Children's home run by Central Bedfordshire Council in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report children's home: SC391464 1 SC391464 Registered provider: Central Bedfordshire Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. This service provides care for up to eight children with a learning difficulty who may also have a physical disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The premises are organised into three living areas: short breaks, permanent placements and a self-contained flat.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home registered with Ofsted in June 2016.

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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: 5 September 2019

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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: SC391464 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/09/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Full Good 30/08/2017 Full Good 12/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC391464 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a good home with some outstanding features. The children make excellent progress because of their experiences of living at the home. The children have developed secure, positive relationships with the highly dedicated staff, who fully understand the children’s needs. The staff speak with genuine warmth about the children. A parent said, ‘The staff don’t just care about [my child], they love him, and as a mum that is so important.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the children’s communication needs. They help the children to express their wishes and feelings and the staff act on these. The staff see this as an important part of children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff celebrate children’s achievements using charts that are displayed at the home. A copy of each child’s chart is sent to parents and social workers, who say that they are a joy to receive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have individualised, child-centred placement plans which are reviewed monthly and guide the staff effectively. The plans help the staff to understand every aspect of each child’s daily needs. An external professional said that they are the most detailed placement plans she has seen.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have excellent relationships with the children’s teachers. The staff share information that supports working together. During the first COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, the home’s staff and education staff worked together so that children could achieve their ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) qualifications.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff use innovative and imaginative ways to ensure that the children have meaningful experiences. During these experiences, photos are taken and added to children’s memory books as a record of their time at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff enable children to have positive endings to their time at the home. They use social stories, and support the child who is moving on to visit their new home. Social stories are used for the children who remain at the home, to help them to understand the changes. The staff are sensitive to children’s feelings and let them know that it is okay to be sad.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the inspection, the staff enabled children to communicate what they liked about living at the home. There was a genuine warmth between the staff and children, with lots of laughter. Inspection report children's home: SC391464 4

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

The staff have extremely good knowledge and understanding of children’s vulnerabilities. Individual, high-quality risk assessments help to ensure that children enjoy new experiences safely. A member of staff said, ‘If an incident occurs during an activity, it is important that we look at how the child can continue to participate, by putting in different measures to keep them safe, not just stop the activity.’ The staff understand that children need to be able to take reasonable risks.

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

The staff are proactive in ensuring that children can express themselves using their preferred communication method. Having well-structured routines and systems to make their wishes known helps the children to feel safe and move calmly from one activity to another.

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

The staff have undertaken safeguarding training, including safeguarding disabled children. They know how to report and follow up concerns. External professionals and parents said that the staff safeguard the children well.

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

The care staff and school staff share children’s behaviour support plans. These plans identify children’s behaviours and triggers and include distraction techniques. The children receive consistent messages from the adults who look after them. This has helped to reduce unwanted behaviours and some anxieties for children.

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

Due to the high levels of staffing, the children do not go missing from the home. For children who are at risk of leaving staff during community activities, there are clear risk assessments and extra staffing. Each child has a missing-from-home protocol which is sent to the local police. This ensures that the police fully understand the children’s risks and vulnerabilities should they go missing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children are clearly at the centre of practice at this home. The working partnership between the manager, professionals and parents is effective. Information is shared which enables everyone to work in the best interests of each child. An external professional said that the staff often go above and beyond expectations for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Comprehensive monitoring systems drive improvement. The manager uses recommendations from the independent person’s report to continue to develop the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have regular, effective supervision which they said supports them in working with the children and develops their skills and understanding. Regular staff meetings enable the staff to share and develop good practice. Staff said that they feel valued and listened to. As a result, they continue to feel dedicated and motivated to caring for the children. Inspection report children's home: SC391464 5 Parents said that the staff are like extended family. The staff have detailed knowledge of the children’s needs and have supported them to grow and progress. One parent said that they would not have thought that their child would be capable of learning some of the independence skills that he now has. The parent said that this learning is due to the staff’s patience and encouragement with their child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff receive regular and meaningful training that equips them with the knowledge and understanding to work with the children effectively. Staff either have or are working towards a relevant level 3 qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the two requirements and one recommendation from the last inspection.

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Central Bedfordshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Priory House, Monks Walk, Chicksands, Shefford, Central Bedfordshire SG17 5TQ

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Inspector

Trish Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC391464 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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Inspector

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