Children's home run by Keys Care Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 1 Keys Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of a group of homes that make up the Cross Regional Project, which has been set up between Keys Group and four local authorities: Oxfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes. The home cares for up to four children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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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 7 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 21 to 22 September 2021

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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: 7 September 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not judged

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 2

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Inspection judgement

not judged Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from good-quality care and support. Staff demonstrate high levels of reflective, empathic understanding of children. Through this approach, children receive highly individualised support planning. This enables children to make positive progress across a range of areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good physical health. Meals are nutritious and well planned. Children are encouraged to attend extracurricular activities, which promote healthy living. Some examples of these are football and cheerleading. Children take part in varied and individualised activities, which they enjoy attending.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

External professionals and parents consistently express positive views about the home. One social worker said that when they visit they can see that children are happy, and staff are supportive. One parent said, ‘he is very happy there, more than I thought he would be and making so much progress.’ Positive relationships are key building blocks for the progress that children make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The leadership team models a good therapeutic model of care to their staff team. This is embedded in home’s culture from which all children have benefited. Staff advocate strongly for children with external partners to ensure the best outcomes. An example of this was the registered manager challenging a decision for a therapeutic provision to withdrawn after one session with a child; subsequently, the referral has been kept open for ongoing support. The good level of advocacy promotes good outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s voices are heard and their views are highly valued. Children speak confidently about their wishes and needs. Children know how to complain. Weekly children’s meetings allow opportunities for children to speak about their day and these encourage a sense of trust and build positive relationships. As a result, they feel valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children have suitable education provision. Some are making exceptional educational progress considering the difficulties that they have experienced in the past. Staff work in partnership with teaching professionals to ensure that the children are well prepared for school activities and learning. One child who had only been attending school sporadically now attends a full-time provision. This benefits both their education and personal and social development.

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

Staff have good insight into each child’s strengths and vulnerabilities. Staff use this knowledge to help the children identify risks and implement strategies to address them. As a result, children’s self-awareness develops significantly, and they can use the skills and knowledge they have developed to keep themselves safe. Examples of Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 4 success include a reduction in the number of missing episodes and children learning strategies to help manage their emotions.

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

Safeguarding practice is good. The adults have the knowledge and skills to report concerns without delay. Relevant referrals are made to the designated officer, who spoke positively about how the manager follows safeguarding procedures. Consequently, these actions help to keep the children safe.

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

Staff maintain good-quality and up-to-date risk assessments, which form part of effective risk management in the home. Staff have a clear understanding of reporting processes and where their role sits within wider safeguarding networks. All mandatory training has been completed by the staff team, including relevant topics such as child sexual exploitation. This ensures that staff have the knowledgebase to provide safe care to the children.

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

The relationships that staff form with the children are of a protective nature. One child said that they feel ‘safe’ and listened to. All children have warm, nurturing and fun relationships with staff. The relationships developed promote an environment of trust and safety for children.

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

All staff are recruited in line with safe recruitment practice. There are currently vacancies within the staffing team. Recruitment is a priority with new members of staff starting imminently. The staff team has worked well to ensure that this has not impacted upon the level of good care provided to the children. There are always sufficient staff on duty to provide appropriate levels of supervision and support.

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

Staff have kept children safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Day-to-day practice was regularly reviewed to ensure that staff were working in line with government guidance and advice. Clear planning ensured that children’s care was not disrupted throughout the COVID-19 restrictions.

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good

The registered manager promotes a culture where children are valued and staff are motivated to provide a good standard of care. He is supported by a skilled and diverse staff team. Staff feel well supported by senior managers and morale is good.

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good

The registered manager knows the strengths and weaknesses of the home. Staff support is planned and given to those who need help in their professional growth and development. All staff receive regular supervision and training so that they have the knowledge and skills to provide the care the children need. Supervision records are not consistently signed off by both supervisor and supervisee. This could lead managers and staff open to challenge about recordings if not consistently verified by both parties. Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 5 There are some weaknesses in how the registered manager implements the organisation’s quality of care monitoring systems. Significant incidents are not always reviewed in a timely way. Continued delay in oversight has the potential for poor practice to be left unchecked.

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good

The previous requirement to complete internal reviews of the quality of care and to submit them to Ofsted has been met. Since the previous visit, two reports have been submitted to the regulator within timescales to a satisfactory standard.

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good

A previous recommendation relating to the quality of the accommodation has been met. Interior walls have been decorated and further refurbishment has taken place. This ensures that children live in a well-maintained and homely environment. Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 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

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

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 19 November

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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: 2548418 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: C/o Pinsent Masons LLP, The Soloist Building, 1 Lanyon Place, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT1 3LP

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Inspector

Skye Frain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2548418 8 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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