Children's home run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council

Inspection report children's home: 1259118 1 Registered provider: Stoke-on-Trent City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by the local authority. It offers care and accommodation for up to two children who have experienced early childhood trauma.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2018.

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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: 19 November 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: 1259118 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/11/2019 Full Good 11/09/2018 Full Good 31/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1259118 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There are two children currently living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the registered manager and staff have worked hard to ensure that children’s education has been maintained and they are in the right school provision. Consequently, children have good school attendance and are making good progress in their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work well with health professionals to ensure that children have access to the right support and advice in relation to their physical, emotional and mental health. As a result, children’s health needs are continually met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of children maintaining links with their family members is understood well by staff. This gives children a sense of identity and being valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff regularly access support from the in-house therapeutic service. This support helps staff to have a better understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and provides the children with a consistent approach, in line with the home’s therapeutic model of care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed their independency skills with the support of staff. This ensures that children are prepared for taking the next steps towards independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Generally, children’s records are kept up to date and contain the relevant information. However, staff did not notice that one child’s records did not contain important information explaining the reasons why measures to keep the child safe were in place. This meant that staff did not receive the necessary guidance and advice to help them understand the child’s vulnerabilities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff consistently seek feedback from children. As a result, children within the home feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is generally clean, decorated and furnished to a good standard. Children are supported and encouraged to personalise their bedrooms in line with their wishes and feelings. However, some aspects of the home do not create a nurturing environment. For example, the kitchen and bathroom need decorating, and repair work needs to be carried out to bring them up to a good standard.

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

Safeguarding concerns are well managed by the registered manager and staff, with prompt monitoring of incidents and quick referrals to safeguarding agencies. Staff ensure that each child has an individualised risk assessment in place that reflects their specific vulnerabilities. However, on occasions, staff do not support Inspection report children's home: 1259118 4 children to manage and reduce risks by making daily checks on their electrical devices, such as laptops and mobile phones.

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

Staff have a good understanding of a wide range of de-escalation techniques that can help them to distract and manage children’s behaviour. Strategies used by staff are regularly reviewed to ensure that their practice is proportionate and safe. Incidents of physical restraint have reduced in the home, and records are detailed with all the required information.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff respond quickly and work closely with the police, social workers and local services. As a result, there is a coordinated response that helps to safeguard the children.

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

The registered manager ensures that staff undergo the required checks before they start to work with children. As a result, children are cared for by suitably vetted adults.

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

Staff support children to have a good understanding of risk. For example, staff have carried out some bespoke work to help children to understand the dangers they can be exposed to online. This helps them to develop strategies that enable them to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff offer children praise and show appropriate levels of physical affection. This helps children to develop meaningful and nurturing relationships with staff. However, occasionally staff miss opportunities to support children to explore their emotions. For example, not all staff recognise harmful behaviours, such as bullying. This inconsistency can leave children feeling frustrated and unhappy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about providing good-quality care. She works closely with professionals, and feedback is positive. These partnerships mean that the children feel safe and secure. Children know their care plans and that everyone is working to promote their best interests.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff speak very positively about the support they receive from the registered manager. During the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have continued to receive regular supervision. This has created opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice and develop their learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Sufficient action has been taken by the registered manager to address the requirements raised at the last inspection. For example, aspects of the home’s decoration and management oversight of children’s risk assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager holds other professionals to account. For example, the registered manager raised concerns that one child’s statutory plans for education had not been given priority, and escalated this with the local authority. Inspection report children's home: 1259118 5 Overall, the registered manager uses monitoring and review systems well to help her to have a good level of oversight of the home. However, some shortfalls have not been identified, such as the fire risk assessment which has not been updated. Additionally, the registered manager has not reviewed the use of monitoring and surveillance devices to ensure that such strategies are proportionate and necessary to keep the children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

It is acknowledged that face-to-face training for staff has been affected by the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the registered manager has not used technology well, to ensure that staff continue to receive refresher training. This has meant a delay in receiving specialised training in contextual safeguarding; managing self-harm, restorative justice and fire safety; and physical intervention. This delay has the potential to compromise the staff’s ability to update their knowledge.

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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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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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

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(vii)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to aspects of the home that are not nurturing and welcoming. 6 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on— 6 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1259118 6 an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to staff supporting children to explore their emotions and build positive relationships.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children; 6 August 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1259118 7 the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager ensuring that the use of surveillance is regularly reviewed.

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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

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, qualification and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to the registered manager ensuring that all staff receive refresher mandatory training. 6 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that adequate precautions against the risk of fire are in place and that the fire risk assessment is kept up to date. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15 paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all children’s case records are kept up to date, including children’s risk assessments. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards ‘page 62, paragraph 14.3)  The registered person should ensure that staff support children in strategies to manage and reduce any risks from accessing electrical devices. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)

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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: 1259118 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: City of Stoke-on-Trent, Swann House, Boothen Road, Stoke-On-Trent, Staffordshire ST4 4SY

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Inspector

Patrick McIntosh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1259118 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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