Children's Home, Residential special school run by Ruskin Mill Trust Limited in Sheffield

Inspection report for home: SC423753 1 SC423753 Registered provider: Ruskin Mill Trust Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a charitable trust, and it is in the grounds of a residential special school. The inspector only inspected the social care provision at this school. The home can provide care for up to five children who have a range of complex needs and learning disabilities. The children may be placed by various local authorities from across the United Kingdom. Their residential placements are for 38 or 52 weeks of the year. The school also caters for day pupils.

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Information about this children’s home

Admission to the home and school is based on the provisions being able to meet the needs contained within a child’s education, health and care plan (EHC Plan).

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left the home in October 2020. A new manager has been appointed and she has applied to be 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 2 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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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: 10 March 2020 Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 2 Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/03/2020 Full Good 16/01/2019 Full Outstanding 11/07/2017 Full Outstanding 13/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a planned move into the home. They have a number of opportunities to visit before they move in. This helps children to become familiar with the environment, the staff and the other children. The manager reviews and assesses the impact of children living together. As a result, the group dynamic is good, and the children say that they get along.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people are prepared for their planned moves out of the home. Their exit plans vary; one child returned to their family home, and another young person moved into an adult residential provision. One professional said, ‘The transition planning was very good, and it helped us to plan our support for [name of young person].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have historically found schooling difficult, and this has significantly affected their attendance. The children are now re-engaged with education and applying their learning through land and craft work. The children were proud to show the inspector examples of their craft work.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have complex health and care needs. The manager and her staff team are working with specialist agencies to enhance their practice knowledge of specific conditions. The staff are receptive to the training that is delivered by these agencies. However, it will take time to embed the learning consistently into staff care practices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to complete daily tasks. Teaching children new life skills enables them to take control of elements of their lives and improve their independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a nice home that is well furnished and equipped. The home is stocked with games to encourage interaction. Children each have their own bedroom which provides them with a private space. Staff support is required to help one child to maintain their bedroom to an acceptable and safe standard. The inspector observed that maintenance is also necessary in a child’s ensuite bathroom to fix an unpleasant odour. This was under investigation at the time of the inspection.

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

Staff know what action to take should a child go missing from the home. On the occasion that a child has been absent from the home, the staff took the necessary steps to try and locate the child and ensure their safe return.

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

Risk management procedures address risk-taking behaviours. The manager sources practice guidance from external professionals for emerging concerns, for example self-harm. The staff are available for the children, and they talk through any Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 5 struggles that the children are having. Staffing levels are amended and reviewed to meet the children’s presenting needs. However, the assessed reduction in staffing is not accurately reflected in one child’s risk assessment.

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

The trust is responding to the staffing vacancies. Until staff are recruited, teaching staff are filling the shortfall in the rota. School staff know the children and are familiar with their care plans. As staff are appointed, safer recruitment procedures are followed. However, there are shortfalls in the manager’s oversight of staff recruitment records. She has failed to identify gaps within reference checks and proof of relevant qualifications.

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

Children require staff to administer their medication. Medication errors are evident from staff practice. One medication error had been undetected for five days. This was a medication count error, and it did not impact on the health of the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The appointed manager has been in day-to-day charge since June 2021. Since her appointment, the manager has reviewed the strengths and weaknesses of this home to enable the development of practice standards. She has amended the home’s statement of purpose. However, this has not been received by Ofsted, and this impacts on the inspector’s ability to monitor the setting.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision is not routinely provided to all staff. School staff who routinely work in the home are not receiving formal supervision, and informal discussions are not recorded. This is a missed opportunity to highlight and reflect on both good and poor staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and her staff understand the impact of positive communication with families and professionals. Feedback from families and professionals is that communication is a strength of this home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Internal monitoring systems help the manager to focus on care practice and the children’s progress. External monitoring is routinely undertaken for this home. The independent person makes recommendations to help the manager address shortfalls and improve staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The organisation’s training programme provides staff with the necessary skills and knowledge for their roles. It is compulsory for staff to attend allocated training courses. However, the manager has not identified when staff have failed to attend specific training courses. This means that staff have gaps in their knowledge about the care needs of children. Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 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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Requirements Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home. (Regulation 23 (1)) 22 April 2022

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Requirements Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirements Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirements Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)) 22 April 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the homes statement of purpose is developed and kept under review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5)  The registered person should ensure that the odour in the child’s ensuite bathroom is fixed because the home must meet the child’s basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that they must ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that, all children’s case records are kept up to date, including their risk assessments. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

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Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 7 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: SC423753 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Ruskin Mill Trust Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ruskin Mill, Mill Bottom, Old Bristol Road, Nailsworth, Gloucestershire GL6 0LA

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Inspector

Jennifer Fenlon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC423753 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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