Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Southampton

Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 1 SC389180 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The children’s home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to six children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2014.

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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 outstanding

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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

Date of last inspection: 13 November 2019

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

13/11/2019 Full Outstanding 05/03/2019 Full Outstanding 24/08/2017 Full Outstanding 21/02/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 3

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outstanding

Staff work expertly to support children with complex and sometimes life-limiting health conditions. This often comes with immense emotional impact for staff, but they are sensitively supported by managers to continually deliver outstanding care for children.

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outstanding

Staff provide support to families, caring for children who are not able to live at home. In some cases, staff have been able to work towards reintegration of children into their family homes. Parents talk of being listened to and valued by staff. They praise the effective communication with staff that enables them to remain fully involved in their children’s lives.

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outstanding

External professionals, who work in close partnership with staff, say that they wish every home could be like this one. The quality of care and the clearly apparent love displayed by staff for the children at the home are inspiring and provide fantastic outcomes for children who have the most complex and challenging obstacles in their lives.

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outstanding

Staff place an emphasis on improving communication skills for children, using a wide range of resources to enable children to voice their choices on a day-to-day basis. Staff have also helped children to learn to manage complex and risky behaviour, resulting in sustained improvements in their quality of life. A child who frequently engaged in self-injurious behaviour has been supported to make significant reductions in the frequency and severity of incidents. This is enabling positive contact with family at home.

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outstanding

There is an ambitious approach to ensuring that children with SEND have access to exactly the same range of opportunities that any child would have. Staff have a ‘no limits’ attitude, responding to the individual needs of children to deliver positive and enriching life experiences.

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outstanding

Children have wonderful, connected relationships with staff. There is a tangible sense of mutual appreciation in every exchange. The home is full of laughter and smiles. The pure joy that children get from their interactions with the team was evident from this inspection.

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outstanding

Staff are able to identify many indicators of progress for all children in their care. Staff are skilled at identifying core goals for each child and progress is celebrated every step of the way. One child who was non-verbal is increasing their vocabulary and now using words to indicate choice. Another is using a symbols book to increase the complexity of their expressions of thoughts and feelings. Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 4 Professional relationships are essential to ensuring that children’s needs are met. Staff maintain these links exceptionally well and this was reflected in the quality of feedback from external professionals during the inspection.

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outstanding

Staff maintain records to a very high standard. This is vital, as children need detailed plans that cover every aspect of their health needs. One child, for example, was immobile and emotionally and physically neglected on entry to the service. Expert guidance around physical mobility and health support has led to enormous improvement in the child’s engagement and interaction with caregivers and the child’s quality of life is immeasurably improved.

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outstanding

Staff deliver superb safeguarding practice, particularly around the management of complex healthcare tasks. The staff team benefits from a dedicated trainer, who is passionate in her support of staff and children alike. This ensures that staff have the very best skillset to provide safe and effective care for highly vulnerable children.

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outstanding

Risk management planning, which supports staff to understand safe ways of working with children, is first class. All staff strive to find positive solutions for children, accessing regular training and up-to-date research. They also enlist the support of those with clinical expertise to ensure that they enhance the lives and experiences of children in their care.

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outstanding

Staff are supported by managers to learn and reflect on incidents, and when they recognise that a strategy or approach can be improved, this is integrated quickly into children’s plans.

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outstanding

Staff demonstrate an impressive understanding of the individual risks of children in the home and a well-developed knowledge of the vulnerabilities of children with complex disabilities. As a result, children are cared for in a safe and supportive environment where risk is minimised.

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outstanding

Staff recently had to support a child who was critically ill in hospital. They stayed with him around the clock to ensure his well-being. It is clear that staff advocate for the child and their unwavering support for his mother ensured that this child received the best possible care and support.

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outstanding

One recommendation from the previous inspection is met. Staff now have an appropriate plan around the use of weighted blankets for children, ensuring they are used safely.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager provides strong and effective leadership that inspires the confidence and loyalty of her team. Her ambition and aspiration for children Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 5 motivates and enables her staff to have a powerful impact on the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is ably supported by a number of senior staff. Together, they model good practice to the team and provide high levels of support to staff in a physically and emotionally demanding environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive timely supervision, which is of high quality. However, supervisors do not always form links between appraisal and supervision, and actions from previous supervisions are not always followed up.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager maintains careful oversight of staff practice and record- keeping. Strong systems are in place to ensure staff remain fully up to date with all changes to plans and risk assessments.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff spoke highly of the excellent support and training available. One member of the team said this was ‘the most supportive company I have ever worked for’. The leadership team ensures that staff have access to regular in-house training and specialist external training with regard to the health needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers benefit from a leadership programme that provides them with a chance to reflect on their current skills and develop new ones. The programme also draws on the experiences of managers across the group to identify areas for growth and improvement to the benefit of the organisation as a whole.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff feel valued and recognised for the work that they do. The registered manager ensures that positive achievements are celebrated. Staff are encouraged to send public messages of praise to each other when they want to recognise a particularly effective piece of work or the support of a colleague.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Despite the challenges in communication that children face, the registered manager and her team work tirelessly to find ways to include their voices in the daily decision-making at the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. In particular, create links between supervision and appraisal to support continuous professional development, and consistently review progress against actions from previous supervision meetings. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: SC389180 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Callard

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC389180 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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