Children's Home run by Northamptonshire Children’s Trust Limited in North Northamptonshire

Inspection report children’s home: 2615067 1 Registered provider: Northamptonshire Childrens Trust Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a local authority home that is registered to care for five children and young people with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was re-registered in October 2020 because of a change in the local authority operational structure. However, this organisational change has not impacted the day-to-day operation of the home. This is the home’s first inspection since re-registration.

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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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 12 November 2020 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: Not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children’s home: 2615067 2

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Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2615067 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences living at this home. They are happy and thriving. They enjoy the company of staff and have recently been on holiday with them. They experience new challenges and excel in meeting those challenges. For example, one child does not like heights and yet felt able to go on a very high fairground ride. He was able to do this because staff gave him encouragement and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress from their starting points. For example, all children now attend school. One child has just passed all of her GCSE exams. An independent reviewing officer said that this child ‘has flourished with the wraparound support to help her on her journey’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A child has completed a National Citizenship Award and was presented with a certificate from the prime minister. This was part of a creative plan to help the child improve her emotional well-being. Staff have managed to successfully support a child through a challenging period in their life by providing a high level of structure and routine during the school holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have secured part-time jobs with the support of staff. This has helped to boost children’s self-esteem and confidence. They have also become more independent, particularly in relation to the management of their own finances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children successfully transition back to their family home or foster carers. Some children remain at the home because this is the best plan for them. Carefully targeted interventions enable children to feel confident about their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Consultation with children is embedded into the culture of the home. For example, children are encouraged to make comments on their records, which are reviewed by staff. Children’s views are valued and acted on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff try to make this very large house homely. However, doors to communal areas are routinely locked at night and occasionally during the day. This has not been agreed with the placing authority and safety reasons have not been cited. Bedrooms are highly personalised. One bedroom that is not currently used has an unacceptable odour. Staff have tried, unsuccessfully, to eradicate the odour. The slabbing around the outside of the home is very uneven and could be a hazard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning is generally good. However, healthcare plans are brief and do not provide full information for staff. Staff complete good work with children to help educate them about a range of subjects pertinent to the child’s plan. For example, staff have had discussions with children about anger management, bullying, drug misuse, online safety and healthy relationships. However, staff have not done enough to discourage one child from smoking. Inspection report children’s home: 2615067 4

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

Staff build warm and nurturing relationships with children. This helps them to feel safe and secure. Consequently, most children rarely go missing from the home. One child, who has gone missing more regularly, has not been missing for some time. This is good progress for this child and demonstrates the strength of the relationships she has with the staff.

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

Children’s behaviour is generally good. Staff use effective behaviour management strategies. They communicate positively, showing empathy to children. This helps the children to express their emotions safely. However, staff are inconsistent about applying some house rules. This has resulted in arguments between some children.

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

Consequences for behaviour of concern are well thought out and appropriate. Staff use restorative approaches to enable children to reflect and learn. However, records are unclear because consequences related to behaviour at school are recorded.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and how to reduce any risks they may face. Physical intervention is rarely used, and incidents have reduced over time. However, staff used restraint in a recent incident when other strategies might have worked better. The registered manager has not used a reflective debrief session with staff effectively to ensure that staff learned from this incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced and qualified. She is well supported by her deputy manager. Together, they create a very child-centred culture. They strive to continually develop the service to ensure that children receive good care. Staff and managers are ambitious for children and work hard to help children realise their aspirations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have the skills, experience and knowledge to ensure that children have good experiences and make significant progress. They have access to good training and development opportunities. Over half of the staff team are appropriately qualified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The pandemic has been a difficult time for this home. When children and staff have had COVID-19, the dedication of staff and managers has meant that children have been kept safe and continued to receive good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children know how to make a complaint. Complaints are taken seriously and fully investigated. Children receive a good response and are satisfied with the outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work well in partnership with other agencies to ensure that children receive good-quality services to meet their needs. External professionals appreciate the excellent communication from staff and managers. Inspection report children’s home: 2615067 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all areas around the home are clean and safe. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all communal areas within the home are not routinely locked unless this has been agreed by the placing authority for safety reasons. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff are consistent when implementing the rules of the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 21, paragraph 4.3)  The registered person should ensure that the relative risks of not intervening using restraint are fully considered. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.55)  The registered person should ensure that records of consequences are accurate.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that healthcare plans provide good information for staff and that staff help children to understand the harmful effects of smoking. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.4)

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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: 2615067 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Northamptonshire Childrens Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: One Angel Square, Angel Street, Northampton, Northamptonshire NN1 1ED

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Inspector

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2615067 7 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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