Children's Home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Leeds

Inspection report children's home: 1275189 1 Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company. It may only provide care and accommodation for one child who may present with social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2022 and is suitably qualified for the role.

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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 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: 24 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1275189 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/02/2020 Full Outstanding 06/12/2018 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1275189 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have been pivotal in providing the child with stability and predictability. This has provided the child with reassurance and a sense of security, which has enabled them to make progress in various aspects of their life. The manager has ensured that the child has a good foundation to support their transition on to adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home reflects the child’s personality throughout. There are framed photos of the child in the home. The staff have proudly displayed the child’s artwork on the staircase walls. In doing so, they have given the child a sense of pride in their contribution to their home. The child’s identity runs throughout their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff, alongside the child, have created a homely environment. However, this has been somewhat reduced due to poor workmanship around the installation of the emergency lighting. This makes certain areas of the home feel institutionalised. The manager has a plan to rectify this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have helped the child to enjoy some marvellous experiences that have provided them with cherished memories. The child proudly displays photos of memorable outings with staff on their bedroom wall. These outings have had a positive impact on improving the child’s confidence and their outlook on the world.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has established and maintained excellent links with the child’s school. Therefore, the manager and the designated teacher quickly resolve any issues for the child when they emerge. This has enabled the child to feel well supported in their education and make the transition to the next stage of their academic journey.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have built trusting and meaningful relationships with the child’s birth family. This has helped the child to explore their relationships with their birth family. As a result, these relationships have improved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child enjoys good child’s health outcomes. However, there are specific areas of the child’s health that the manager has not placed enough emphasis on in their care planning. This has reduced the staff’s ability to support the child to access specific services. The manager has acknowledged this and has a plan in place to fully meet this aspect of the child’s care.

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

The company that runs the home prescribes to a specific therapeutic model of care. However, some staff are not fully versed in the model of care. This means that staff miss opportunities to support the child with certain aspects of their behaviour. The manager is working closely with the assistant psychologist to instil awareness and confidence into staff so that they become more effective in their role. Inspection report children's home: 1275189 4 Staff’s use of restraint in the home is rare. The manager has ensured that, if restraint is necessary, there is clear guidance for staff on their expected response. On the rare occasions when staff have applied restraint techniques, these have been within the remit of the child’s behaviour plan. The manager has ensured that, following a restraint, there is a good debrief for staff and the child.

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

The manager has a good understanding of the child and the aspects of their behaviour that increase the risk of harm to the child or others. The manager has implemented a risk assessment tool to provide guidance for staff to better protect the child. However, the manager uses broad sweeping statements which are ambiguous in some areas of the risk assessment tool. This means that the expected staff response to specific behaviours is not clear enough and could lead to situations escalating unnecessarily.

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

Maintaining a stable staff team has been a real challenge throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. On occasions, the use of agency staff has been required. However, the manager has been able to reduce the potential impact on the child as she has often stepped into the care role. This has only been a temporary measure and the recruitment of staff is ongoing.

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

The manager has been successful in recruiting new staff to the team. The recruitment process has been thorough but timely to meet the needs of the service. This has provided the child with an opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with suitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is highly supportive of her staff and undertakes every opportunity to mentor them in their role. This enables her to be confident in understanding her team’s strengths and areas of development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The child’s designated teacher, the child’s social worker and the independent reviewing officer are all complimentary about the care that the child receives. They all recognise the manager in being pivotal in the child’s care and effective at bringing services together. This has ensured that the risk of drift in the child’s care planning has been minimised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has shown vigour and persistence when the responsibilities of the corporate parent have fallen short. When needed, the manager has challenged other professionals appropriately. This has helped to ensure that the child’s voice is heard, and appropriate support is put in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider offers a good training package for their staff to access. Despite this, one member of staff is overdue for their fire safety training. This has added relevance because the staff team is small. The manager was aware of this shortfall and has an action plan to address this. Inspection report children's home: 1275189 5 The manager is passionate about her role and has a long-term vision for the setting. However, she consistently fails to add comment or analysis in the independent visitor’s report. This shortfall prevents any scrutiny of the manager’s decision-making against the independent visitor’s findings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is reflective in her practice. The supervisions that she undertakes with staff are also reflective and thorough. This is crucial to the setting, given the new staff who have started on the team. The manager works collaboratively with the assistant psychologist and therefore avoids working in isolation. This ensures that the team has access to a broader support network. Inspection report children's home: 1275189 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

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions. (Regulation 44 (5)) 31 March 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home provides a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the child. The home must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.), but it should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. The trunking which connects the emergency lighting on the staircase walls does not achieve this aim. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should encourage children to take a proactive role in looking after their day-to-day health and well-being. Where children have specific health needs or conditions, they should be supported to manage these, subject to their age and understanding. When a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff should work with the child’s placing authority to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist medical, psychological or psychiatric support required, and challenge them through regulation 5, engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met if this does not happen. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should clearly outline the expected staff response to any identified risks associated with the child’s behaviour so that staff are able to identify signs that children may be at risk, and support children in strategies to manage and reduce any risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs, and should understand the key role Inspection report children's home: 1275189 7 they play in the training and development of staff in the home. This also applies to any staff who are resistant to attending mandatory training. (‘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 children's home: 1275189 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pebbles Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 The Calls, Leeds LS2 7JU

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Inspector

Steve Guirey, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1275189 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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