Children's home run by The Senad Group Limited in Derby

Inspection report children's home: SC020193 1 SC020193 Registered provider: The SENAD Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is a residential school for up to 25 children, aged eight to 19 years, who have severe learning disabilities/autism spectrum disorder and display associated challenging behaviour.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has a full-time registered manager who is suitably experienced and qualified.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This inspection took place over two separate days due to unforeseen circumstances which led to a short pause in the inspection process.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 21 January 2020

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Improved effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: SC020193 2 Inspection report children's home: SC020193 3

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 09/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/06/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report children's home: SC020193 4

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a motivated and knowledgeable staff team. Staff benefit from clear leadership from a qualified and experienced manager.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are very skilled in communicating with children, and they ensure that all children can communicate their wishes and needs. Staff create social stories so that children can prepare themselves for changes to their usual routines. This has a positive impact on the children’s capacity to manage change and usually leads to a decrease in children’s anxieties and challenging behaviour.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can give feedback about their care in several ways. Staff complete a daily advocacy record. This records new information about children that is shared with the whole staff team. For example, one of the children was identified as benefiting from a pictorial social story to help with personal care tasks. This promoted the child’s independence and dignity.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents say that there is good communication with the home. Families could not speak highly enough about the progress their children make. Children have appropriate education plans in place. Children develop better communication skills. This helps them to express their views and wishes. Children are increasingly open to new experiences, such as trying new foods.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have their own bedrooms and clean, modern bathroom facilities. Bedrooms are personalised, taking into account children’s sensory and care needs. Spacious and well-furnished communal areas enable children to socialise and develop their social skills.

p.4

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

Staff have had recent safeguarding training. This means that they are confident in their knowledge about how to keep children safe. Staff know the procedure to follow if they have a concern.

p.4

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

When children make allegations, an agreed protocol is followed. Joint work takes place with appropriate safeguarding agencies. This effective multi-agency response means that children are safer.

p.4

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

When children are involved in a restraint, detailed records of the incident are made. Risk assessments are updated. Managers review all records to help inform learning and training for staff. Advice and guidance are sought from specialists to try to further understand the underlying reasons for children’s behaviours. Managers also identify and report on any patterns of behaviour on a regular basis. This overview of Inspection report children's home: SC020193 5 incidents, and the work to understand triggers, means that restraints usually reduce over time.

p.4

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

Medication administration processes are safe. Staff are allocated time to prepare and administer medication to children. Senior staff carry out random checks and audits to ensure that agreed processes are being followed. Managers ensure that staff are trained in both general administration and medication for children with more complex healthcare needs, such as epilepsy.

p.5

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

Managers ensure that actions from fire risk assessments are addressed. They carry out regular checks of safety equipment. However, not all children have had the opportunity to take part in a fire evacuation drill.

p.5

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

Managers ensure that staff have access to clear and informative care plans and risk assessments. Managers, together with senior staff, review and update these documents to take account of any significant events. However, missing-from-care risk assessments do not show the level of urgency required if children go missing from the home or during activities. This means that there may be a delay in locating them.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and qualified. They are ably supported by assistant heads of care. All senior staff have a high level of knowledge about all the children. They use positive language to describe children’s personalities. Staff say that they can seek advice and guidance from a manager when needed.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have robust and timely monitoring systems. These include a monthly monitoring report that is shared with the responsible individual. Managers welcome the monthly independent visitor; and they act on their findings. Managers are part of a wider senior management team and use this forum to share information.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers learn from complaints. Complaints are reviewed and investigated appropriately. Changes are made as a result. These have included the setting up of a monthly staff forum, where all staff can share ideas to improve the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that their recruitment procedures are safe and that appropriate people are recruited to work with the vulnerable children at this home. A dedicated and child-focused human resources manager ensures that the robust recruitment process is followed. Staff retention continues to present some difficulties for the home. However, managers take effective action to minimize the impact of staff changes on children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that all staff receive a good standard of training. This begins at induction and continues as staff develop into their care role. Staff are up to date with their safeguarding and restraint training. Recently, staff have received training Inspection report children's home: SC020193 6 in sign language. This means that staff have the necessary skills to communicate with children who may not use verbal communication.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that staff receive regular supervision. However, supervision with staff does not always provide them with opportunity for detailed discussions about children. Discussions about the well-being and care of children are not thorough enough.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Three recommendations have been made at this inspection. These are made in relation to children’s risk assessments, fire evacuation drills and staff supervision. Inspection report children's home: SC020193 7

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. Where there are safeguarding concerns for a child, their placement plan, agreed between the home and the placing authority, must include details of the steps the home will take to manage any assessed risk on a day-to-day basis. (‘Guide to the children’s home regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s homes are nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislation (alarms, food hygiene, etc.). (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

p.7

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: SC020193 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: The SENAD Group Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Senad Group Ltd, 1 St. Georges House, Vernon Gate, Derby DE1 1UQ

p.8

Inspectors

Simon Hunter, Social Care Inspector Julie Knight, Social Care Inspector Alison Marshall, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC020193 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9