Children's Home run by Ravensbourne Project in Lewisham

Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 1 Registered provider: Ravensbourne Project Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a short-breaks residential home and day service which provides care and accommodation for children with learning or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments. The home can provide overnight short breaks for up to five children aged between eight and 18, providing that two of the five children are siblings of the same gender. The home operates at weekends during term time only and during all holiday periods.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2019.

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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: 1257289 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/08/2019 Full Good 20/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 07/08/2018 Full Good 02/11/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive individualised care that meets their needs well. Many of the children do not communicate through speech. Therefore, staff work hard to interpret and understand their needs and offer them person-centred care. This helps children to achieve their short-breaks targets and have fun experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop strong and trusting relationships with staff. This is important as most of the children are non-verbal and are reliant on staff knowing and understanding their needs. Children engage well with the staff and clearly enjoy spending time with them. Staff are attentive and skilled in communicating with children. They regularly use social stories to help children understand what is happening. A staff member said, ‘The children that use the service are a friendly, lively bunch and are a pleasure to work with.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to live healthily. This has been the case prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic and is particularly important as some children live with very complex healthcare needs. Children’s health requirements are understood by staff, who manage their healthcare and treatment plans safely. Staff receive training in relevant healthcare issues, including epilepsy and percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube feeding. Staff manage children’s medication safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s learning outcomes are good. Staff set appropriate short-breaks targets that are in line with their support plans. These typically include children working towards becoming more independent, attending to their personal care needs and socialising safely with their peers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff find innovative ways to offer children choices. They make a concerted effort to use symbols and pictures to help obtain children’s views. A parent told the inspector, ‘They’re very good with him. He responds well to staff and loves coming here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Older children who move on from the home access appropriate adult care provision. Staff are instrumental in preparing them for this transition and helping them to contribute to the decision-making process. Staff are keen advocates for older children when they leave and many stay in contact with staff, who continue to provide emotional and practical support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fun and have access to play and sensory equipment. Staff offer children innovative and creative play and make good use of the home’s premises and equipment to provide meaningful activities. This was particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic as children’s access to the community was restricted. Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 4

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

Staff work hard to keep children safe. They provide one-to-one supervision to all children. This ratio of staff increases when activities take place away from the home. Staff receive training in child protection and are familiar with child protection procedures. Staff are knowledgeable and vigilant about children’s individual vulnerabilities. This helps to keep them safe.

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

Children do not go missing from the home or experience exploitation, abuse or bullying. Staff’s supervision of children is effective. This results in there being very few critical incidents. Staff do not restrain children and there have been no allegations or complaints made against staff.

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

Staff work effectively with other safeguarding professionals to ensure that children are kept safe. Staff recently provided valuable insight of one child’s experiences and the impact that his chaotic home environment was having on him. Staff’s contribution to child protection conferences and their work with the child’s parent has led to effective child protection planning and improved outcomes for the child.

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

Children’s risk assessments highlight known and anticipated risks posed to them. Management strategies are tailored towards the specific needs and circumstances of individual children. Recommended strategies are largely effective and help to keep children safe.

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

Staff encourage children to adhere to structure and boundaries. Staff management of challenging behaviour is measured and appropriate. They devise individualised behaviour management plans that take into consideration the impact of children’s disabilities. Behaviour management strategies are largely effective.

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

The home’s premises are appropriate for the care of disabled children. The premises are well furnished, and children make use of adapted equipment which promotes safe care. Managers continue to make improvements to the fabric of the building. However, the sensory room requires redecoration to make it more homely.

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

Managers conduct staff recruitment in line with safe recruitment policies. This confirms that staff are suitable to work with vulnerable children. Parents report that they feel at ease with the staff and feel that they provide safe care to their children. This view is shared by local authority social workers. A social worker said, ‘I am happy and satisfied that my young person is safe here. I have no safeguarding concerns at all.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leadership and management of the home are strong. The registered manager has good experience, qualifications and skills to manage a short-breaks service for disabled children. The responsible individual has a good presence at the home and supports the efforts of the registered manager. Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 5 The home is meeting the aims and objectives in its statement of purpose. Most of the shortfalls identified at the home’s last inspection have been resolved. The exception to this is the quality of recording by staff in some records, including risk assessments and behavioural management plans. Sometimes, recording lacks detail, which does not provide clear strategies for staff to implement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children’s guide requires revision to include the contact details for Ofsted and the Children’s Commissioner. The parents’ guide does not contain the correct Ofsted telephone number for parents to contact the regulator if they so wish.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers promote tolerance, equality and diversity. Staff ensure that children’s identity needs are well met. For example, staff ensure that any dietary needs based on faith practices are adhered to, and staff use social stories to help children to explore their sexuality safely and appropriately in a dignified manner.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s monitoring systems are robust. Managers undertake regular monitoring exercises. These explore most aspects of the home’s functioning and offer some insight into the quality of the service. Leaders and managers have ambitious vision for the development of the home and high aspirations for children’s achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide good support to the staff team. A member of staff said, ‘I feel very supported and valued in my role and couldn’t wish for a better working relationship with my team.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The induction of new staff is effective, and staff receive regular, meaningful supervision that meets their development needs. However, gaps are noted in the completion of staff annual appraisals. Staff training, mentoring and coaching opportunities are excellent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff share an effective working relationship with other professionals. This ensures that all parties are aware of concerns and issues for children. A social worker said: ‘This respite was very much needed. The service has been helpful in highlighting concerns for the child. Staff have helped professionals understand the effectiveness of strategies they have put in place.’ Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 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 children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who— develop positive relationships with them; engage with them; and take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

keep the children’s guide and the home’s complaints procedure under review and seek children’s comments before revising either document. (Regulation 7 (1) (2)(a)(c)) 1 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 1 October 2021

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home environment is nurturing and supportive by considering redecoration of the sensory room. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. Children’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans should offer comprehensive guidance to staff. The parents’ guide should be updated to include accurate information. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 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: 1257289 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ravensbourne Project

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Inspector

Sandra Jacobs-Walls, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1257289 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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