Children's Home, Residential special school run by Cotswold Chine School in Gloucestershire

Inspection report children's home: SC030367 1 SC030367 Registered provider: Cotswold Chine School

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This independent charitable school is also registered as a children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for a maximum of 42 children. The accommodation for children is provided across nine houses located on or near to the school.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 19 February 2019

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC030367 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/02/2019 Full Outstanding 21/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/09/2017 Full Good 01/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC030367 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, 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.

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children; and

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use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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

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provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s plans include clear guidance for staff about the use of games consoles, including strategies to manage aggressive and challenging behaviours that may result and how to keep children safe. 15/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; 15/04/2020 Inspection report children's home: SC030367 4 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i)(iii)(iv)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that children’s needs are properly assessed and matched before they move into a home to protect children’s welfare and reduce potential moves. Ensure that staff show professional curiosity in relation to incidents that pose a risk to children. The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home and ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the registered manager has effective oversight of significant incidents within the home, including all incident forms, safeguarding issues and issues relating to staff and staff practice. The registered manager needs to ensure that staff have the necessary training about how to safeguard disabled children as well as trans-inclusive diversity awareness training. 15/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The procedure to be followed in the event of an allegation of abuse or neglect must, in particular—

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provide for records to be kept of an allegation of abuse or neglect, and the action taken in response. 15/04/2020 Inspection report children's home: SC030367 5 (Regulation 34 (2)(d))

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This is with reference to ensuring that safeguarding records are of a good quality and include a chronology of significant events when there are concerns raised for a child, in order to identify potential patterns of abuse. The registered person must ensure that—

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

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a description of the measure and its duration;

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

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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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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’)—

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has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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within 5 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.

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(Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iii)(iv)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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In particular, that staff involved in physical restraint record the length of the restraint, should be responsible for completing the incident record and that the registered manager has proper oversight of these forms. 15/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (‘case records’) for each child which include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child; 15/04/2020 Inspection report children's home: SC030367 6 are kept up to date; and

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry.

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In particular, ensure that incident forms, restraint records and children’s care plans are regularly reviewed, signed and dated by staff.

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Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4;

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ensure that the records are kept up to date.

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In particular, ensure that the staff rota is kept up to date and accurately records the people working in the home and the hours worked. 15/04/2020

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

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a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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

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

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 40(4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 15/04/2020 Inspection report children's home: SC030367 7 In particular, the registered manager must ensure that any safeguarding concerns or issues relating to the quality of care provided for children are promptly notified to Ofsted.

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Recommendations

 To establish whether an existing qualification is equivalent to either the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare and/or the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare, the registered person should check whether the existing qualification has appeared in previous children’s homes legislation or National Minimum Standards. In addition, the registered person should also establish whether the units completed in the candidate’s original qualification have content which corresponds with the units of the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare and/or the Level 5 Diploma in Leadership and Management for Residential Childcare. They should consider the relevance of the units of any original qualifications to the care of children as described in the home’s Statement of Purpose. The registered person should keep a record of the information they have considered to establish ‘equivalence’. (‘Guide to the

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Recommendations

children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 68, paragraphs 1.1–1.4) Inspection report children's home: SC030367 8

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improvement to be good

The progress and experience of children who live at this home are varied. Some children are very positive about their experiences here and others less so. Improvements to the quality of care and managerial oversight are required.

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improvement to be good

Professionals and parents speak positively about the communication and care provided to children by staff at this home. Children enjoy a range of activities within the organisation and local community. For example, children attend local scouts, cadets and football clubs. Since the last inspection, children have participated in a Park Run and enjoyed celebrations, such as Halloween, and themed evenings of their choice, such as Harry Potter.

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improvement to be good

Children live in warm, tidy and comfortable homes. Overall, the houses are well maintained and provide welcoming environments. Rooms are personalised to reflect the personalities of the children.

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improvement to be good

Since the previous inspection, staff have supported children by working additional hours and moving between houses. Staff rotas do not identify the number of hours worked or include all of the staff who were caring for children. Some staff have worked excessive hours and children have received care from some staff who do not usually care for them.

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improvement to be good

Some children spend long periods playing on games consoles. Some staff struggle to manage this because some behaviour management plans do not provide clear strategies for staff to help children to reduce their late-night use of games consoles. This could impact negatively on children’s health and mental well-being.

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improvement to be good

Some children have experienced several moves of house within the organisation because of a lack of thorough assessment and planning to meet their needs. Assessments reviewed by the inspection team highlight a lack of analysis about children’s past sexualised and physically aggressive behaviours. Staff do not always robustly consider the risks that these needs could pose to other children.

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improvement to be good

Complaints are generally well recorded and include children’s views. Since the last inspection, three complaints have been made by children. During this inspection, a child made a complaint that he had raised with staff 18 months before. Delay in resolving this issue has caused the child upset. Complaints have not been reviewed by the registered manager so that practice can be improved. One of these complaints highlighted a serious shortfall in relation to a child having to move. Inspection report children's home: SC030367 9 Since the last inspection, records indicate that the use of physical restraint has reduced. However, the validity of this could not be confirmed, as inspectors were made aware of two separate incidents of restraint being used that were not recorded. Recording and management oversight of restraint records lacks rigour. Information, including the length of time for restraints, is not always included. Some records of incidents are disjointed.

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improvement to be good

Staff who were involved in restraint do not always record the incident themselves, this is done on their behalf by managers. This practice requires review to ensure that the person involved in the incident provides an accurate, first-hand account.

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improvement to be good

The registered managers oversight of safeguarding incidents is weak. Managers are not fully appraised or aware of all safeguarding concerns that occur. Exploration of these concerns by managers and the designated safeguarding lead lack rigour. Safeguarding records are not of a consistently good quality. Some records are disorganised, and chronologies are not routinely completed to monitor incidents and concerns. Managers did not notify Ofsted as required, about an allegation regarding restraint that was made by a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is supported by a large management team, including a deputy head of care and designated safeguarding lead. House managers support the day-to-day running of the homes. The registered manager has not ensured that robust monitoring systems are in place to identify patterns and trends that may cause concern. Consequently, the registered manager does not have good oversight of the incidents and issues that affect children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

House managers are responsible for the supervision of staff. Supervision takes place regularly and notes are documented. However, the quality of recording and challenge of incidents is poor. House managers are not aware of allegations made by children or of whistleblowing concerns relating to members of staff that they supervise. Consequently, staff supervision records do not always address practice concerns when required. The registered manager ensures that staff have up-to-date, mandatory training and receive an in-depth induction. Nonetheless, some staff do not have training that would assist the children in their care, including training about safeguarding disabled children and understanding the diverse needs of transgender children. This could affect the help and support that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers ensure that safer recruitment records include all necessary checks and identifications. A number of staff, including occupational therapists and youth support workers, provide care to children. However, the registered manager has not checked that staff qualifications are equivalent to the level 3 diploma for residential childcare. Inspection report children's home: SC030367 10

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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: SC030367 11

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cotswold Chine School

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Inspectors

Anna Gravelle, social care inspector Tracey Ledder, social care inspector Joy Howick, Her Majesty’s Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC030367 12 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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