Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in East Sussex

Inspection report children’s home: 1250931 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The staff at this home look after children who have experienced disrupted development and multiple placement moves. The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 15 February 2018. In this home, the staff are referred to as adults rather than staff. The report, therefore, refers to adults when referring to staff.

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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 outstanding

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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 October 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: 1250931 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/10/2018 Full Outstanding 15/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 31/08/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: 1250931 3

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. The review should enable the registered person to identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The

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Recommendations

whole review process and the resulting report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)  As set out in Regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment, supervision and performance management of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, the registered person should ensure that all interviewers write a statement about their conclusions to the person’s suitability at each stage of the organisation’s recruitment process. The registered person should also ensure that the person completing a check records their name and the date they completed the check on relevant recruitment records.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children thrive at this home because knowledgeable adults take time to understand children’s individual needs and then act effectively to meet the child’s needs. Care is planned exceptionally well. Little touches of thoughtful support, such as having his or her favourite meal on the day that the child arrives, mean that children feel valued and welcomed. One social worker said that the child she supports had a fantastic introduction, which has enabled him to progress and feel a part of the home very quickly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Services to meet children’s emotional needs are integral to the home and continually improving. Last year, a play therapist weekly group session was introduced for all the Inspection report children’s home: 1250931 4 children. Children are engaging well and enjoying these sessions. Staff join in and the therapist supports staff to know more about how their work supports children’s needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

More therapeutic support is planned in the coming year. The manager is developing staff’s skills in completing life story work with children and working towards accreditation with a therapeutic community. These continually increasing services help adults to identify and meet children’s emotional needs well. It means that children regularly voice their views, understand themselves better and are able to make positive progress because they are more emotionally secure. It has led to several children living here for more than two years and one child for nine years.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Activities support children to develop themselves and friendships. Routine is a strong feature of home life. However, impromptu requests for children to do something else are quickly accommodated, especially where this increases a child’s opportunities to make new friends and try a new interest.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Day-to-day opportunities support children to make childhood memories and increase their bonds. The boys regularly hunt for dinosaur eggs in the garden. Toys in the home develop children’s imagination and creativity. On the day of inspection, two children built a submarine together. Children chair weekly meetings that they hold together to discuss what is happening at the home. A colourful guide which includes symbols and words assists them to do this well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Independence skills are developed. Staff’s understanding of what children should be doing at a particular age is supported by regular discussion about child development. Adults therefore know the gaps in children’s development and nurture these effectively so that children can flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Adults thoughtfully and sensitively help children to move on from the home. For one child, an unplanned ending to the time he lived here was managed very well. The adults planned this change effectively and took great care to ensure that this was as positive as possible. Their support helped the move to go smoothly and the child felt supported and cared for. It has resulted in the child settling well in their new home where he is doing well.

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

A strong safeguarding culture is embedded well in all aspects of the services. The registered manager demonstrated an excellent understanding and ability to embed a culture of safety within and outside of the home. This results in children freely talking about their concerns and things that are happening to them and staff taking appropriate action to protect children.

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

The staff clearly understand various aspects of safeguarding, especially those which affect the children who currently live here. Staff use this knowledge effectively to identify, manage and review risks for each child. Their thoughtful assessments result in well-written guidance for staff to follow. Risk is discussed in team and supervision Inspection report children’s home: 1250931 5 meetings. It is reviewed at handovers and includes plans and strategies to minimise risk as well as to manage it.

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

It is not uncommon for children to have about 40, planned and unplanned, recorded conversations with adults in a month. The conversations are about every aspect of a child’s life and include them talking about a child’s aspirations, what adults and children see as their needs and issues that a child is struggling with. Staff are astute at catching the right moment to talk to children and because they know the child well they approach the conversation in ways which support this to be positive. For one child who did not understand about car safety, this has quickly changed his behaviour in cars.

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

Staff work consistently together to look at how to keep children safe. Their efforts mean that children do not go missing. However, there are clear known plans to follow should this become necessary. Some children are restrained, and children are encouraged to talk about any concerns they have, which are taken seriously. Changes made to children’s behaviour management plans are made swiftly following a restraint if this is necessary.

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

Recruitment files have been changed to a new online system. It is easy to find information and the procedures followed meet required standards, but it is not always clear who completed a check or assessment of an applicant’s suitability and when they did so. Interviewer’s conclusions about why they consider the person to be suitable after interview are also not recorded. These are missed opportunities to ensure that the most robust recruitment records are maintained for each applicant.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has a clear vision for the home, which she continuously and successfully implements, monitors and develops. She is a strong advocate for children. She supports her staff to develop good childcare skills and has clear expectations of staff and professionals, holding them to account well. This supports the adults working here to meet children’s needs and to have clear expectations of their roles and responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is adept at ensuring that there is a strong safeguarding culture, which she balances well with a homely, nurturing environment. She investigates any concerns that arise and takes appropriate action to reduce and prevent the concern reoccurring. This provides children and staff with clarity about what they can expect at this home, which they can readily talk to the manager about.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The inclusive practice in this home is exemplary. Children are truly involved in every aspect of their care. The registered manager uses effective tools to help a child to tell the adults who care for them what the child is thinking, feeling and wants to happen. This enables children to say what they think more easily and to understand themselves better. It supports the adults to understand the underlying causes for children’s behaviours and the children to understand and appreciate differences. Inspection report children’s home: 1250931 6 The manager understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses well and plans effectively to rectify any shortfalls which she identifies. She has recognised that their move to become an accredited home with the community of communities has not progressed as well as she had planned. She therefore adjusted the timescales for achieving the next stage of accreditation to ensure that she could do this successfully.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager’s six-monthly reports to the organisation about the quality of the home are descriptive and lack clear analysis and evaluation. This is a missed opportunity to use this system to its maximum to support continuous development even further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Social workers are very positive about how well the adults here care for children and the progress that this supports children to make. The regular reports that social workers receive are well written and reflect children’s progress and difficulties. If an issue of concern occurred, social workers receive clear information about how these are being managed. One social worker said she had been really pleased that she had found a place for a child here. If a place becomes available, it is quickly filled because of the quality of care provided.

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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: 1250931 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Mountfields House, Epinal Way, Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 3GE

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Inspector

Ruth Coler: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1250931 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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