Children's Home run by Coventry City Council in Coventry

Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 1 SC414347 Registered provider: Coventry City Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered since December 2011 and is suitably qualified.

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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

A monitoring visit was completed on 11 November 2020. 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/08/2019 Full Good 25/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/08/2018 Full Good 17/01/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children and one young adult were living at the home at the time of the inspection. The young adult recently turned 18 years of age. The manager and staff are managing this appropriately while his move on to independence is finalised with him. Staff and partner agencies are working together to ensure that he has a planned transition from the home. No children have moved into or out of the home since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy warm and caring relationships with staff. As a result, they feel respected and valued. Staff are knowledgeable about the children’s needs and provide individualised high-quality care. This enables the children to thrive, develop and make significant progress. For example, both children attend full-time education and their attendance is excellent. One of the children is excelling with their swimming lessons and the other is making and keeping appropriate friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff help children to access support services such as speech and language and therapeutic services, which promotes children’s physical development and their emotional and mental well-being. Staff encourage children to eat healthily, take regular exercise and to develop their self-care skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of children spending time with their close family and friends. Children experience positive and healthy relationships with those who matter to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children fully engage in key-work sessions and children’s meetings. They have opportunities to express their wishes and feelings about what they would like to do and about their experience of living at the home as well as things that might be causing them or others concern. Children have access to a variety of activities at the home and in the community. These improve their confidence, social skills and social inclusion.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming and provides ample space for children to relax and unwind. Children have personalised their bedrooms and they are proud of what they have achieved.

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

The children feel safe living at the home. Staff know them well and help them to keep safe from harm. Staff identify risks to the children and follow safeguarding procedures effectively. Incidents of concern are clearly recorded and managers take effective action as necessary.

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

Behaviour management plans are clear and provide staff with guidance on managing children’s behaviour effectively and consistently. Staff reflect on the Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 4 potential causes of the behaviour and help the children to understand these. This enables the children to identify and self-regulate their emotions and feelings better. Physical restraint is used proportionately as a last resort and is well recorded.

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

Incidents of children going missing from home are managed well by staff. They follow the children’s missing protocols and work hard to return the children home safely. Children are offered return home interviews. On the occasions when children refuse to engage in these, staff and managers do one-to-one work with the children. They try to understand the reasons why the children went missing, ask if the children have suffered any harm and educate the children on the potential risks of going missing from home. As a result of this good work, incidents of children going missing from home have significantly reduced over time.

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

Children know how to make a complaint, and the manager handles these meticulously. She acknowledges receipt of these complaints, notifies relevant partner agencies and provides reassurance and feedback to the children. The children feel listened to and valued.

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

The manager follows safer recruitment protocols. This helps to ensure that only safe adults work with children at the home.

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

Risk assessments are generally reviewed and updated promptly. However, some are not proportionate to the individual needs of the children. For example, the risk assessment of the bedroom door alarm does not evidence current risk factors for one child which warrant its use. This places unnecessary limitations on this child’s privacy.

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

The manager decided not to follow through on recommendations raised by fire safety officers when they undertook a risk assessment of the premises. She put in place an action plan outlining her reasons for not complying with the recommendations. However, she did not do this in liaison with the fire service. This has not had a detrimental impact on the children’s safety to date but has the potential to do so if not fully explored with competent fire safety professionals. During the inspection, the manager took on board concerns raised by the inspector about this and took steps to urgently address the issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An exceptionally committed registered manager has an ambitious vision for the service. She is suitably qualified and has extensive experience in residential childcare. The registered manager is aspirational for the children and drives continuous improvement in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is passionate about providing excellent quality of care to the children. She is keen for the children to be provided with the best opportunities. The registered manager gives exceptionally robust and effective challenge to professionals to make sure that they prioritise the children’s needs. Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 5 Close partnership working between the registered manager and staff and education, health, local police and local authority professionals means that the children’s needs are met holistically. This collaborative approach to children’s care contributes to the reason why the children make significant progress in all areas of their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are very committed and provide a consistent level of care to the children. They are able to confidently demonstrate the positive impact that living at the home is having on the children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel exceptionally well supported by the manager. They receive regular, high- quality supervision and effective yearly appraisals. Staff talk positively about the development opportunities provided for them. Most staff have their relevant qualification. However, one member of staff has not been able to complete this within the required timescales. Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 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

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises;

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and if necessary, revised. (Regulation 21 (c)(i)(ii)(iii)) 31 May 2022

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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

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children’s home. (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must consult with the fire service about decisions not to action recommendations from fire risk assessments. 31 May 2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all staff in a care role, including external agency or bank staff, have the qualification in regulation 32(4) within the relevant timescale listed in regulation 32(5). (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 53, paragraph 10.12) Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 7

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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: SC414347 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Adult Education, People Directorate, Southfields Old School, South Street Coventry CV1 5UJ

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Inspector

Rumbi Mangoma, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC414347 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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