Children's home run by Break Charity

Inspection report children's home: SC060034 1 SC060034 Registered provider: Break Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A registered charity owns this home, which provides short breaks for up to six children at any one time. The children who use the service have learning disabilities and may also have associated physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 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

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: SC060034 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/02/2020 Full Good 12/12/2018 Full Good 12/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC060034 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and their families highly value their flexible, child-centred short breaks. The relationships between staff and children are strong and established. Children make good progress. One parent said, ‘The service helps us tremendously as a family. [Child’s name] is so busy and learning new skills; they love it.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s transitions to short breaks are managed effectively and are sensitive to their individual needs. The manager ensures that the children are well matched with each other and with the staff’s skills and experience. Effective group dynamic assessments are made. As a result, children benefit from warm introductions and settle quickly into established routines.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress with their independence, communication and self-care skills. Staff help the children to develop these skills through using graduated levels of prompting. Individualised approaches are tailored to children’s developmental stages and regularly reviewed so that children make progress that is significant for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy an extended range of meaningful activities, despite the restrictions arising from COVID-19. A recent boating excursion and trips to the zoo, fair and theme park help to widen children’s social experiences. These opportunities extend children’s interests and hobbies and give them opportunities that they have not had previously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their education and health needs. Effective communication and links with the school staff and health agencies have ensured that children make consistent progress towards their education and health goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The accommodation is spacious and well equipped to meet children’s recreational and leisure interests. Creatively themed bedrooms reflect children’s interests and imagination. Individual spaces meet children’s sensory needs. However, the garden has not been maintained to a good standard and some play equipment is worn and defective, detracting from what is otherwise a nurturing environment.

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

Staff provide familiar and consistent routines that help children to feel secure. Parents have trust in the staff and are confident that the staff advocate for their child’s best interests and well-being. A parent who was very apprehensive about their child having short breaks described how the staff had given her and her child the confidence to try the home. The child is now flourishing during their short breaks. Inspection report children's home: SC060034 4 Staff understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They receive training in safeguarding disabled children and are aware of the children’s additional vulnerabilities. When potential issues of concern arise, the manager works collaboratively with other safeguarding professionals to promote the children’s safety. Professionals said that the staff are good at balancing rights and individual needs.

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

The implementation of proactive behaviour management strategies successfully reduces situations that can increase children’s anxiety. Staff have a good awareness of potential triggers. The staff’s approach helps to calm incidents and build the children’s tolerance to change. As a result, incidents are significantly minimised and no physical interventions have been necessary since the last inspection.

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

Staff follow clear medication administration processes. The manager provides comprehensive and effective oversight of auditing procedures. Since the last inspection, there has only been one medication error. When the error occurred, it was dealt with effectively, reducing the risk of recurrence.

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

Most risk assessments for children are detailed and individualised. However, this is not consistent. One assessment was not suitably updated when emerging concerns were identified for a child. Furthermore, other assessments do not consider children’s health risks sufficiently. This reduces the staff’s capacity to implement consistent risk-reduction strategies.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is suitably experienced and working towards a relevant level 5 qualification. The management team and the staff team are dynamic and child focused. Managers and staff demonstrate strong commitment to providing good- quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager sets high standards for himself and the staff. The staff meet regularly as a team and prioritise the needs of the children. Open discussions about staff practice support a professional culture in which challenge is accepted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff and management teams have sustained positive relationships with parents and professionals, who provided consistently good feedback about the strength of communication and care. Parents and professionals see the progress of children and recognise the impact and the difference that the home has made.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the quality of managerial monitoring and oversight has improved. Internal quality-of-care reviews are of a good standard. The manager has implemented an effective system for regular auditing and monitoring of practice. As a result, opportunities for continuous improvement are captured and acted on effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff benefit from child-focused, challenging and constructive supervisions. Regularly used agency staff now receive reflective supervisions. However, some staff Inspection report children's home: SC060034 5 members do not receive an appraisal within the required timescales. The appraisals for other staff are of poor quality. This limits the staff’s opportunity to identify further development areas and suitably reflect on their annual work objectives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring could be improved. On occasions, the independent person does not provide adequate information on behavioural incidents or potential safeguarding concerns. This undermines the overall quality and assurances that are intended by these visits.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although managers have responded effectively to internal safeguarding concerns, they have failed to notify Ofsted about these. As a result, Ofsted’s capacity to monitor safeguarding arrangements has been reduced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A large proportion of staff have the required level 3 qualification. However, one staff member who should have achieved this has yet to do so. The manager has devised a plan to ensure that the staff member achieves this swiftly. Inspection report children's home: SC060034 6

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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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, ensure that risk assessments are updated in line with emerging incidents and known health needs for children. 6 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. 30 September Inspection report children's home: SC060034 7 The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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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

there is any [other] incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 6 August 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that an independent person visits the children’s home at least once each month.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit ("the independent person’s report") which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and

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Requirement Due date

the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being. (Regulation 44 (1) (4)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that safeguarding and well-being statements are supported by clear and specific information. 6 August 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should provide a nurturing, homely environment. In particular, ensure that the garden is maintained to a good standard. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all staff have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5) Inspection report children's home: SC060034 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: SC060034 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Schofield House, 1 Spar Road, Norwich, Norfolk NR6 6BX

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Inspector

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC060034 10 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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