Children's Home run by Wyncare Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 1 Registered provider: Wyncare Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned home. It can provide care for up to three children with emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There is currently no registered manager.

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

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 requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

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

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are building positive relationships with the staff who care for them. Staff have a good understanding of each child’s needs and their histories. They work well with each child’s network of professionals and their families to support children to settle and to maintain relationships and education arrangements.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are assessed and staff ensure that relevant services are in place to meet their physical and emotional health needs. Children have access to specialist health services where appropriate. As a result, children’s health is improving. One child, with a history of self-injurious behaviour, works well with services and there have been no further incidents of concern.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise education arrangements and promote participation from the start of each child moving into the home. Some children have not been in full-time education for some time. The manager robustly advocates on behalf of the children. Consequently, their views and wishes are heard when considering the best arrangements for their return to school. Staff support the targets in each child’s education plan. Where there are difficulties, staff work closely with schools to support children. For one child, there is good, sometimes daily, communication between school and home. Children have made progress from their starting points.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop interests and to participate in activities. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted some community activities, but staff work hard to identify different experiences for children to enjoy. Staff also support children to develop life skills, such as cooking, shopping and using public transport. Staff praise achievements and, as a result, children’s self-esteem and confidence have grown.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to maintain relationships with their families and they liaise closely with social workers to inform ongoing assessment and care planning.

p.3

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

There have been a small number of safeguarding concerns. For some of the children, incidents of them going missing from the home and/or concerns about their behaviour in the community have reduced.

p.3

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

Children are encouraged to develop friendships and independence in the community. Staff work with the children individually to talk about their choices with friendships and their decision-making in response to peer influences. One child has been supported to spend more time independently with friends. This is significant progress given their previous experiences. Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 4 Staff adhere to agreements set out in children’s placement plans about monitoring the risks associated with the use of digital technology. Agreements are revisited as risks reduce.

p.3

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

One child’s routines and behaviours within the home have deteriorated leading up to and over the school holidays. There have been some inconsistencies in how staff respond to these behaviours. The manager has requested a multi-agency meeting to inform assessment and provide strategies for how staff should respond to the concerns. This is to ensure that improved routines in the home support the child’s return to school.

p.4

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

There are robust recruitment, induction, and probation procedures in place. Safeguarding practice is carefully monitored. Some staff have not passed their probation where there have been practice concerns.

p.4

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

There have been a small number of concerns and allegations. These have been referred to the designated officer. Some staff have moved on from the home when decisions have been made for the home’s manager to investigate these concerns and staff performance monitoring arrangements have been put in place. Managers do not consistently ensure that all enquiries have been fully completed and that decisions and outcomes are clearly recorded in staff records. There are no concerns about the children’s welfare. However, staff and all managers require refresher training in safe care and allegations against adults who work with children.

p.4

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

The manager prepares well for staff supervision and team meetings. This includes using safeguarding quizzes and scenarios to test and enhance staff’s knowledge and understanding of safeguarding procedures.

p.4

good

The appointed home manager is in the process of applying to be registered. Leading up to this inspection, there has been a period of change and turnover within the staff team. There has also been a change of responsible individual. The COVID-19 pandemic did have an impact on staff capacity. Managers have carefully considered admissions to the home during this time to mitigate the impact of staff changes to children’s experiences.

p.4

good

The current manager has developed experience from being the deputy within the home. They have a clear vision for delivering good-quality care within this service that fits with the home’s statement of purpose.

p.4

good

Quality assurance mechanisms are being reviewed so that managers and staff have a clear understanding of children’s progress and what needs to improve to enhance progress. Some processes in place to support good-quality daily care are not always adhered to. This has been highlighted in the independent visitor reports. This Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 5 inspection found that the manager is robustly monitoring and addressing any shortfalls in staff practice.

p.4

good

There has been an impact to the delivery of training for staff during the COVID-19 pandemic. Tutors and assessors have not been available for staff to keep up to date with their qualification courses. Arrangements are now in place again and the manager is carefully tracking staff’s progress to ensure there are staff with the relevant qualifications working in the home.

p.5

good

There has been an increase in the reliance on online training rather than face-to- face training. The manager is aware of the implications of this and does use safeguarding and health and safety scenarios within team meetings to test staff’s understanding of the relevant procedures and quality standards. A training programme, including face-to-face training, is in place going forward.

p.5

good

Managers do not always ensure that when a manager is involved in a safeguarding incident within the home, a different manager reviews this and considers reflection and learning.

p.5

good

The manager works well with partner agencies. There was evidence of positive feedback from professionals about the service during this inspection. Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 6

p.5

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

p.6

Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour;

p.6

Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

p.6

Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

p.6

Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding and de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(vi)(v)(xi)) 11 October 2021

p.6

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff—

p.6

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm and understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1)(a)(b) (2)(iii)(v)) 11 October 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 7 This relates to training for staff and managers in safer recruitment and allegations against adults who work with children.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.7

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential and promotes their welfare.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.7

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child and;

p.7

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(f)) 11 October 2021

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: 2491037 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 486 Mansfield Road, Sherwood, Nottingham NG5 2FB

p.8

Inspector

Cathey Moriarty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2491037 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

Inspector

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

Inspector

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

p.9

Inspector

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

p.9