Children's Home, Residential special school run by Ruskin Mill Trust Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 1 SC423753 Registered provider: Ruskin Mill Trust Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by a charitable trust. It is part of a specialist school that uses practical skills and therapeutic education methods. The provision uses natural materials and is creative in providing meaningful learning opportunities. It is registered as a children’s home and offers care and accommodation for between 38 and 52 weeks of the year. Five children or young people who attend the specialist school can live here. The children and young people have a broad range of difficulties. Difficulties which the children and young people experience include learning, emotional and behavioural difficulties and autism spectrum disorder. The manager has been registered since February 2017.

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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 Good

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Good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers Good

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Good

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

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Good

Date of last inspection: 16 January 2019

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Good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding

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Good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2019 Full Outstanding 11/07/2017 Full Outstanding 13/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 29/06/2016 Full Outstanding Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some staff know the children and young people well and have good relationships with them. Other staff are new in post and are yet to develop relationships with the children and young people. Some staff from the on-site school have been supporting the children and young people in their home in order to help them maintain consistency. The home also uses agency staff. Some of the children and young people find the changes with the agency staff difficult and they find it hard to form relationships with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people benefit significantly from accessing the on-site school. The children and young people enjoy school and thrive in the child-centred and creative learning environment. The children and young people’s anxieties are reduced as a result of the consistent cultures transferred between the home and the school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people access a range of specialist therapies on site. These include therapy for speech and language, occupational therapy, counselling, massage and eurythmy. The children and young people learn the importance of maintaining good physical health. The staff actively promote eating healthy, nutritious food. Furthermore, the children and young people enjoy a range of physical activities, such as going to the gym, walking and cycling. This helps to improve children and young people’s health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people are well prepared to move on from this home. They learn a range of skills, such as cooking, independent travel, and self-care. The children and young people benefit from opportunities to gain work experience. One young person has their own weekend job, which they are proud of.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children and young people make friends for the first time at the home. The staff help the children and young people to maintain these new friendships. The staff support the children and young people to have friends for tea and to join in activities together. This helps to improve children and young people’s social skills and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children and young people enjoy a range of social activities in the home and the community. These activities include the youth club, swimming, crafts, and meals out.

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

Physical intervention is a last resort. The permanent staff know the children and young people well. The staff read the early, subtle signs which indicate that the children and young people are becoming upset. Staff respond quickly and use positive strategies to support the children and young people in times of crisis. Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 4 The staff receive training to help them manage risks to the children and young people. However, some agency staff do not receive training to manage the risks associated with self-harm and ligature use. This lack of training could result in delays while staff locate a member of staff who is trained to deal with ligature emergencies, in the event of such an emergency.

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

Regularly updated risk assessments provide the staff with clear strategies to follow in order to help keep the children and young people safe. However, the risk assessment which deals with the management of ligature risks is not up to date and does not reflect children and young people’s current needs.

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

The staff are clear on the arrangements for reporting any concerns about the children and young people’s safety. The staff are confident to follow procedures to report any issues. The registered manager and the school safeguarding team quickly follow through actions relating to any safety concerns. They work closely with other agencies, such as the police and the local authority, to help keep the children and young people safe.

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

Robust recruitment procedures ensure that as much as possible is done to ensure that new staff do not pose a risk to the children and young people.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about her work. She has an excellent relationship with the children and young people. She leads her staff team by example. She prioritises the needs of the children and young people and has been even more actively involved in their daily care recently, due to staffing shortages.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager acknowledges that the recent staff shortages have had an impact on some management tasks and monitoring. She knows the strengths of the service and areas she wishes to continue to develop. That said, the review of the quality of care does not clearly detail actions for future improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All the staff praise the manager for the support they receive. New staff report that they quickly feel part of the team. Most staff receive regular supervision, which helps them to reflect on their work. However, regular agency staff are not receiving supervision. This is a missed development opportunity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

More positively, the staff benefit from clinical supervision from an external specialist. This clinical supervision helps the staff to reflect on serious incidents. The sessions focus the staff on how to best meet children and young people’s very complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The permanent staff receive a range of training to help them meet the children and young people’s complex needs. The agency staff do not all have the training to help them understand the complexities of the children and young people’s needs and to help them manage ligature risks. Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 5 The registered manager is a strong advocate for the children and young people. She works closely with professionals such as social workers and mental health specialists. This ensures that the children and young people receive the specialist support they need. Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 6

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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 person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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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. (Regulation 12 (1)(2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ligature risk assessments being regularly updated in line with children and young people’s current needs. 01/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

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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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)(e)) 01/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development; 01/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 7 receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to agency staff receiving practice- related supervision.

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Recommendation

 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 six months of delivery within the home and how those actions will be addressed. The 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) Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 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: SC423753 9

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ruskin Mill Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ruskin Mill, Mill Bottom, Old Bristol Road, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire GL6 0LA

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Inspector

Jamie Richardson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC423753 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

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Inspector

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Inspector

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