Children's home run by Nottinghamshire County Council

Inspection report children's home: SC044291 1 SC044291 Registered provider: Nottinghamshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

This local authority children’s home is registered to care for three young people who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered in July 2020 and is suitably qualified and experienced.

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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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children's home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children's home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: Good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: SC044291 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/05/2019 Full Good 04/07/2018 Full Good 07/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 20/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC044291 3

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outstanding

Staff have consistently strong relationships with children. Children feel loved and cared for in the home. Staff use the positive relationships they have with children to encourage them to learn and develop new skills. Children make excellent progress, becoming increasingly confident as they improve their social skills.

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outstanding

Children receive very well-planned care. Staff ensure that children feel safe and secure by setting consistent boundaries and clear expectations. Children benefit from well-established routines, tailored to the needs of each child. For example, children who had previously experienced anxiety and distress around bedtimes now has much healthier sleep routines. Their quality of life is considerably better as a result.

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outstanding

Children are given excellent supported to keep in touch with family, friends and others who are important to them. Staff promote and fully support them to maintain or rebuild important relationships.

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outstanding

Transitions into and out of the home are very child-centred. This is a key strength of the home. Staff go above and beyond the expectations of their role in supporting one child who recently moved into semi-independent accommodation. This has provided an additional support network for the child. Another child asked to move into the home earlier than planned because his transition plan was so successful.

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outstanding

The manager and staff take the education of children very seriously. They advocate on behalf of children to secure the right education provision for each child. When barriers to learning are identified, staff work creatively to overcome these. For example, because one child finds it difficult to concentrate during afternoon lessons, staff take the child out at lunchtime each day to a local park where he feeds the ducks and plays football. This enables him to be focused and ready to learn on his return to the school.

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outstanding

Staff have shared successful therapeutic strategies with school staff so that they are better able to support children. A child’s social worker said, `I cannot speak highly enough of the home. They have appropriately challenged school and ensured that [the child’s] education placement has been maintained. They are just fantastic.’

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outstanding

Children have been supported extremely well to improve their emotional health and well-being. Staff work in partnership with specialist mental health services to deliver therapeutic interventions. Children are helped to address previous trauma and insecure attachments in a safe and playful way. Staff are very well trained in the home’s therapeutic model. The therapeutic values of the home are fully embedded into staff practice. For example, when one child sought reassurance that she remained in the thoughts of staff who are not on duty, the registered manager Inspection report children's home: SC044291 4 phoned her each night for a period of time. Staff also write letters to the child if they are away from the home, giving her the reassurance that she needs.

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outstanding

Risk assessments and risk management processes are of very high quality. Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities well and quickly address potential risks. Risk management plans are highly effective, providing staff with clear guidance on how to keep children safe.

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outstanding

Children have been carefully and sensitively supported to become more independent. This independence enables some children to enjoy unsupervised free time in the community. Over time, children have learned to view themselves as positive members of their community . They are very well supported to feel safe and be safe in the community.

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outstanding

Physical intervention is rarely used. This is because positive behaviour management strategies are so effective. When physical intervention is used, each incident is carefully reviewed and evaluated by managers. This ensures that lessons are learned so that future incidents can be avoided. One social worker said, ‘Before moving to the home, [the child] was being restrained daily. This just doesn’t happen here. They understand the children and know how to support them.’

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outstanding

Multi-agency working is another strength of the home. Children are safer because staff see themselves as an integral part of the ‘network around the child’. They communicate any concerns clearly and promptly with partner agencies, ensuring that risk management strategies are regularly updated. A professional said, ‘They keep me up to date, I never have to ask for anything. They work so proactively; communication is just fantastic.’

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outstanding

The staff and manager are adept at taking action to keep children safe. They work proactively with the police and transport agencies to minimise risks when children go missing from the home. Over time, children are able to break entrenched patterns of behaviour so that they become safer.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is passionate, motivational and nurturing. She has utilised her knowledge, skills and experience to promote excellent outcomes for children. Together with the dedication of the assistant manager, they have led the staff team extremely well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children are included in any decisions about the home and fully consulted about any plans that might affect them. Day-to-day chores and routines are designed to replicate a family home as much as possible. Children engage well because the home has a warm, nurturing and inclusive atmosphere. Inspection report children's home: SC044291 5 Staff morale is excellent. Staff work well together and share the core values of the home. Staff have a wealth of experience in working with children who have experienced trauma or have attachment difficulties. The positivity of the staff team is reflected in the way that they engage with children. Children feel valued because the staff obviously enjoy working with them so much.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Retention of staff is good, allowing the children to have consistency of care and to form meaningful relationships. Staff receive regular, good-quality supervision. They feel confident to share their views and suggest improvements. One staff member said, ‘I couldn’t ask for better support from the management and team, we really are like a family.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Management monitoring systems are highly effective. The manager responds positively to any recommendations made by the home’s independent visitor. This means that the home is constantly improving. The manager also undertakes her own internal monitoring, seeking feedback from children, staff and other professionals. Inspection report children's home: SC044291 6

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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: SC044291 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: West Bridgford House, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG2 7UN

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC044291 8 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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