Children's Home run by Bryn Melyn Care Limited in Shropshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 1 SC372661 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private company. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for one young person who has a variety of challenging behaviours and complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a registered manager in post who is also managing another home. The registered manager holds a level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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 SCIFF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 16 and 17 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit and the report is available on Ofsted’s 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/07/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 13/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 08/05/2018 Full Good 15/01/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child makes good progress in a fun-filled home, where fun and playful approaches are commonplace. Staff are motivated by the home’s therapeutic model, which places ‘connection’ at the forefront of care. As a result, the child develops positive relationships with staff who demonstrate a passion and commitment to her.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child lives in a warm and homely environment. The child’s bedroom is highly personalised. For example, her favourite Harry Potter character is painted on her wall. This personalisation is reflected throughout the home. There are numerous pictures displayed of the child and people who are important to her. However, there are some areas of the home that look tired and in need of attention. The manager has plans in place to redecorate these areas of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work closely with education providers. Staff are committed to supporting the child’s education, and they do this well. As a result, the child’s school attendance has improved. She now enjoys going to school and she has a consistent group of friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child benefits from a wide range of experiences in line with her interests. For example, the child goes horse riding regularly. Staff work hard to ensure that the child has opportunities to interact with other children. She is supported to participate in activities with her friends. This has helped the child to develop her confidence and social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The chid is provided with opportunities to express her views about living in the home. She does this through written records that are used to support her individual preferences. The manager writes back to the child. This reassures the child that what she says is important and that she is being listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff capture the child’s journey at the home in a creative and child-focused way. The staff use caring and nurturing language to write to the child each day to capture her experiences and progress. In addition, they complete a memory book with her. This provides the child with a photo album that also reflects the new experiences she has had, her learning and her progress. They do this for all children so that when children leave the home they can reflect on positive memories and on the progress they make.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child maintains positive links with family members. Staff support arrangements and promote positive experiences for the child during family time. She has recently reconnected with her sibling. The child has expressed a wish to have contact with a family member. There are some challenges associated with this, but the manager is working with the local authority to resolve these. However, staff have not provided Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 4 the child with sufficient support in order to manage her expectations until decisions are made.

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

The child is cared for by staff who know her well. Staff use this knowledge to keep the child safe. Most of the child’s written plans address her individual needs and set out what action staff should take to provide good, effective and safe care for the child. However, individual risk assessments do not contain sufficient detail about how staff should support and safeguard the child in relation to online safety. For example, strategies being used in the home to safeguard the child online were not included in the risk assessment.

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

Behaviour management is good. Because staff understand the child’s emotions well, they are equipped to de-escalate situations quickly when incidents arise. As a result, physical intervention is rare in this home. Records of restraint are well recorded and are produced within timescales. The manager has recently introduced a new recording system. However, this system does not always capture debriefs with staff involved in the incident. In addition, when monitoring incidents, the manager does not always pick up on learning points. This limits opportunity to derive learning from incidents.

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

The child receives care from nurturing and supportive staff who understand her needs. This has helped the child to feel safe. Because the child feels safe and supported, she does not go missing from care.

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

Key-work sessions are carried out regularly. Staff respond to issues as they arise and use different approaches to engage the child in understanding a wide range of topics. However, the child is not yet being educated about risks that exist beyond the home environment. For example, key-work sessions identified that the child required further support in relation to online safety, but this work has not yet taken place. This does not give the child the opportunity to build confidence in measured risk taking or develop valuable life skills.

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

Staff undertake a range of health and safety checks and a range of safety procedures to protect children from potential hazards. This includes fire drills and emergency evacuations. As a result, the child knows what to do in the case of an emergency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A child-focused manager leads the home. She is ambitious for the child and wants the best for her. She has a good understanding of the child’s progress and of their needs. The registered manager is approachable and supportive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a core team of regular staff who provide consistent care for the child. Staff have worked overtime to cover vacancies, which has reduced the need for the Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 5 use of agency staff in the home. This means that the child is consistently cared for by people who know her well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. They are well supported and helped to develop in their role. Each member of staff has a personalised development plan. This helps the manager to promote and create opportunities for staff to develop their skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are up to date with mandatory training. There have been challenges with face- to-face training as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. To compensate for this, managers have used an online training system to identify training that is tailored to the child’s individual needs. This keeps staff motivated and supports them in providing care to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates for the child’s wishes and feelings well. When the child moved into the home, she found it difficult to live with other children. She has now expressed her wish to live with other children because of the progress she has made. The manager is progressing the child’s wishes and feelings in respect of this, with careful thought given to minimising disruption and change for the child within this process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager receives positive feedback from professionals. One professional told the inspector, ‘[The manager] is superb. I cannot fault her at all. She assists in every way that she can.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that appropriate forms of contact are promoted and facilitated for each child. Specifically, in relation to supporting the child to understand decisions that are made about contact with family members. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.18)  The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. In particular, arrangements should be in place to help children understand how to keep themselves safe, specifically in relation to online safety. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that children’s needs are met in a homely, domestic environment. This specifically relates to improvements that are needed within the child’s bathroom. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations,

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Recommendations

including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular and effective scrutiny and includes providing staff involved in the incident with a debrief. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)

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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: SC372661 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Natasha Skinner, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC372661 8 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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