Children's home run by Keys Education Ltd

Inspection report children's home: SC488439 1 SC488439 Registered provider: Keys Education Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately operated children’s home provides care for up to three children who have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an experienced and suitably qualified registered manager who has been in post since 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 requires improvement to be 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: 21 January 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: SC488439 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2020 Full Good 12/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/09/2018 Full Good 08/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC488439 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of inspection, three children were living in the home. One child has lived in the home for several years; this provides stability and a sense of belonging. Two children moved into the home recently. Before moving in, both children received information about the home and were able to visit. As a result, children had the opportunity to ask questions and become familiar with their new home before moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children well to stay in contact with people who are important to them. One social worker praised the staff for their readiness to help children see their family, despite the long distance. This promotes children’s identity and enables them to maintain and build on positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress. Staff understand their individual needs and how best to support them. One child is now making good progress in education following a period of missed education before moving into the home. Staff helped another child apply for jobs and prepare for interviews. This child now enjoys working part time. This has a positive impact on her confidence and self-esteem and is supporting her to save for the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children enjoy activities suited to their interests and hobbies. Staff ask children about their interests and look to fulfil these locally. Children enjoy activities such as being part of a local football team, attending a boxing club, paddle boarding, shopping, pamper days, picnics, beach days and eating out. Consequently, children are flourishing socially and have new experiences. One child has recently been camping. Photos of the holiday contribute tohis memories and experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children experience independent time away from the home and have friends locally. They enjoy the local amenities; staff know where children like to socialise and who they are with. One child has enjoyed sleepovers at a friend’s house and had a friend over for dinner. This supports children to have good social relationships, increases their sense of belonging and has a positive impact on their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is welcoming and homely. Staff listen to children’s ideas about the home and act on them. One child has his own pet chickens and goldfish. The children also enjoy spending time with a member of staff’s dog who visits the home regularly. This includes helping to train, walk and look after her. Children benefit from these fun experiences.

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

Staff know children well and keep them safe. Risk assessments include detailed information about children’s needs, and what to do if a child is at risk. Staff fully Inspection report children's home: SC488439 4 understand these strategies and implement them effectively. Children benefit from this safe approach to their care.

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

Children understand how to make a complaint. They identify trusted adults in the home who they feel able to talk to. All the children told the inspector they feel safe and cared for living in the home.

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

One child experienced bullying by another child in the home. Staff proactively address bullying by talking to children in groups and individually. Managers implemented proactive measures effectively to safeguard the children. This included increasing staffing in the home. The child who was bullied told the inspector staff dealt with this well, ‘They listened to me, kept me safe, and the other person had to leave.’

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

Staff encourage children’s positive behaviour, with praise, recognition and rewards. Consequently, staff rarely sanction children and when they do, they implement measures of natural consequences. This consistent approach helps support children’s understanding of guidance and boundaries. As a result, children make informed choices about their behaviours.

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

Staff know children well and understand their needs. This enables them to successfully de-escalate behaviour and support children emotionally to manage their feelings. Restraint is rarely required and only used as a last resort to safeguard children.

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good

The registered manager is experienced, motivated and knowledgeable. She has positive relationships with children and staff, who are proud about the homely atmosphere she has created. Professionals are positive about the manager’s ability to keep children safe, provide them with a welcoming home and support their needs. Despite these positive aspects, this inspection identified shortfalls in leadership and management which require improvement to be good.

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good

Staff have failed to carry out a fire drill with a child who has recently moved into the home. Consequently, this may cause a delay and have an impact on the child’s safety in the event of a fire evacuation. The manager has not considered any potential risk the location of the garage may pose to children in the location risk assessment. In addition, during the inspection, several window-blind cords were hanging loose and observed to pose a potential risk to children. The manager was quick to rectify some of the blinds. However, not all of them were addressed at the time.

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good

The manager did not ensure that one record of restraint was overseen within the specified time frame. This led to a delay in children and staff being spoken to about the restraint. Additionally, the registered manager reviewed the record despite being Inspection report children's home: SC488439 5 involved herself. This means nobody independent of the restraint has had oversight of it.

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good

The manager appropriately challenges other agencies when they fail to provide children with appropriate services or support. However, when the professionals do not respond to this challenge in a timely manner, the manager does not escalate her concerns higher. Consequently, for one child this has led to an unacceptable delay in moving to an alternative provision.

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good

The manager does not seek feedback from children and professionals to inform the quality-of-care review. In addition, the quality-of-care review report does not evidence reflection on the incidents of bullying. In parts of the report, the manager correctly identifies areas for development but has no action plan to address them. Therefore, the review fails to accurately reflect the quality of care offered to children and actions required to make improvements.

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good

The manager is aspirational for children. She understands children’s individual journeys, the impact of their lived experiences and how best to support them. The manager speaks positively of the progress that children make.

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good

Staff feel supported. Regular supervision and training help their individual progression, contribute to children’s positive experiences and help keep children safe. The majority of staff have completed their level 3 diploma for residential childcare. This supports their professional development and understanding of how to care for children. Inspection report children's home: SC488439 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to escalating concerns to the placing authority of children when there is delay. 10 October 2021

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are located so that children are effectively safeguarded;

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring potential risks posed by the garage are considered within the location risk assessment.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring blinds are safe for children and do not pose risk to them. 10 October 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC488439 7 After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home and, so far as reasonably practical, children are aware of the procedures to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to children receiving a fire drill within a timely manner after moving into the home. 10 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring children and staff have a debrief within the required timescales.

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Requirement Due date

It also refers to ensuring the record is reviewed by a person who is independent of the restraint if the registered manager is involved. 10 October 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality-of-care review") at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and 10 October 2021 Inspection report children's home: SC488439 8 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality-of-care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality-of- care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality-of-care review ("the quality-of-care review report"). (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that feedback is secured for the purpose of this review. Also that the review reflects on the quality of care children have received, lessons learnt and an action plan in place to improve.

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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: SC488439 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Jodie Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC488439 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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