Children's Home run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 1 SC034849 Registered provider: Cheshire West and Chester Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority-run home provides short breaks for up to three disabled children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since March 2018.

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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 on 17 March 2020.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

02/05/2019 Full Good 19/07/2018 Full Good 22/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/05/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 3

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outstanding

The home closed for overnight stays for children until September 2020 due to COVID-19. As an alternative, the staff offered outreach support to families, including practical tasks such as shopping and taking children for walks or drives, in line with government guidance during periods of restriction. As restrictions lifted, children were able to enjoy activities at the home before overnight stays restarted.

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outstanding

The staff also helped children with bespoke pieces of work. For example, a comic strip workbook, using social stories, was created to help a child to establish a better morning routine. As a result, the child is now accepted back into school, and is making excellent progress. The range of support offered by the staff was vital in helping to prevent crises for children and their families during a very challenging time.

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outstanding

The home also introduced a new activities club during some of the school holidays. This enhances the local offer for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The clubs are open to all children with SEND, including those who do not usually use the short-break service. This further develops, and raises awareness of, the service to help more children. As a result, one child is now also accessing short breaks.

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outstanding

Parents attend virtual coffee mornings to discuss children’s needs, fundraise and provide feedback for improvements to the service. For example, the team now provides an overview report of what children do during their visits, with photos of children enjoying activities. The staff now have even closer relationships with parents, which improves support for children. The staff are an important source of information and signpost families to other resources to help their children.

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outstanding

The staff are creative and find new ideas to improve experiences for children with the most complex needs, so that they make sustained progress through innovative approaches. In addition to the newly refurbished light sensory room, music therapy is being developed following successful informal sessions with children. Close partnership work with schools informs the development of this research.

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outstanding

Children celebrate cultural diversity through regular inventive arts and crafts sessions. This helps to develop their social awareness. Children enjoy numerous activities and trips to parks, nature trails, safari parks and zoos. Activities build children’s self-esteem, confidence and growing independence.

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outstanding

Children develop their independence through clearly set and measurable targets. The staff review plans regularly with each child and create special individualised certificates when children achieve their goals. This helps children to prepare for their futures. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 4

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outstanding

The staff team works closely with parents, children and professionals to identify and understand children’s needs and vulnerabilities. Parents complete initial assessments which highlight children’s likes and dislikes. Diligent pre-admission planning and clear transition plans help to safeguard children and provide tailored support which reduces risk during their stays.

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outstanding

Safeguarding is a clear priority and risk assessments are robust and reviewed by all staff. This means that children thrive in a safe environment and do not go missing. Each child has a comprehensive plan that identifies how the staff are to respond to any episode of going missing. A parent said that their child sees the short-break service as ‘a second home’ and is confident that he is safe when he visits.

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outstanding

Although there are minimal safeguarding concerns, the staff have a strong understanding of their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe. A delay in the administration of medication to a child was managed well, with advice sought from a pharmacist. The child’s parent was informed, and the member of staff completed refresher training to minimise further errors.

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outstanding

The staff understand the triggers that may cause children distress. This prevents incidents and accidents occurring through proactive and effective planning. However, one record following an accident was not clear about the specific child’s details. This was identified by the manager and did not have any negative effect on the child’s care. Restraint is not required to manage children’s behaviour because staff respond quickly and de-escalate issues. This promotes a safe and healthy environment.

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outstanding

The staff celebrate children’s positive behaviour. Children receive rewards and creatively designed certificates when they achieve their goals. Certificates often include a photo of the child. Children are also awarded the title of ‘Star of the Month’. This is in recognition of their achievements and retained in their records as part of their journey of using short breaks.

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outstanding

The staff team has excelled in safeguarding children throughout recent periods of lockdown, in consultation with parents. The manager has been creative with developing ‘bubbles’ for children coming to stay at the home. This minimises risks of transmission of COVID-19 but still allows for some flexibility to support families’ changing needs. It promotes children’s emotional and physical well-being and provides parents with reassurance. Children sustain their development because of this creative approach.

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outstanding

Members of the staff team continue to develop a safe and nurturing physical environment. As a result of their determination, they have created an outstanding sensory room. This provides a calm and relaxing environment which children use during their stays. Children now have a broad range of safe environments to experience at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 5 One area of the home is underused. At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this was developed as a self-contained area to provide any child looked after in the local authority’s homes a safe place to self-isolate. Although it has not been used for this purpose, the provider has, in consultation with Ofsted, used this area for brief periods for children when they have been moving to other homes, to keep them safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

An experienced manager leads the staff team. The team is well established and has a wide range of skills and experience. This enables the staff to build highly effective relationships with children. The team shares the manager’s aspirations for promoting and broadening children’s experiences and opportunities during short breaks. Children respond by making substantial progress with their personal development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is aware of how COVID-19 affects her staff team. She has undertaken research into emotional well-being and how this can affect staff practice, to encourage greater self-awareness among the team. The staff confirm that this is an area of discussion during supervision. The manager strives to ensure that the staff are well supported so that they can provide the best possible care and experiences for children enjoying short breaks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are excellent working relationships between the staff, families, social workers and other external professionals. This ensures that children enjoy a consistent approach during their short breaks which aligns with and builds on their experiences in other settings, such as schools. The manager communicates effectively with schools, particularly when there are delays in reviews of children’s education, health and care (EHC) plans, so that staff follow the same strategies to promote children’s development. The manager has escalated her concerns when there has been delay to children’s EHC plan reviews.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from professionals and parents is highly positive about the opportunities that children can access as part of their short breaks and the benefits they offer them. Communication is extremely effective in ensuring that children’s changing needs and vulnerabilities inform practice in the home. Parents welcome the opportunity to discuss their children’s needs before they come to visit, as well as the support offered to them when children were unable to access overnight stays during periods of COVID-19-related restrictions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are robust internal and external monitoring systems in place to promote continuous improvement in the home. The staff access a range of training opportunities to support their ongoing professional development and practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A video has been developed to introduce the service to new children and their families. This provides a wealth of information about what children can enjoy and how they will be cared for, as well as an introduction to the home environment, so that children and their families know what is available. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 6 Children are at the heart of practice. Their views are valued and contribute to the development of the service. For example, the soft play area now has an under-the- sea theme in response to children’s feedback. The staff take great pride in supporting children to fulfil their potential and speak with genuine warmth about children’s achievements. They now develop video montages of photos of children’s experiences during short breaks as an additional lasting memento of their journeys.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that records about children are clear and include required details to identify the specific child referred to. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’ page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC034849 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cheshire West & Chester Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Council Offices, 4 Civic Way, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH65 0BE

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Inspectors

Karen Willson, Social Care Inspector Mark Woodbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034849 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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