Children's Home, Residential special school run by Thornleigh Camphill Communities Limited in South Gloucestershire

Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 1 Registered provider: Thornleigh Camphill Communities Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

 The home provides care for up to 12 children aged from six years old. Some children stay until they are 19, as part of their care plan.  All the children have a wide range of special educational needs diagnoses.  Care is provided in two homes, which are on the same site as the school.  The home provides a therapeutic programme, which is delivered by a therapy team that works across the home and the school.  The registered manager resigned his registration in December 2019. A new manager has been appointed who started in post in January 2020.  This inspection aligned with the school’s inspection.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/06/2018 Full Good 21/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 21/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with consistent and nurturing care from staff who prioritise their privacy and dignity. Children are relaxed and comfortable at this home and they told the inspector that they have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One of the home’s strengths is the careful consideration and good planning when children move into the home. Leaders and managers work closely with parents and professionals prior to and during the planning process. All children have a bespoke care and support plan. These plans are devised from information shared by parents, healthcare professionals and education. This is one example of good partnership working. Children’s targets are individualised and seek to maximise their progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality, individualised care and support. The staff demonstrated an excellent knowledge of the children’s needs. As a result, many of the children are making good progress. Examples of the progress that children make include learning how to complete independence tasks and engaging in a wide range of activities in the home and the local community. This helps children to develop their social skills, confidence and interactions with others.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a wide range of play equipment and materials. Good use is made of sensory rooms and outside play areas. In addition, children benefit from taking part in a variety of activities in the wider community. These opportunities include visits to local parks and activity venues, such as swimming and leisure facilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children require some support to help communicate their views and needs. Staff use alternative methods of communication with the children effectively. This includes the use of a wide range of photographs and signs that inform the children of who will be caring for them, the planned day-to-day activities and menu choices.

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

Leaders and managers respond effectively to safeguarding concerns that have the potential to place children at risk. Child protection records are well maintained, and the actions recorded confirm effective partnership working with all safeguarding agencies.

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

Children’s behaviour is managed well. Physical intervention is used as a last resort to keep children and others safe. The frequency and duration of children being held or guided have reduced significantly. Leaders and managers ensure that all staff and children are provided with the opportunity to talk about incidents. However, the records of discussions held with children do not include information confirming how they felt about being held. In addition, the discussions with staff do not explore the opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice. Leaders and managers’ monitoring of these documents is not evaluative. Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 4 Children are looked after by staff who are safely recruited. To meet the supervision levels required for the children, leaders and managers have been reliant on the use of agency staff. Leaders and managers have verified the agency staff members’

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

safeguarding suitability but have not considered obtaining additional information to assess their suitability to work with children who have a range of complex needs.

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

Medicines are stored and administered safely. Monitoring of medication is effective, and when errors are identified leaders and managers take effective action.

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

Leaders and managers ensure that the home’s fire protection systems are tested regularly. Fire evacuation drills take place quarterly. However, fire evacuation records do not confirm that all staff and children who are new to the home have taken part in an evacuation drill. This does not ensure that they are familiar with the action to take in the event of a fire.

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good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed and he is applying for registration with Ofsted. Since his appointment, he has prioritised spending good- quality time with children and staff. In addition, he has audited the recording and reporting systems and has identified areas for improvement.

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good

The weaknesses identified at this inspection relate specifically to the quality of record-keeping and the effective monitoring of a range of children’s records, for example of the accuracy and legibility of children’s daily records and behavioural reports.

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good

Since the last inspection, 19 staff members have left. Leaders and managers have successfully recruited 17 new staff. As a result, the use of agency staff has reduced. Staff training records are in the main well organised, and all staff are up to date with basic mandatory training. Although a number of staff have previous experience of supporting children who have autism spectrum disorders and alternative communication needs, they have not received training in these areas from their current employer. In addition, 10 residential care staff have achieved the level 3 diploma for residential childcare, and nine staff are working towards this qualification.

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good

Staff ensure that children’s views, wishes and feelings are sought informally throughout the day. However, formal consultation with children such as one-to-one discussions and surveys do not include how they can contribute to the quality of care they are provided with and development of the residential services.

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good

Leaders and managers take effective action to address poor performance. Team meetings, formal supervisions and appraisals take place regularly. However, records of these important sessions do not demonstrate opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice individually or as a team. In addition, the quality, content and range of Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 5 discussion are variable. Some records do not confirm that discussions are held about safeguarding concerns, children’s progress and the member of staff’s role and responsibilities. Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 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, 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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7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff— regularly consult children, and seek their feedback, about the quality of the home’s care. (Regulation 7 (1)(c)(2)(a)(iv))

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7: The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard

In particular, ensure that children are asked how they felt about being held following a significant incident and seek children’s views on how they can contribute to the development of the services provided. 29/05/2020

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13: The leadership and management standard

In order to meet the leadership and management standard, the registered person should enable, inspire and lead a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(a)(h)) 29/05/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 7 In particular, ensure that there is close monitoring, scrutiny and evaluation of records relating children’s daily records, restraint records and behavioural incidents.

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25: Fire precautions

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(a) applies to the home— the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (1)(d)(2)(b))

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25: Fire precautions

In particular, ensure, all new staff and children engage in a fire evacuation at suitable intervals so that they are aware of the procedure to be followed in the case of a fire. 29/05/2020

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of the home (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11). In particular, consider providing update specialist training in autism spectrum disorders and alternative communication.  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Recommendations

 Ensure external agency staff should meet the requirements in regulation 32(4) regarding mandatory qualifications and the registered person should consider their employment history, references, skills and qualifications before they commence work in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 10.16) Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 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: 1226971 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: Thornleigh Camphill Communities Ltd

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Nicolas Sialelli

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Inspector

Sharron Escott, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1226971 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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