Children's home run by Next Stage 4Life Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 1 Registered provider: Next Stage 4Life Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered for the home since May 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/08/2019 Full Good 26/02/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home enjoy care that is thoughtful and nurturing, and this supports their emotional health and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported in all aspects of their lives and staff respond well to children’s individual needs. In response, children value the time and trusting relationships that staff offer. Children receive reliable care that underpins their progress in education, their social development and emotional resilience.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

As a result, children attend school, improve their abilities to develop relationships, and learn how to make safer choices as they develop independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children’s achievements and talents, and encourage them to take part in organised leisure activities. As COVID-19 restrictions begin to ease, staff have planned possible activities and identified clubs that children may wish to join.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at the home respect and appreciate each other’s differences and, as a result, they benefit from joint and individual activities. Staff also promote a sense of fun and contribute to the wider community, for example dressing up and raising money for a national charity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s sense of identity and cultural heritage are fully supported by the staff. This includes working with the children’s families to maintain and strengthen contact, trips to their place of birth and project work on ‘Black Lives Matter’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views, wishes and feelings are listened to by the staff and they develop a sense of ownership and belonging. For example, both children have pet animals and staff support the children to look after them.

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

Children say they feel safe living at the home. One child said, ‘It’s awesome living here. I feel really listened to, staff and the home are great.’

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

Professionals and parents are confident that children are safe and like living at the home. They are kept updated and are positive about the care provided by the team.

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

Since September 2020, there have not been any incidents that have required staff to physically intervene. Children do not misuse drugs or alcohol, and there have not been any complaints or allegations.

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

Since living at the home, some children have experienced a significant reduction in incidents of missing from home and self-harm. Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 4 Children are given regular advice and guidance on how to use social media safely and how to recognise and understand the dangers it can pose. Staff support children’s safe progress to independent use of the internet.

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

Staff understand children’s individual vulnerabilities well. However, documents that offer advice to staff on how to respond are not always clear in their guidance. Children’s particular needs relating to autism spectrum disorder are not included in these documents, nor is advice that has been offered by the home’s therapist. In addition, conclusions to safeguarding concerns are not succinctly recorded or offer the reader clear insight into the outcomes.

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

As a security measure, it has been the practice by staff to lock all internal downstairs doors at night. This restricts children’s movement in and around the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child focused in his approach to running the home. He is innovative and creative in seeking children’s input and engagement. He promotes an open and learning culture in the home to support children to reach their potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a thorough understanding of each child’s needs, and he is reflective in his approach to improving the practice of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by managers, formally and informally, and there is regular supervision of staff. This is complemented with team meetings that focus on the needs of children and the development of staff skills. For example, staff are being supported to develop professional interests and specialisms, the result of which is then presented to the whole staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Other recent developments include children being encouraged to take greater ownership of their plans and goals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has positively responded to recommendations which were made at the last inspection. For example, staff now benefit from a workforce development plan. Staff recruitment and turnover has stabilised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children live in a spacious environment that generally is well maintained and cared for. However, children’s bedrooms would benefit from repair and decoration to maintain the welcoming feel of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work hard to keep children safe and the manager and staff have built good working relationships with other professionals. However, not all serious incidents have been notified to Ofsted, and this reduces the regulator’s oversight of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A clear training plan is in place to further support staff to develop and improve their practice. During the inspection, it was identified that training records were not up to date for all staff. Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 5

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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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if— there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e) 31 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any areas of the home’s premises— is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home; is necessary and proportionate; is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and allows children as much freedom when balanced against the needs to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)) 31 May 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children’s bedrooms remain in good decorative order and damaged furniture is replaced. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person must ensure that advice offered by the home’s therapist regarding children’s behaviour is disseminated and discussed with staff. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  The registered person must ensure that documents which assess risk to a child offer clear guidance to staff and take into account any known diagnosis, such as autism spectrum disorder. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42 paragraph 9.5) Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 6  The registered person must ensure that outcomes of enquiries into safeguarding matters are clearly recorded. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including

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Recommendations

the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person must ensure that staff training records are kept up to date and are a comprehensive record of training completed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2484682 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Next Stage 4Life Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Regency House, 45-53 Chorley New Road, Bolton BL1 4QR

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Inspectors

Pauline Yates, Social Care Inspector Caroline Bertram, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2484682 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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