Children's home run by Shropshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 1 Registered provider: Shropshire Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home is registered for two young people who have social and/or emotional difficulties or learning disabilities. This is the home’s first full inspection since registration in October 2020.

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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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

not applicable not applicable not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 3

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outstanding

Two children live in the home. Both children have made excellent progress in important areas of their lives from their starting points since moving in. This is because children experience exceptional stability as a result of the close relationships they have with the staff and the consistent, individualised support that staff provide.

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outstanding

Managers and staff work hard to make the home a warm and welcoming place for children to live. The home is highly personalised and reflects children’s interests. One child is an accomplished musician and plays in a band. A guitar and keyboard are readily to hand in the lounge for the child to practice on. Another child is a keen football supporter, and football paraphernalia is on display around the home. Staff encourage children to bring their friends to the home, where they watch television, enjoy a meal and relax. Children take pride in their home, which helps to increase their self-esteem and self-worth.

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outstanding

Staff constantly enable children to have new experiences and to challenge themselves. One child recently completed a 100-mile bike ride with staff to raise funds for charity. A photograph of this event is proudly on display. The same child also plays for a local football team. Participating in a team sport is a significant achievement for this child. Another child went on holiday abroad with his favourite carers. The child chose the destination and helped to plan the trip. Creating opportunities to spend time with children means that staff know children exceptionally well. This enables the children to develop meaningful relationships based on shared interests.

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outstanding

Staff support children to attend routine health appointments and encourage them to take regular exercise. Children’s emotional health and well-being are the highest priority for staff. Staff use interactive resources with children to enable them to name their emotions and feelings and to talk about them. This enables children to understand their emotions and to learn to regulate their complex behaviours.

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outstanding

Staff work closely with teachers and the virtual school to ensure that children have a school or college place. When necessary staff attend school to support children’s behaviour and learning. A teacher described staff support for one child as ‘fantastic’, and said that staff ‘really care about what they’re doing’. This child, who has not been in education for 12 months, now attends regularly and is making excellent progress from their starting point.

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outstanding

Staff support children to gain excellent skills for independent living. They implement bespoke plans which enable children to progress in their own time in line with their abilities. This includes helping children to complete a curriculum vitae, apply for part Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 4 time work, apply for their driving licence and to spend time independently in the community.

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outstanding

Staff understand the importance of positive memories for each child’s life story. Children have an individual daily comments book made by staff, with photos and comments charting their time at the home. Each child will take these books with them when they move on. Positive memories like these help children to feel loved, to be happy and to be able to thrive physically, emotionally, and socially.

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outstanding

Managers and staff have an exceptional knowledge of the risks that children face. Children’s risk assessments and behaviour management plans are informed by research-based practice. This includes the impact of trauma on children, and staff’s in-depth knowledge of the children’s behaviours. Strong nurturing relationships with staff enable children to feel safe and make better choices.

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outstanding

Managers and staff are professionally curious and constantly vigilant about risks to children. Staff quickly share any safeguarding concerns and ‘soft intelligence’ with relevant agencies, including the police. They participate in multi-agency meetings and implement agreed strategies. A police officer said that despite the on-going high-risk behaviours of one child, the child is safer because of the vigilance and the pro-active safeguarding of the child by staff.

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outstanding

When children go missing from the home, staff act as a good parent would. They immediately search for children, and they regularly contact them. Staff say they are worried about them and they want them to come home. Staff understand the factors that influence children to go missing, and they give children a warm welcome when they return. Staff then sensitively talk to children and educate them about the risks they face. Children say that they feel safe and that staff keep them safe.

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outstanding

Staff know children well and have an exceptional understanding of the triggers for children’s behaviour. Detailed records show that staff view the use of physical intervention as a last resort to keep children and others safe. Timely intervention, sensitive discussions and positive reinforcement support the children to manage their behaviour more appropriately. As a result, the risks for one child have significantly reduced.

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outstanding

Managers and staff have developed a close working relationship with the local police. Staff work with the police to prevent the criminalisation of children.

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outstanding

Managers ensure that the home’s location risk assessment is regularly updated with information from the local police. As a result, staff are informed about known and emerging risks to children that are within the vicinity of the home. Regular health and safety checks ensure that the home is a safe environment for children to live in. This creates a comfortable and relaxing home for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since the home was registered in October 2020. She has an appropriate management qualification and extensive experience of managing children’s homes. The manager is determined to provide a high standard of care. She knows the children exceptionally well and holds high aspirations for them. She talks passionately about the highly individualised nurturing care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Careful matching ensures that children’s progress and positive experiences are not compromised. Children are extremely settled in the home. One child has lived here for 15 months, and the other for 11 months. Social workers and teachers provided exceptional feedback and identified the manager as being proactive and a good advocate for children. This practice has a positive impact on the outcomes for children, and on measures used in keeping children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home benefits from having a diverse team of staff from a variety of backgrounds. Managers recognise staff experience and interests, and they develop these to improve the quality of care. For instance, a carer who worked for the police has developed a prompt sheet to inform staff about how to support children during police interviews. Staff morale is high, and turnover of staff is minimal. The stability of the staff team is a contributing factor to achieving positive outcomes for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Any shortfalls in staffing are covered by existing staff, who go above and beyond to ensure that children are cared for by familiar adults. The manager and deputy have led by example during the COVID-19 pandemic, by being flexible with their working patterns to cover shortfalls in the rota. As a result, no agency or cover staff work in the home. This means that children experience exceptional consistency and have the opportunity to form meaningful relationships.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a range of training. The training raises staff knowledge and awareness of the issues pertinent to the children. The learning from this is implemented into day-to-day practice. Additionally, the manager promotes a culture of continuous learning. Team meetings are frequent, and guest speakers with specialist knowledge in areas such as learning disability and trauma informed practice regularly attend. Staff are well supported by the manager, who shows she has a real vision and commitment to the professional development of the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision. Supervision records are reflective, detailed and show that staff receive clear direction and support to progress their practice. New staff are supported through a clear, effective induction process. This ensures that children receive high-quality care. Staff speak highly about the support they receive from the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When recruiting new staff, managers are not always follow robust safe recruitment practice. On one occasion, managers did not ask new staff about a gap in their employment history. Additionally, although managers verify references with previous Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 6 employers, they do not record that they have asked about possible concerns relating to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults. These shortfalls compromise safe recruitment practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the manager has good oversight of practice within the home. She uses her findings from her monitoring to drive continuous improvement in the quality-of-care children receive. The independent person reports are submitted regularly and are positive. The manager ensures that any actions are quickly dealt with. However, some monitoring systems require further development as they did not identify two minor shortfalls. One child’s plans did not yet include the most up-to-date information from their personal education plan, and, another child’s risk assessment was not sufficiently clear. Although these shortfalls risk compromising children’s considerable progress, this has not been the case due to the exceptional, individualised care that children receive from staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 7

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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))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to leaders and managers ensuring that a child’s most up-to-date personal education plan is on file so that staff are aware of the goals for a child’s education.

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Requirement Due date

It also refers to ensuring that advice to staff about calling the police to manage a child’s complex behaviours is clear. 20 February 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

The requirements are that— 20 February 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 8 full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that they explore the gaps in new staff employment history and that they record information when verifying references with previous employers.

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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: 2584908 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Shirehall, Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, Shropshire SY2 6ND

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Inspector

Karen Gillingwater, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2584908 10 regulates and inspects 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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