Children's home run by Cornwall Council

Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 1 Registered provider: Cornwall Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home registered in May 2021 and has been purposefully converted to provide care for up to three children with disabilities. The home is owned and operated by the local authority. A qualified manager oversees the home and is 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 requires improvement to be good

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good

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

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress made by children is a result of their good relationships with the staff and the carefully considered plans in place to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Reflective practice and effective sharing of information ensure that children receive the most considered care. Children make steady and consistent progress which is recognised and celebrated by staff, parents and other stakeholders.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The health needs of children are carefully considered. Specialist services support children’s physical and emotional well-being. Help from a speech and language therapist has improved children’s ability to communicate and make choices. The looked after children’s nurse has helped with diet, routine health checks and specialist hospital appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A good range of activities are on offer. These offer some new opportunities to children and broaden their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is purposefully converted to provide care for children with complex needs. It is personalised and homely. A large secure garden offers a safe place for children to play and explore. Recent developments include the installation of a state-of-the- art sensory room, which has proved to be of great benefit to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into and on from the home are carefully planned and orchestrated in line with the needs of the children.

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

The children have limited understanding of risk and rely on adults to keep them safe. Risk assessments cover most aspects of the children’s lives. Alongside common risk assessment, such as for activities or travel, each child has specialist assessments for additional risks and vulnerabilities. Assessments are implemented appropriately by staff to ensure that while unacceptable risk is avoided, children can take part in age- appropriate activities.

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

Behaviour management is focused on understanding the children and their unique communication methods. All children are encouraged to communicate and to make choices. The subtle nuances of communication skills and children’s presenting behaviour are known to the staff. Staff responses help children to make sense of the world around them and being understood reduces their anxiety and distress.

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

Children are guided and encouraged to do as much as possible for themselves. Restrictive interventions have not been necessary to keep children safe. Just one is Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 4 recorded since the home opened; this was a guide to avoid a child hurting themselves.

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

Several stakeholders describe children as being calmer since moving to this home. Children live well together. The home is spacious enough to allow children individual space. They also benefit from sharing time together and doing joint activities.

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

Children take part in fire evacuation drills, so they know what to expect in an emergency. Not all staff have had the same opportunity, which could compromise the effectiveness of some evacuations.

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good

A suitably qualified manager oversees the home. He is a reflective practitioner described by stakeholders as a ‘problem-solver’. The manager works closely with a deputy, and they have the confidence and trust of staff, professional stakeholders and parents.

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good

The manager is fully aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. A detailed development plan is in place. The manager and deputy are involved in providing direct care and support to children when issues relating to the COVID-19 pandemic and recruitment impact on staffing numbers. This arrangement is in the best interests of children who require consistency of care and familiar carers to avoid anxiety and distress. Consequently, some management tasks are not up to date and development plans are taking more time to complete.

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good

The frequency of supervision provided to staff is variable with some lengthy gaps between sessions. Staff training records are not readily accessible, and not all records are well ordered, concise or precise. This makes information difficult to find.

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good

A quality of care monitoring report has not been completed or provided to Ofsted within the required timescales. The inspector did not find a discernible impact of these shortfalls on the children.

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good

Managers and staff work in partnership with parents and a wide variety of professional stakeholders. A headteacher described the support given to the school around understanding and managing a child’s behaviour as ‘valuable and much appreciated’.

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good

The positive atmosphere and inclusive ethos of the home are influenced by the manager. All children are valued as unique individuals who, despite any barriers and complex needs, can be supported to communicate, progress, contribute and enjoy life. Staff are also valued. They work as a team and have allocated responsibilities in the home which reflect their interests and skills. Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 5 Monitoring by the independent visitor, social worker visits and liaising with other professionals, such as the looked after children’s nurse, contribute to safeguarding oversight and practice development. Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

ensure, by means of fire drills and practices at suitable intervals, that persons working at the home are aware of the procedure to be followed in case of fire. (Regulation 25 (1)(d)) 31 March 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and 31 March 2022 Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 7 make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have a system in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff, including the home’s manager. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s

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Recommendations

policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. In particular, ensure that children’s records are precise and concise. Also, ensure the accessibility, suitability and quality of some staff records. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: 2633410 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Cornwall Council, PO Box 727, Truro TR1 9GP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Tamsin Moorhouse

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Inspector

Janice Hawtin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2633410 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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