Children's Home, Residential special school run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 1 SC415138 Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This resource centre is managed by a local authority and provides short-break care for six young people who have learning and/or physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an acting manager in post, who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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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.

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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

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2020 Full Outstanding 31/01/2019 Full Outstanding 27/10/2016 Full Outstanding 23/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This short-break service has a vibrant and homely atmosphere and is decorated to a high standard. Each bedroom is bright and colourful and has its own individual theme. Children love choosing their favourite bedrooms. Children enjoy spending time at the service. During the inspection, the inspector observed children and staff engaging in quality time together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A passionate staff team provides children with excellent care. They know the children well and are fully aware of their needs. Staff build genuine and caring relationships with children. This means that children can identify and communicate with staff when they feel worried. This helps children to feel safe and reassured.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work closely with key agencies and families to ensure that children’s needs are known. They use this information to create well-informed and individualised care plans. The plans are regularly reviewed and updated when necessary. This ensures that staff are fully prepared to meet the needs of children staying in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use a range of child-friendly resources to assist communication with children. For example, Makaton and Picture Exchange Communication Systems are used to help children choose what activities they would like to do as well as providing feedback about their time at the centre. This results in children feeling empowered and able to express their views.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy lots of fun activities during their stays, both in the centre and in the community. These include trips to the local country park, arts and crafts, sensory play and playing in the purpose-built garden. Some children take part in other activities, such as the children’s youth council and children’s university. All these activities enable the children to develop positive peer relationships and experience opportunities they may not be able to access with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals told the inspector that the service is ‘amazing’ and that it provides a vital service for children and families. One social worker told the inspector that without this service, a family would have remained in crisis.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The service has remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The members of the staff team were creative in their approach in ensuring that children and their families continued to receive support. For example, the registered manager increased outreach visits to families when overnight stays were cancelled. One parent told the inspector that the service had been a great support throughout the pandemic. Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 4

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

Staff work hard to keep children safe. They have a good understanding of children’s risks and behaviours. Clear and detailed behaviour management plans provide staff with support and guidance on how to keep children safe in the centre and when out in the community.

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

Risk assessments are regularly reviewed. They are clear and have good management oversight. This means that staff can respond promptly and effectively when children are in crisis.

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

Staff use a range of communication tools to support children to express their thoughts when they are anxious or upset. They are knowledgeable in identifying triggers to children’s behaviours. When behaviours escalate, staff will use individualised interventions and techniques to redirect and distract children. Staff use rewards to encourage children to make positive choices. Children respond well to this and enjoy receiving rewards for their good behaviour. This helps children to feel valued.

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

Physical intervention is only used when all other interventions have been exhausted and the welfare of the children and staff are at risk. There have been no physical interventions for five months. When physical interventions have occurred, the management team reviews and signs off the records. However, debriefs for children are not always completed. This does not ensure that children are always provided with the opportunity to express their views.

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

Staff work with children to develop new skills to use in situations that previously would have placed them at risk of harm. For example, staff are supporting one child to develop his safety awareness when out in the community, which in turn is promoting his independence skills. In addition, staff provide children with a range of informative workshops which focus on internet safety and bullying. This helps children to understand how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff carefully consider each child’s vulnerabilities when planning community activities. This allows children to enjoy new experiences with their peers in a safe and managed environment.

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

Staff respond well to allegations. For example, they act swiftly to keep children safe and notify the relevant agencies. However, during the inspection, the inspector identified that the manager’s investigation into one allegation was not sufficient and key documents had not been completed. This was an isolated issue and not typical of the manager’s approach to dealing with safeguarding matters.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager is new to the home and he has recently submitted his application to register with Ofsted. He has relevant experience and holds a level 5 Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 5 diploma in leadership and management. The manager is ambitious for the home, the staff and the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are passionate about supporting children to enjoy their lives and make progress. Staff say that they enjoy working at the home and because of this, staff retention is high, with many members of staff working for the service for several years.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The interim manager monitors the home effectively. He understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. He uses this knowledge to inform his development plan, which in turns improves the quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions. Supervision records are detailed. When supervision takes place, it is beneficial and productive and supports staff to develop their skills and knowledge. This creates opportunities for staff to reflect on their own practice and development and ensures that staff understand how to best meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals said that the interim manager and the staff team are experienced in their field. They communicate well and share good practice with other agencies to improve the care and support provided to the children and their families.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experienced and knowledgeable staff are provided with a broad range of training to develop their skills in meeting children’s needs. Despite this, not all staff have completed up-to-date training in relation to one child’s specific health needs. This has not directly compromised the quality of care that this child receives. Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies; (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to allegations not being investigated appropriately. 13 January 2022

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 13 January 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 7 This specifically relates to staff not having training relevant to children’s individual needs.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the restraint incident, taking the age of the child and the circumstances of the restraint into account. In some cases, children may need longer to work through their feelings, so a record that the child has talked about their feelings should be made no longer than 5 days after the incident of restraint (regulation 35(3)(c)). Children should be encouraged to add their views and comments to the record of restraint. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 50, paragraph 9.60)

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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 for children’s home: SC415138 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: , Wedgwood Buildings, Tipping Street, Stafford, Staffordshire ST16 2DH

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Inspector

Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 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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