Children's Home run by Supreme Child Care Ltd in Oldham

Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 1 Registered provider: Supreme Child Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately run children’s home is registered to provide care for up to two children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in October 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not applicable Not applicable Not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home are cared for by a consistent staff team, whose members know them well. Staff understand children’s needs and vulnerabilities and have been able to develop positive, trusting relationships with them. The inspector observed warm relationships between children and staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been refurbished to a high standard. It is comfortable, spacious and well presented. Children are able to personalise their bedrooms to their own individual tastes. Staff are alert to children’s preferences and have made changes to the home to meet their individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home make good progress with their education from their individual starting points. Following a period of home tuition, one child has returned to full time education. One educational professional said, ‘He has made so much progress. Where he is now from where he started is a million miles away.’ One child has recently moved into the home and is working with a home tutor. The registered manager is working with relevant professionals to identify a suitable education provision for them in the local area.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff promote the health and well-being of children living in this home. Children attend routine health appointments and are supported to access other medical services when required. Children are encouraged to eat a balanced diet and will enjoy ‘fake-aways’, where they cook a healthier version of take-away food in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with the people who are important to them, and staff appreciate the significance of these relationships. One child spoke positively about time they have recently spent with their sister and the plans in place for this going forward.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use keyworker sessions to capture significant conversations with the children regarding a range of topics. Child-focused behaviour management plans reflect children’s hopes and aspirations for their future. However, some records have minor inaccuracies and contain potentially inflammatory comments. This does not help children to understand their journey living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children moving into and out of this home do so in a planned way where possible. Social workers commented positively on the small touches that make children feel welcome when they move into this home. However, admission processes have not always been effective. This led to one child moving into the home without their needs and risks being fully understood, resulting in the child moving on from the home after only a few days. While improvements have been made to this process, Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 4 assessments lack analysis and evaluation from the registered manager, to show how they can meet the needs of the children.

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

Children benefit from high levels of staff supervision to ensure that they are kept safe. Individual risk management plans detail risks for children and provide guidance for staff on how to manage and minimise these risks. However, for one child, the strategies in place to manage one identified risk were not clearly recorded. This does not ensure that staff respond consistently. The registered manager recognises that these documents would benefit from streamlining for ease of reference.

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

When children’s risk-taking behaviours have increased, or impacted on other children living in the home, staff have worked with all relevant professionals to ensure that all children are kept safe. Social work professionals commented on their effective partnership working and the positive difference that the manager and staff team have made to children living in this home.

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

The staff team’s approach to behaviour management is supported by effective liaison with specialist services. As a result, children learn more effective ways to manage their feelings and emotions. This approach has had a positive impact on the behaviour of one child, and, consequently, incidents of challenging behaviour for this child have reduced.

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

Where there are concerns for children’s safety, for example if they are harming themselves, searches of children’s bedrooms have been undertaken in order to remove items of concern. However, some records do not provide clear evidence of the rationale for these searches, nor if the child has given permission for the search or is aware that the search is taking place.

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

Staff have used physical intervention on occasion when it is necessary to keep everyone safe. Debriefs are undertaken with children to explore their feelings and to help them to understand the impact of their behaviour. Sanctions are not used regularly in this home.

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

During this inspection, the front and back door of the home were locked. Children would be unable to leave the home independently in the event of an emergency. In addition, communal rooms downstairs also have locks, meaning that children do not have free access to all areas of their home. The registered manager took immediate action to address this during the inspection.

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

Incidents of children going missing from this home are rare and children are supported to talk with an independent person when they return from being missing from care. Individual plans are in place, with actions for staff to follow if children were to go missing from care. Staff spoken to during the inspection were clear about the action they would take should a child go missing from this home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 5 Safe recruitment procedures are in place for new staff. This means that children are protected from unsuitable adults being employed to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a suitable registered manager in post. This is her first experience as a registered manager. She is working towards achieving the relevant qualification to underpin her knowledge of the role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is approachable, and staff are complimentary about her leadership and the support that she provides. Staff receive regular formal and informal supervision. Single-subject development sessions are undertaken with staff to focus on key areas of development, such as record-keeping.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring systems in place support the registered manager to identify strengths and areas for development in the home. Where shortfalls have been identified, she has taken effective action to address these and shares this learning with the staff team in team meetings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External monitoring supports the registered manager to make improvements. She seeks regular feedback from others in order to improve the quality of care in this home. This contributes to the quality-of-care review, which includes actions for the home to improve over the next six months.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have undertaken a wide range of training to ensure that they have the skills needed to meet the needs of the children living in this home. Additional training is allocated to staff as the emerging needs of the children living here are identified.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager must ensure that the homes rotas clearly record the staff on shift and the actual hours worked in the home. This will ensure that there are accurate records. Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health.(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all risks are suitably assessed, that risk management plans are revised to ensure that they are easily understood, and that thumb turn locks are fitted to external doors. 1 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended 1 September 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 7 that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that children’s needs are clearly identified and assessed prior to admission, and that the skills of staff can meet the needs of children admitted to the home.

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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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 kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (b)(c)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

The registered manager must ensure that children have access to all areas of their home. 1 September 2022

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the staff duty roster includes all persons working at the home at any time and the actual hours worked. 1 September 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 8  The registered person should ensure that records of room searches clearly detail the reason for the search and why a search was conducted without a child’s permission or presence. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.20) Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 9

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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: 2627737 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Supreme Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3.10, 3rd Floor Universal Square, Devonshire Street North, Manchester M12 6JH

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2627737 11 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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