Children's Home run by Strode Park Foundation for People with Disabilities in Kent

Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 1 SC425786 Registered provider: Strode Park Foundation for People with Disabilities Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to seven children, and for a further three children who can stay under short-break arrangements. Facilities are in place to meet the needs of children who have learning and/or physical disabilities. The children’s home is operated by a local charitable foundation and it is also registered with the Care Quality Commission.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2011.

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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

Date of last inspection: 11 February 2020

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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: SC425786 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Full Good 17/09/2019 Full Inadequate 18/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/01/2018 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is focused on the well-being and progress of the children. Its members are attentive and caring and display a good understanding the children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. This helps the children to make significant progress in their development, increase independence and expand their experience of the world. The staff team is flexible and adaptable and has maintained these standards of care throughout the changing course of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The leadership made a well-considered decision to provide home schooling for the children for most of this inspection period. This reduced their risk of COVID-19 infection and provided stability and consistency in their daily routines. Staff worked closely with the children’s teachers and the children were able to continue their education and make progress. A very child-centred approach is being followed in the children’s progressive return to the classroom.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The restrictions imposed by lockdown and social distancing requirements have been well managed by the staff team. This has helped the children to maintain the best possible contact with their families and former carers. It has also assisted associated professionals to continue to contribute to the children’s care and progress throughout the pandemic.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team shows a commitment to improving the ways in which they seek and understand the wishes and feelings of the children and how they respond to these. All staff are currently enrolled on or have completed training in sign language. This enhances the daily experiences of the children. The requirement set at the last inspection in this regard has been met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious indoors and outdoors and provides the children with a rich range of amenities and activities in a homely, settled atmosphere. Bedrooms are spacious and highly personalised.

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

High standards of infection control, consistently applied, have kept the children safe from infection during the pandemic. The staff are disciplined in applying protective measures and show a protective attitude towards the children in keeping them safe and healthy.

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

Plans to guide staff in keeping each child safe are detailed and comprehensive. The complexities around their health and personal care needs are well understood and staff have the expertise to meet these needs safely and effectively. This frees the children to explore their interests and have fun.

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

For some children, restrictive arrangements to keep them safe have been Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 4 substantially reduced, giving them more freedom and choice in their day-to-day experiences. The way the staff maintain a positive and caring environment for the children makes the need for any form of restrictive intervention very rare. No such intervention has been used during this inspection period.

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

Staff currently succeed in consistently maintaining the high standards of care, medication administration and safeguarding practice required for meeting the complex needs of the children. The current procedures and policies in place to manage staff performance and conduct in this regard are, however, insufficient. This means that staff practice is not always adequately scrutinised, and lessons are not being fully learned from incidents that occur.

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

The notification requirements for serious incidents that take place are not always being met. This undermines the required external scrutiny and review of standards of care and staff practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The very experienced and capable registered manager and deputy manager display vision and ambition for the service and for the achievements and progress of the children. They have provided strong leadership during this very challenging inspection period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective arrangements are in place for the induction of staff, regular supervision and annual appraisals. The standards for staff training and development are high and improving. Staff recruitment practice currently focuses on whether applicants are ‘safe’ people, by vetting applicants for safeguarding purposes.. There is less focus, however, on exploring whether applicants possess the qualities, or the aptitude to develop these into a skill set that would meet the specific needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders display a detailed knowledge of the children and their progress. They display a good understanding of the staff team and are sensitive to their practice and personal needs. Their day-to-day monitoring of the home and care of the children is close. The wider monitoring of the home, as it relates to improving the quality of care, however, requires improvement. There is a wealth of data available for this purpose that is not being used and there is insufficient analysis of information taking place in quality of care reviews.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although meeting essential requirements, the home’s statement of purpose is vague and does not clearly describe the stated purpose and ethos of the home. Furthermore, it is not currently published on the provider’s website. Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 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, 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 registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to,

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e)) 13 May 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

If a home has a website, the registered person must ensure that a copy of the statement of purpose is published on that website unless the registered person considers that such publication would prejudice the welfare of children in the home. (Regulation 16 (1)(4)) 13 May 2021 Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 6 The registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

operate a disciplinary procedure which, in particular—

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Requirement Due date

provides for the suspension from work of an employee if necessary, in the interests of the safety or welfare of children;

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Requirement Due date

and provides that the failure on the part of an employee to report an incident of abuse, or suspected abuse, whether past or present, in relation to a child to the appropriate person is a ground on which disciplinary proceedings may be instituted. (Regulation 33 (2)(a)(b)) 13 July 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person is responsible for deciding what each (regulation 45) review should focus on, based on the specific circumstances of the home at that particular time and any areas of high risk to the children that the home is designed to care for, such as missing or exploitation. They will also consider what information or data recorded in the home will form part of the evidence base for their analysis and conclusions. There is no expectation that the registered person will review the home against every part of the Quality Standards every six months – registered persons should use their professional judgement to decide which factors to focus on. 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 6 months of delivery within the home and how those actions

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Recommendations

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)  Staff should have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. Staff should understand that they have a responsibility to observe, notice and respond to children who are expressing their views, acknowledging that it is not the sole responsibility of the child to ‘tell’. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through their behaviour, or non- verbally especially where the child has a disability which does not allow them to communicate as others might. In particular, the methods of recruiting staff should identify those persons suitable and capable of developing such practices. (‘Guide

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Recommendations

to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10) Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 7

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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: SC425786 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Strode Park Foundation for People with Disabilities

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Strode Park Foundation, Strode Park House, Lower Herne Road, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 7NE

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Inspectors:

John Pledger, Social Care Inspector Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC425786 9 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:

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