Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today

Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 1 SC025409 Registered provider: The Partnership Of Care Today Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a private children’s home that can provide accommodation for up to three children. Children experiencing social and emotional difficulties, or with learning disabilities and mental health needs, can be supported.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 6 July 2018.

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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 for children’s home: SC025409 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2022 Full Good 04/06/2019 Full Good 18/12/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/09/2018 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good care that allows them to establish nurturing and trusting relationships with staff members. Staff take creative approaches to supporting children. This means that children make steady progress from their starting points. Children said that they are supported, happy and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s progress and achievements are recognised and celebrated. Staff keep detailed, child-friendly records and use a good system of rewards for positive behaviour. Memory books are a particularly important record of each child’s life story. They are lovely to read, and include mementos, descriptions of events and lots of photographs. This approach is like the way a family might keep a record of significant events and allows children to feel valued and to develop higher self- esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The physical home environment needs updating and repair. Maintenance issues are not always completed in a timely manner and the overall decoration seems worn. The decor should reflect the warm and nurturing care that staff work hard to provide for children, and this is not presently the case.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager has not thoroughly considered all risks related to the location of the home. Gang activity has been an issue of increased risk recently, but this has not been reflected in the location risk assessment. Staff need a clear assessment of locality risks so that they can keep children safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children living in the home are in education and making good progress. One social worker observed that the staff ‘go above and beyond’ to support children’s education needs. When children have experienced lots of inconsistency, often their school is one important source of stability and staff find creative ways to support this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand each child’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. Children each have clear plans in respect of health, education and leisure time. Staff support children to attend all appointments, encourage children to engage in a wide variety of activities, and support children’s family relationships whenever safe to do so. Therefore, children are making good progress from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff team is experienced and stable. Staff share expertise so that children receive consistent standards and approaches to their care. As a result, children trust the adults around them.

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

When children come to live in this home, their safety is improved. Staff are empathetic towards children’s whole experiences and see past their behaviours to Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 4 what might be the causes. Staff use this knowledge during key-work sessions to help children improve their own understanding. This ensures that children are not just kept safe in each situation that arises, but that their overall safety is improved in the longer term.

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

Children have been reported missing from this home. Staff know and follow the agreed missing from home protocol. In addition, the staff team is very experienced and has a clear understanding of how it would protect children in a range of safeguarding scenarios. Children living in the home said that they felt happy, settled and safe.

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

Staff use a holistic approach to keep children safe. Communication between the staff, professionals and the other important people in each child’s life is excellent. When children have gone missing from home, these existing lines of communication have allowed staff to quickly find the child and bring them home safely.

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

The registered manager has not clearly considered the impact that each child coming to live in the home might have on the children already living there. This could result in children being exposed to increased risk.

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

The registered manager is passionate about building positive relationships with children, built on mutual respect. The staff embrace this ethos and there is a focus on a wide range of de-escalation techniques to manage behaviour. This means that physical interventions and restraints are rarely used. This helps to establish a warm and caring atmosphere within the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She is passionate about the children in her care and encourages her team to care just as deeply. Staff describe feeling consistently well supported. This leadership approach provides a positive environment, allowing children to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff team do not know about the local authority local offer. As a result, children with additional needs could be missing out on vital resources to support their progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are supported by a stable and experienced staff team. There is sufficient staffing to ensure that the children’s needs are met. This consistency allows the children to get to know the adults caring for them and form trusting bonds with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff do not always receive regular supervision in accordance with the home’s statement of purpose. While staff do say they feel supported, it is important that there is a formal approach to supervision. This ensures that any issues are quickly dealt with and agreed actions can be clearly tracked.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff training is monitored through the workforce development plan and a centrally held training matrix. Some of the mandatory training recorded on the workforce Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 5 development plan is significantly out of date, for example safeguarding training for two staff members was months overdue. The registered manager must ensure that there is a workable way to monitor staff training needs. This is important to ensure that staff are equipped with the skills to meet the individual needs of the children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are not easy for children to understand. While some elements of the files are useful and child friendly, there is duplicated information which makes it difficult to find that information. While risk assessments do set out clear strategies for managing each child’s risk, the way in which these are written is not easy for children to understand. Staff are working hard through key-work sessions to improve children’s awareness of risks. Individual risk assessments should contribute to this understanding. Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s 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 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

Specifically, this refers to the use of impact risk assessments to thoroughly consider the interaction of children’s risks before any new children come to live at the home. 31 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience.

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, staff should receive regular supervision to reflect on their practice. 31 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. The review should include the identification of any risks and opportunities presented by the home’s location Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 7 and strategies for managing these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that managers and staff are aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special education needs or disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 26, paragraph 5.4)  The registered person should ensure that the home’s records on each child represent a significant contribution to their life history. Specifically, that out-of- date information is archived so that files are streamlined and accessible. (‘Guide

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Recommendations

to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered provider should ensure that any information recorded about the child is clear and helpful to them. Risk management records should be clear for children to read and understand. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraphs 14.4)  The registered person should have a workforce plan which can fulfil the workforce-related requirements of regulation 16, schedule 1 (paragraphs 19 and 20). The plan should be updated to include any new training and qualifications completed by staff while working at the home and be used to record the ongoing training and continuing professional development needs of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraphs 10.8)  The registered person should ensure that children are provided with a safe and

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Recommendations

stimulating environment in high-quality buildings. Specifically, that maintenance issues are addressed in a timely manner. Also, that the decor of the home is kept up to a standard which reflects the nurturing, family environment as set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 5, paragraph 1.10)

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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: SC025409 8

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Children’s home details

Registered Provider The Partnership Of Care Today

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

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Inspector

Nicola Shaw, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC025409 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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