Children's Home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 1 SC001016 Registered provider: Keys BR Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned and run children’s home that provides care for up to four children between five and 18 years old. The home aims to provide a stable home for children to be able develop their skills and prepare them to either return to family, foster care or independence. The manager is qualified and registered with Ofsted in 2013.

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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 27 October 2021 to carry out an assurance 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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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

Date of last inspection: 26 February 2020

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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: SC001016 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

26/02/2020 Full Good 12/02/2019 Full Good 08/08/2017 Full Good 22/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 3

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outstanding

Children are living in a family environment that provides a high level of nurture and support. They feel loved and well cared for. Children have a stable home that gives them the confidence to take chances and to try new experiences.

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outstanding

Staff recognise the significant progress children have made and celebrate their achievements. Children continue to receive support to be aspirational and to challenge themselves further. Children’s self-esteem and progress have improved as a result of this.

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outstanding

Some of the children have made significant progress in education. One child is now in mainstream school, and the other is attending daily. For the other child his views and wishes have been explored and clear plans are in place in line with these, and he is eager to engage. Children have the opportunity to gain the skills they need to progress in life.

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outstanding

Children receive support to further develop their education and skills. Staff are creative in their approach and understand the children’s needs well. Staff use games and structured time for learning, to help children to focus and develop. For one child this high level of support has meant they can now read and do simple Maths. For another, he has been able to improve his focus and engagement sufficiently to be able to go to mainstream high school. These achievements represent significant progress for the children.

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outstanding

Staff understand the children’s emotional needs and act when concerns arise. Staff are proactive in seeking advice from the company therapist. They use this advice in their day-to-day practice with children. Children have made significant progress in their ability to express their emotional needs.

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outstanding

Staff have built positive relationships with the children. Children trust the staff to care for them and are open and honest in their discussions. Children actively seek staff for support and staff readily give this, regardless of the time of day or night. Children receive the support they need from staff, as such they are happy, settled and are flourishing.

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outstanding

The home’s model of care is embedded into all aspects of the care staff provide and is a natural part of staff’s interaction with the children. Staff continue to receive training to give them the skills they need, and the company’s available therapeutic support continues to be developed. This ensures that staff have the skills to meet the children’s needs.

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outstanding

Children are developing their independence in ways that are appropriate to their age and in line with their wishes. For one child, this includes encouraging them to be a Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 4 child and not do as much for themselves. This is giving all children the skills they need for future life.

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outstanding

Children have taken part in numerous activities and have experienced opportunities they would not previously have been able to take part in. Staff plan and ensure that they have the resources available to support children to take part in activities. They embrace any opportunity to engage with the children. This has helped children to develop skills and enjoy new experiences.

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outstanding

Children’s recordings capture their progress and the experiences they have taken part in. Colourful memory and journey books help to give children keepsakes of their time at the home. This helps children, now and in the future, to have positive memories of the time spent at the home.

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outstanding

The home is undergoing extensive renovation work. The children have been involved in this. One area of the home was previously under-used and now provides children with a games room to further add to the positive experience they have in this home. This really adds to the overall family feel of the home.

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outstanding

The decision to undertake this renovation work while children remained at the home has been very well managed. The plans in place have been well thought out by staff. Holidays and daily activities have helped to ensure that children are not in the home when the most intensive parts of the renovations have been undertaken. As a result, children’s safety has been prioritised by staff throughout.

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outstanding

The ethos of the home is one of a family environment that puts the children at the centre of all decisions. Staff encourage positive behaviour, kindness and respect. Staff are skilled and meticulous and have a detailed understanding of children’s needs. Staff work effectively as a team, and this means that children are supported in a consistent way.

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outstanding

Children receive support to understand socially acceptable behaviour. Staff talk through incidents with children and help them identify triggers and give them skills to manage their anxiety and distress in a more positive way. Staff also use these conversations to learn and adapt their own approaches. Incidents of negative behaviour have significantly reduced.

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outstanding

The use of sanctions is minimal. However, when sanctions are used, they are done in consultation with the child and are creative. This helps children to learn and prevents repeat occurrences.

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outstanding

Missing-from-home episodes are managed exceptionally well by staff. Staff continuously search for the children and make efforts to contact them. When children return home, staff ensure that they are well cared for and that staff are available for the children to speak to, regardless of the time of night. Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 5 The manager has worked well with other agencies and children’s homes to mitigate and reduce risk of children going missing. Extensive information is known about the peers and associates of the children, which helps to identify risk. Numerous strategies have been used, and the extensive work undertaken with children has helped them understand the reasons behind the missing incident. This work has helped reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence.

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outstanding

The manager has been proactive and identified possible future risks for the children. He has ensured that staff have the training and skills to identify any signs of additional risk to enable them to respond quickly.

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outstanding

The manager identified increasing risk for one child, due to external factors, and he made a difficult decision to end the placement. The manager used his relationship and knowledge of the child to ensure that they were informed and involved in the transition plans, while being mindful of potential risks the child may take. Staff and other agencies were well informed to reduce the risk. This ensured that support was in place for the child.

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outstanding

Staff use their relationships with the children to support them and reduce their anxiety. Staff use de-escalation techniques to calm the children down, and the use of restraints has significantly reduced. When restraints do occur, they are in the best interests of the child in order to keep them safe.

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outstanding

Any incidents that take place are recorded well, and the information contained within records gives an accurate overview of events. Debriefs and evaluations with staff are detailed and clearly show learning points which are then shared with the team. This helps to ensure that staff continue to adapt and work consistently with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is aspirational for the children and has a clear vision for the home. His drive and ambition for the children are contagious and staff have fully embraced this. He continues to push himself and the staff team to learn and develop, to provide the children with the best possible care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is well-organised and has clear systems in place to provide him with full oversight of the home. Despite the disruption of the renovation work, documentation was readily available.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager’s knowledge, of the children and staff, enables him to continue to identify areas of practice that may need to develop or change. He knows the home’s strengths and weaknesses and continues to work to develop himself, the team and the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team voice that they ‘love working here’ and speak highly of the support they receive from the manager. The staff are committed to the children and to the Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 6 home. This helps them work together as they are invested in the home, the children and each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The team communicates well and uses opportunities such as team meetings to discuss and share practice, put forward ideas and learn. Staff read external meeting minutes and are updated with all current information. Although some of this information is not cross-referenced within children’s care plans, this is promoting a high level of consistency and gives staff clear guidance and skills to support the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has implemented and embedded the use of reflective practice. This has developed the staff’s own ability to critically think about their actions and learn from events. Staff are confident in using this themselves, and it is now also a part of the work they do with the children. This supports continuous learning and development of the staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervision sessions are supportive and help staff to learn and develop. Any areas for development are addressed in a supportive manner. Staff accept any errors and learn from them. The manager is committed to developing staff and gives them opportunities to do so.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is confident in his own decision making and puts the needs of the children first. This includes not moving children into the home who do not match well with the other children. This has enabled children to live in a stable environment and for staff to be able to meet their needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 7

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Recommendation

 The registered manager should ensure that all children’s care plans are updated with relevant information or make clear reference to other documents that detail this. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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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: SC001016 8

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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

Debra Boldy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC001016 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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