Children's Home run by Reflexion Care Group Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 1 SC366090 Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home can accommodate up to two young people who have social and/or emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities. Since the last inspection, one child has left and no children have been admitted. At the time of the inspection, one child remained living in the home.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/03/2019 Full Outstanding 24/10/2017 Full Outstanding 21/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/09/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 3

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outstanding

The child currently living at the home is thriving. This is helped by the care that she receives from highly skilled, knowledgeable and passionate staff. Staff work extremely hard to make the child feel special and appreciated. For example, staff discreetly asked about the child’s favourite colours and then redecorated her bedroom in these colours as a surprise.

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outstanding

The child is making exceptional progress with her education compared to her starting point. Staff work very closely with the company school to give the child every opportunity to succeed in her education. Staff support her in the classroom and make sure that she has help with her homework. A bespoke education programme ensures that the child can improve her social and relationship skills, alongside her key subjects. Part of her weekly school timetable includes working on a farm. This opportunity is enabling her to gain a vocational qualification to support her overall academic success.

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outstanding

The child has a clear health plan and is registered with primary healthcare services. The child eats a healthy balanced diet and staff are good at supporting her emotional health needs by patiently giving reassurance. The child attends in-house therapy appointments, and the therapists help to support the staff to understand the child’s complex needs. This successful ‘team around the child’ approach means that all areas of her health are met.

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outstanding

Staff understand the importance of the child’s life story, especially in helping to promote her emotional health. The child has a memory book made by staff, with photographs and comments. This will go with her when she leaves the home. The child who recently left had a photograph album of her school prom, which she attended in a vintage Bentley, wearing a beautiful dress which staff had helped her to choose. Having a record of these positive memories helps to increase children’s self-esteem and emotional resilience.

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outstanding

Managers and staff consider requests made by children. Consequently, the current child has a skinny pig and some fish to care for as pets.

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outstanding

Staff use research and online resources to educate the child about the dangers of substance misuse and smoking and the importance of sexual health. They do this work through interactive key-work sessions, which the child says she enjoys.

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outstanding

Staff understand the importance of family relationships to the child. They fully support the child to maintain and develop these relationships to an exceptionally high level. Staff give family members a warm welcome when they visit the home. When appropriate, staff work closely with social workers to enable the child to have safe overnight visits to family members. These restored relationships have a positive impact on the child, whose plan is to live with her family in the future. Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 4 Managers and staff give children who move out of the home an exceptional level of support. Since the last inspection, one child has had a planned move into her own accommodation. Managers and staff closely liaised with the child’s social workers and advocated for her when her planning lacked the necessary detail. Staff quickly put in place an informed action plan that was centred around the child. This

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outstanding

included staff moving the child’s possessions to her new home and offering the child reassurance and support through regular visits and telephone calls. This child- centred approach has enabled the child to safely settle into independent living.

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outstanding

The manager and staff work exceptionally hard to keep the child safe. In particular, staff use their extensive knowledge of the child to create excellent individual behaviour support plans. The child is involved in developing these plans, which include clear daily routines. This ensures that the child clearly understands her care plan and what is expected of her.

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outstanding

Staff ensure that detailed risk assessments are in place. These are regularly updated to reflect new and emerging risks. These assessments ensure that staff have access to the most up-to-date information about how to safeguard the child.

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outstanding

Behaviour management in the home is based on praise for positive behaviour. Staff are skilled at de-escalating difficult situations, and interventions are rare and used as a last resort. On one occasion, a new member of staff did not deal with the child’s escalating negative behaviours effectively, and a situation developed to the point when physical intervention was necessary to prevent the child from damaging property and assaulting a member of staff. A prompt debriefing with the child and the member of staff involved helped the manager to quickly identify a weakness in practice and to bring in immediate steps to prevent a similar situation from occurring again.

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outstanding

Staff have access to regular clinical support. This enables staff to reflect on situations that have arisen and consider alternative approaches. All staff have attachment-based training, which underpins the home’s approach to children’s care and to their behaviour management. This helps to ensure that staff have a comprehensive and fully informed understanding of the reasons why the child sometimes exhibits a certain behaviour. As a result, when the child experiences a setback, staff are nurturing and empathic in their responses, enabling the child to rebuild relationships and move on positively.

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outstanding

On the rare occasion that a child goes missing from the home, the staff follow the missing-from-care protocols effectively. Staff use a wide range of methods to contact the child and search all the known places where the child may have gone. When the child returns home, staff make sure that she receives a warm welcome. This is followed by talking with the child about why she went missing from the home. Return-home interviews take place, and staff use information from these interviews to skilfully encourage the child to think about her actions and to make safe choices. Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 5 Staff are vigilant and highly skilled in understanding the risks that children face online. They constantly talk with the child about these risks, and they use research to educate her.

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outstanding

The manager responds immediately to allegations. This helps to safeguard the child and to reassure her that her concerns are taken seriously.

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outstanding

The manager oversees the recruitment of new members of staff. She ensures that only people who are safe to work with children are employed to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is a dedicated, child-focused practitioner who is an inspiring leader. The manager frequently works in the home, spending time with children and staff, and takes this opportunity to model best-practice childcare. The manager gives the staff constant encouragement and feedback on their practice, which instils in staff confidence in their abilities. Staff say that the manager is a constant support to them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is a strong advocate for children. She is confident in challenging other professionals when she believes that they are being too slow in fulfilling their responsibilities to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager leads a team of committed and skilled staff who strive to ensure that the child achieves her full potential. The manager provides staff with regular, effective supervision that supports and challenges them. Team meetings are a forum for sharing good practice, as well as providing training and learning opportunities for staff using research-based practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager describes her own wide-ranging support network as including her supervisor and peer managers, the independent visitor and other professionals. This means that the manager maintains her own motivation to constantly strive to improve the quality of care for children in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager forges strong, effective working relationships with families and professionals. Overwhelmingly positive feedback from parents and teachers confirms that open communication is a strength. The manager has developed a local support network that includes the police, neighbours and local businesses. Neighbours look out for children and inform staff when children are misbehaving during free time. This prevents children from becoming criminalised and also promotes a sense of living in a community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager takes her duty to promote equality and diversity and to challenge discriminatory behaviour very seriously. The manager’s commitment to supporting staff with disabilities is apparent. Staff and managers also robustly challenge children when they use racist language and/or abuse, and they involve the police in an educative way when necessary. Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 6 The manager maintains constant oversight of the home, using a range of review and monitoring systems. As a result of her attention to detail, the home has sustained its outstanding rating for its fifth consecutive full inspection. Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 7

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Recommendations

 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 home’s regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34) In particular, before working in the home cover staff should read children’s behaviour management plans and be aware of children’s risks. Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 8

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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: SC366090 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Reflexion Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Black Birches, Hadnall, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY4 3DH

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Inspector(s)

Karen Gillingwater, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC366090 10 to 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(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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