Children's Home run by Roundhouse Care in Staffordshire

Assurance visit report: SC478852 1 SC478852

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private provider and is registered to provide care and accommodation for three young people with social and/or emotional difficulties and learning disabilities. There is currently one young person living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since 2014 and is appropriately qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 11 December 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Inadequate

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership. This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit. Assurance visit report: SC478852 2

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The care of children

Children living in this home have the full support of staff. Although not all children who come to the home can stay for long, staff work hard to try and help them make progress. Children who have been in the home for a long time consider this their home and this helps them feel settled.

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The care of children

Children are supported by staff to maintain contact with the important people in their lives. This has continued throughout the period of social restriction due to COVID-19, using video calls and increased phone calls. As soon as it was possible, visits in person resumed. Staff understand how important it is for children to maintain their connections with families and friends. There are some discrepancies between different documents regarding these arrangements, which is unhelpful, but children and staff know what they are, so they are not interrupted.

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The care of children

Where families have important events, such as weddings, staff help to prepare children for these. This means that children are able to take part in these memorable occasions. Children and their families really appreciate this.

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The care of children

Children have been supported to carry on with their interests during the period of social restrictions. Whether this is quieter activities, such as jigsaws, more active times, such as cycling, or breaks away to seaside towns, staff invest in these so that children can develop themselves and stronger relationships can be built.

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The care of children

Children were supported and motivated with their learning during lockdown and helped to return to school well. Staff check in with schools regularly so that they can pick up any concerns early and put in place more help if needed. One child’s motivation is typified by them being awarded ‘student of the week’ several times. The obvious pride that staff have in children’s achievements is heart-warming.

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The safety of children

Staff know the children well and can talk about their needs and any issues in detail. The manager and deputy manager of the home also have an excellent knowledge and insight into individual children, their needs and their behaviour. This knowledge is shared with staff to help them develop their practice.

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The safety of children

Staff have not made sure that information across risk assessments and placement plans is uniform and some key information is not kept within these important documents. Placement plans are helpful but not all information to guide all aspects of children’s care is included in them. The manager is aware of this and is already looking at how these documents can be amended to be more helpful for staff and children.

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The safety of children

Allegations against staff are infrequent. When they happen, the registered manager works with the right partner agencies to understand and address them as needed. The open relationship the manager has with Ofsted means that the regulator is kept Assurance visit report: SC478852 3 aware of any relevant issues in the home. When incidents happen, individual staff are supported to learn from them and this is then shared with others. This makes a significant contribution to the learning culture in the team.

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The safety of children

Staff have good opportunities to develop their knowledge. For children who arrive at the home with more complex or specific needs, training is not always comprehensive. This means that staff cannot always meet those children’s needs as quickly as they need to. The manager has identified this and has plans to make sure this is addressed in the future.

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The safety of children

Staff physically intervene with children when they need to, and it is proportionate. Records do not clearly show the detail of debriefs that the manager undertakes with children and staff in full. Again, the manager is aware of this being an area for improvement and has already identified that the recording form could be improved to make the learning clearer for staff and children.

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Leaders and managers

The registered manager of the home leads with commitment and passion. After the last full inspection where concerns were raised, the manager has worked tirelessly to develop safeguarding practice in the home. Processes are now clear and embedded, and staff have increased their knowledge and are confident. As a result, the manager can be assured of staff’s knowledge, and in turn she has the confidence of the team.

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Leaders and managers

Risk assessments and processes in relation to COVID-19 are excellent. The manager has made sure that staff are aware of how to keep children and themselves as safe as possible. Her clarity and support are noted by staff as having made the difference for them during this difficult period, which has meant that children have continued to be cared for by adults who know them well.

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Leaders and managers

Since the last full inspection, the manager has developed her monitoring systems. These are comprehensive and, along with her observation of practice, give her a full overview of the home. These systems have enabled support to be put in place as needed to improve the quality of care and relationships. For example, through observation of practice the manager and deputy manager have supported a member of staff who had a difficult relationship with a child in the home to become one of this child’s favourites. This is a prime example of how managers in the home identify and address concerns in care practice to make sure children are well looked after by attuned adults.

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Leaders and managers

Supervision in the home is supportive, challenging and reflective. The manager has developed records so that all areas are addressed in each supervision. Where needed staff have action-plans put in place to monitor performance. The united approach from the manager and deputy manager means that staff get consistent support to improve the quality of care children receive. Assurance visit report: SC478852 4

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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 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;

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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

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(c)) 01/12/2020

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, risk assessment should be clearly recorded and cross-referenced to other plans and information so that staff can find guidance when needed.  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’ page 49, paragraph 9.59) Assurance visit report: SC478852 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Roundhouse Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ventura House, Ventura Park Road, Tamworth, Staffordshire B78 3HL

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Inspector

Karol Keenan, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Assurance visit report: SC478852 6 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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