Children's Home run by Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 1 SC394478 Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for up to three children who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2021 and is suitably qualified.

p.1

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.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 16 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

p.1

outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

p.1

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.

p.1

outstanding

Date of last inspection: 28 January 2020

p.1

outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/01/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 24/04/2018 Full Good 06/02/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 29/06/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 3

p.2

outstanding

Children are thriving and have made exceptional progress since moving into the home. Children feel loved, cared for and valued. Children take pride in themselves and their home. Their relationships with staff, and each other, are strong and based on trust and care. This home provides a secure base that is enabling children who have had numerous placement breakdowns to remain long term and feel a sense of belonging. This stability is helping children confidently address their past and envisage their futures in a positive way.

p.3

outstanding

One child had been out of education for an extensive period. He is now sitting his mock exams, having been reintegrated into school. Another child beamed as he described having found acceptance and finally being comfortable being himself. He feels at home and says he would like any of the staff to be his parents.

p.3

outstanding

Children are more equipped to manage socially and emotionally. They actively make use of the organisation’s psychologist. This service offers them and the staff assistance, support and coping strategies. This therapeutic input assists children and staff with seeing past the presenting behaviours. They then address the underlying causes such as trauma.

p.3

outstanding

A gym was installed in the home to encourage and support the children who wanted to get fit but were too shy and body conscious to attend the local gym. The home also arranged a personal trainer to support children in the home gym. Over time, the children’s progress has boosted their confidence, self-belief and sense of pride. They are now more willing to participate in activities in the community. This is allowing them to gradually build friendships away from those they have at home.

p.3

outstanding

Children take pride in having a set night to cook for the household. This is done with support from staff. They are developing life skills and are learning how to cater for a family.

p.3

outstanding

The children have visits to the home before moving in. A new child moved in a few days before the inspection, and they spoke about coming for a tea visit and joining the children on an activity prior to moving in. This minimised his concerns about moving to the home and about who he would be living with.

p.3

outstanding

A child who recently moved out remains in contact with staff at the home. He sees the home as an extended family. Staff took one of the children to visit him in his new home. These interactions replicate visits to see an older sibling.

p.3

outstanding

Children are able to spend time with their families. Staff have gone above and beyond to ensure that children are able to do this, irrespective of distance. They Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 4 have also helped reunite a child with a family member. This has enabled him to forge new relationships and build relationships with his wider family.

p.3

outstanding

The matching of children’s needs is a successful and thorough process. It has led to well-established and long-term placements for each of the children. Children often arrive with extreme behaviours that place them at risk and there are fears about their safety. These have included concerns regarding missing-from-home episodes, gang affiliation and involvement with county lines. The stability, dedication and perseverance of the staff have helped children transform their lives. The turnaround in behaviour is remarkable. This has been achieved because staff are relentless in ensuring that children know they will never give up on them. They push through the difficult times and the children’s progress testifies to that unwavering care. This instils a true sense of worth in children.

p.4

outstanding

Staff are adept at recognising the changes in children’s moods. This enables the children to discuss their feelings rather than put themselves at risk or fall back into negative behaviour. The team’s proactive approach also ensures that children who have histories of going missing are no longer doing so. This is because staff have been successful in making home a place where they feel safe, and they want to be at the home.

p.4

outstanding

The diversity of the staff team ensures that children have a balanced view of life and have role models of differing genders. Observing the interactions between staff and children is like watching children with different family members. With one, it as though they are interacting with a grandparent, while another appears like a big brother. Staff continually build on this relationship-based approach to enhance the sense of connection and safety.

p.4

outstanding

Children are supported to take age-appropriate risks. One example of this is a child who is having his electronic gadgets reintroduced. This gradual increase in the amount of time with technology is enabling the child to build trust and learn to safely manage being online. This level of trust indicates to children that they can negotiate their individual plans and teaches them how to compromise. The wider impact of this is that incidents are rarer because staff focus on addressing the emotion behind children’s behaviour.

p.4

outstanding

One child was ecstatic when staff told him he had had a year without physical interventions. This was a major achievement, as historically he had been held several times a day. Children’s behaviour can still escalate, but not to previous levels. This is because the staff know them so well. They expertly de-escalate situations with humour and use their established knowledge of individual children.

p.4

outstanding

Staff training covers mandatory and topical subjects. A current focus is on children’s mental health, to take account of the national increase in mental health issues among children and young people. Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 5 The theory that underpins the work ensures that the children feel safe enough to be themselves. This enables them to exhibit less anger and frustration or challenging behaviour.

p.4

outstanding

Children’s bedrooms are checked daily. This is done in a supportive and encouraging way that helps them to recognise and learn how their bedrooms should be kept. They have a sense of ownership and are included in decisions about how their home is decorated, including the personalisation of their bedrooms.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The organisation is moving to having one manager per home. This is instead of one manager overseeing two houses. The deputy manager has been managing the day- to-day running of the home for an extended period in readiness for this change. She is in the process of registering with Ofsted.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management team is inspirational and ambitious for children to succeed. They ensure that the home is child-centred and act as highly effective role models. The managers continually review how the home is operating and have recently revised the format of the children’s plans to reflect their child-focused approach.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers have a clear understanding of where the children have made progress. They help children realise that they have the potential to achieve anything. The managers believe that the restrictions due to COVID-19 have been positive. They believe that they have helped to strengthen relationships between staff and children. They have continued to build on these relationships as the restrictions have eased.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers lead by example and ensure that the support and direction offered to staff supports them to deliver exceptional care for children. Staff describe the deputy as ‘amazing’. They are equally positive about the other leaders. Staff say they feel valued and appreciated. This is reflected in the very few staff changes. They describe their inductions and supervision as positive. They feel supported in their career development.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The work of the team is underpinned by the organisation’s therapeutic approach. The organisation’s therapists regularly review and assess the progress that children are making. They report on progress made both emotionally and socially. This information enables easy tracking of patterns as well as progress.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The previous shortfalls raised at the last inspection have all been met. The leaders know the strengths of the home. They are continually modifying and adapting policies and procedures. This includes creating new policies whenever issues arise.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professionals praise the team and describe high-quality partnership working. One commended the staff for always managing to get a child to attend a regular Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 6 specialist appointment. This is following incidents of the child repeatedly refusing to attend.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The leaders are effective advocates. However, the organisation still opts to provide an independent advocate for the children. This is to ensure that their voices are heard. Children know how to raise a complaint but say they have not needed to as they can talk to staff.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The house offers lots of communal space as well as space for the children to have time alone. The children take pride in their home, and they are relaxed in each other’s company. This helps set the tone for interactions for any children moving into the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 7

p.6

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: SC394478 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor, Centenary House, Centenary Way, Manchester M50 1RF

p.8

Inspector

Sonia Hay, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC394478 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9