Children's Home, Residential special school run by Cotswold Chine School in Gloucestershire

Inspection report children's home: SC030367 1 SC030367 Registered provider: Cotswold Chine School Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This independent charitable school is also registered as a children’s home. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for a maximum of 42 children. The accommodation for children is provided across nine houses located on or near to the school.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2017.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Due to Covid-19, at the request of the Secretary of State of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspection on 12 April 2021.

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: requires improvement to be good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC030367 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 19/02/2019 Full Outstanding 21/02/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness 26/09/2017 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC030367 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality, individualised care from a stable staff team that demonstrates commitment to caring for the children. Relationships between staff and children are nurturing, warm and built on mutual respect. Children are relaxed in their home and in the company of their staff. Children feel safe and well cared for.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A strength of this service is the therapeutic support that is available to children. Therapists work on shift, directly with children at home. Therapeutic aims are identified by the lead therapists. Therapy staff work with each child to support their therapeutic objectives as set out in their plans.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders understand the importance of working with families to improve outcomes for children. Family liaison work has become increasingly important to helping children and their parents to develop stability and resilience. This positive work is a strength.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning is good. Every child has a care plan that gives clear direction to staff about how to meet their needs. Current and emerging needs are addressed. Children know what is in their plan. They have their own version of the plan that they keep in their rooms.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy the food. Each house has a cook. The cooks create good-quality, healthy, home-cooked meals from scratch. Staff work with children to broaden their palate. The cooks understand the importance of observing protocols around food allergies.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The houses are furnished to a high standard. Each child’s bedroom is personalised to their tastes and interests.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children have their own pets; one house has a cat and others have had, or plan to have, hamsters and guinea pigs. The benefits of children owning pets are well documented. Animals can be a great source of comfort, as well as teaching children how to care for others.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parental feedback is mostly positive. A few parents said they would welcome more communication from the staff, especially when a restraint has been used.

p.3

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

The arrangements to safeguard children are good. Children say they feel safe and protected. Incidents of concern are appropriately passed to safeguarding agencies. Action is taken swiftly and advice from safeguarding professionals is followed. There is a clear audit trail of safeguarding events, including lessons learned. Inspection report children's home: SC030367 4 Behaviour is well managed. Children receive good therapeutic support to help them to develop an insight into their emotional responses. This helps them to understand the impact that their behaviour may have on others, including their families.

p.3

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

Restraint, in the main, is used proportionally and for the least amount of time. Some positive and creative work is taking place to ensure that there is a focus on de- escalation, rather than restraint. The system for recording restraint requires improvement. There must be a clear audit trail that includes the original recording made by the member of staff who was involved in the restraint and any amendments made by senior staff who are overseeing the record. On a positive note, ground holds are not used at this setting and staff are not trained to use these. However, one restraint record implied that staff had been involved in a hold on the ground and, as a result, this was an unauthorised restraint that was not identified by leaders who are overseeing the record.

p.4

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

Bedroom door alarms are used for some but not all children. The use of these alarms is kept under review to ensure they remain necessary and do not become part of day-to-day practice.

p.4

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

Risk assessments are generally of a good quality. They identify vulnerabilities and the strategies to be used to mitigate these. The house dynamic risk assessments requires improvement as these do not contain sufficient information on the risk the existing house group potentially poses to a new child moving in.

p.4

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

Recruitment practices are in line with statutory guidance and therefore protect children from adults who may wish to harm them.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a clear vision for the future of the home. They are ambitious for the children and for the staff. This vision is supported by the workforce development plan. Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement for which they have plans in place.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular good-quality supervision, including clinical supervision. This supports their practice and development. Staff said they feel well supported by leaders and managers.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers place a good deal of importance on staff retention and development. The quality of staff training is high; the team appreciates and recognises this. Staff who show an affinity for working with children are supported to obtain professional qualifications. Many staff have worked here for several years.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

It was positive to note that social work students are on placement in this home. This supports the development of new professionals and raises the profile of children’s residential care as a key area of social work practice. Inspection report children's home: SC030367 5 The children’s forum works well. Children are elected by their housemates to represent their house. Members of the forum are proud of the of the impact they have and their ability to facilitate change.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback from professionals outside of the home is positive. Overall, they feel the home provides children with good-quality care. Inspection report children's home: SC030367 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

p.6

Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

p.6

Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

p.6

Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

p.6

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”)—

p.6

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record 10 December Inspection report children's home: SC030367 7 confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that there is a clear audit trail that includes the original recording made by the member of staff who was involved in the restraint and any amendments made by senior staff who are overseeing the record. In addition, ensure that unauthorised restraints are not used.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that there is consistent good-quality communication between staff and children’s parents or carers. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  The registered person must ensure that when a child is moving into a different house within the provision, the needs and potential risk factors of not only the new child moving into the home but also those already living at the home are assessed to enhance the matching process. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4)

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: SC030367 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cotswold Chine School

p.8

Inspectors

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Justine Hosking, Social Care Inspector Michelle Oxley, Social Care Regulatory Inspection Manager Louise Bacon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC030367 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 .

p.9

Inspectors

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