helps to inform and improve future practice.

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

Staff work closely with partner agencies following agreed protocols when children go missing. They are proactive in engaging a range of agencies to work with children who are at risk. Staff instigate multi-agency strategy meetings for children who go missing regularly and who may be engaging in risk-taking activities. A social worker commented, ‘I am especially impressed around how potential safeguarding issues are noticed very early by management and responded to before a crisis ensues or the risks become too great.’

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

Safe recruitment practices help to protect children from the risk of harm and abuse. Finding the right person is much more important than filling staff vacancies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There have been changes in the management team since the last inspection. The registered manager transferred to another home run by the company. The deputy manager was appointed as manager and a senior care worker was appointed to the position of deputy manager. These internal appointments have ensured a level of stability for children and the running of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is experienced and is currently undertaking the level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is very passionate about improving the lives of children. She provides excellent leadership and direction and is ably supported by an equally passionate deputy manager. A culture of having high aspirations and going above and beyond is embedded in staff practice. As a result, children thrive in a nurturing and non- judgemental environment. Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 5 There have been some staff changes since the last inspection. A small number of staff have left. A number of new staff have been appointed to cover staff vacancies and also to increase the staffing complement, due to the home increasing the number of children it can care for. There is no evidence that these staff changes have had a negative impact on children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children receive excellent care from a committed and skilled staff team whose members are child-centred. A social worker commented saying ‘staff are amazing’ and ‘they are there for the child’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are clear about what is expected of them and are committed to improving children’s lives. They speak highly of managers and feel very well supported. Staff receive regular, good-quality supervision, which helps them to reflect on and improve their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff training is a high priority. Five staff have the level 3 qualification and three staff are enrolled on the course. Staff receive a range of training on current issues in addition to the mandatory training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is a range of management monitoring systems. The management team is committed to improving systems and practices. Its members have already introduced a number of new quality-assurance systems to help improve the quality of care. New staff questionnaires have been developed and distributed at the end of last year. The deputy manager is currently collating the feedback and will use this to improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Partnership working is a strength. Staff fully understand the importance of working closely with agencies to ensure the best outcomes for children. A social worker commented about the staff, ‘They are a well-respected part of the network and have formed productive and proactive relationships with all of the agencies (the child) is open to.’

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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: SC414296 6 Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Total Care Matters Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 230 Bathley Street, The Meadows, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG2 2ER

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Inspector

Katarina Djordjevic, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC414296 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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