Children's Home run by Tressell Homes Ltd in Liverpool

Inspection report children’s home: 2585139 1 Registered provider: Tressell Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home is registered to care for two children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since 22 June 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

A child was spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary 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 inspections on 12 April 2021. We last visited this setting on 15 December 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

This is the home’s first full inspection since it was registered in June 2020.

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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 good

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good

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

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good

Enforcement action since last assurance visit: none Inspection report children’s home: 2585139 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, there was one child living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff provide the child with nurturing care, stability and consistent boundaries and support. As a result, the child is settled and making noticeable progress from their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff know the child extremely well. This ensures that the care and support provided are personalised and tailored to the child’s needs. This is reflected in the child’s comments. They state, ‘I am happy here, the staff know me inside out. It is the best placement I have had.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure that the child’s health needs are continuously assessed and met. Effective joint working with a range of health professionals, including child and adolescent mental health services and behaviour support specialists, is promoting the child’s emotional health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of supporting children to keep in touch with their families. They are skilled at developing and maintaining positive relationships with parents. This has helped the child to have increased family time. A parent described the manager and staff as ‘caring’ and ‘very honest’, and said ‘they put 100% into everything that they do’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Independence plans are clear, comprehensive and personalised to the child’s needs. The staff are supporting the child to learn essential life skills, which will help them in adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although the child has made some progress in education since moving to the home, there have been delays in progressing this further. Not all staff have sufficient knowledge and understanding of the child’s education plans and targets, which undermines the joint working between the home, school and child. Furthermore, when children are unable to attend school, the staff do not provide educational activity throughout the day to promote continued learning.

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

High risk behaviours, such as going missing from home and child sexual exploitation are not a concern in this home.

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

The child benefits from developing trusting relationships with the manager and staff. These relationships are enhancing the child’s safety. For example, the child listens to staff and takes on board their sound guidance and advice. Inspection report children’s home: 2585139 3 Risk assessments and behaviour support plans are detailed and provide staff with clear and effective strategies to manage risk. Additionally, they ensure that staff’s safeguarding practice is consistent.

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

The child knows how to complain and is confident that the manager will resolve any grievance fairly and swiftly. The manager’s objective and child-centred approach to complaints makes the child feel listened to and respected.

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

The home is a safe and secure environment. However, the manager’s location assessment does not provide a thorough assessment of the potential risks in the local area, or the services available to disabled children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a child-centred and experienced manager. This is reflected in the child’s comments. They said, ‘[The name of manager] is the best manager I have had.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager supports and directs the staff extremely well. The staff benefit from monthly supervision, performance appraisals and regular team meetings, which make them feel valued. As a result, the child receives consistent care from a stable and happy staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is a strength. The manager ensures that all staff are equipped with the knowledge and skills to carry out their care and safeguarding roles successfully.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works collaboratively with parents and all professionals involved in the child’s care. However, he was unable to demonstrate that he had sufficiently challenged professionals to ensure that the child’s education plan is reviewed and implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust monitoring systems in place. This ensures that he has good oversight of the staff’s practice and the child’s progress. He has an in-depth understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for improvement. However, the quality-of-care review reports are too descriptive and lack evaluation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recommendation raised at the assurance visit in relation to the independent monitoring of the home has not been satisfactorily addressed. The manager has not ensured that the child’s views and experiences are routinely sought by the independent visitor and reflected in the report. Inspection report children’s home: 2585139 4

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff, seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to challenging professionals when there is drift in a child’s education plan. 14 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(i)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that the staff understand the child’s educational targets and provide children with educational activities when they are unable to attend school. 14 January 2022

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Requirement Due date

When the independent person is carrying out a visit, the registered person must help the independent person, if they consent, to interview in private such of the children, their 14 January 2021 Inspection report children’s home: 2585139 5 parents, relatives and persons working at the home as the independent person requires. (Regulation 44 (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to ensuring that children’s views and experiences are obtained by the independent visitor.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the manager’s assessment of the home’s location is robust and identifies all potential risks in the local area. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards page 64, paragraph 15.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the regulation 45 report evaluates the care and protection provided in the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards page 64, paragraph 15.2)

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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: 2585139 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Tressell Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 41, Price Street Business Centre, Price Street, Birkenhead, Cheshire CH41 4JQ

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Inspector

Marina Tully, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2585139 7 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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