Children's home run by Onextra Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2616383 1 Registered provider: Onextra Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is owned and managed by a private company. The provider states in their statement of purpose that the home provides care for up to two children with EBD (social and emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home was registered with Ofsted in February 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: 1 December 2021

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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: 2616383 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2616383 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from effective, high-quality support from dedicated staff. Children enjoy exceptionally good relationships with the adults that support them. Staff provide children with consistency and continuity of care, to help children to sustain their positive attachments. Children are kept safe and develop a real sense of belonging, living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress and benefit from highly personalised, well-planned care that meets their needs effectively and contributes to improvement in their lives. A social worker said: ‘The home is brilliant and [my child’s] outcomes are positive. The staff are fabulous.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend school on a regular basis. Children are learning and make good progress in education. Staff consistently have high aspirations for children and promote their educational achievements and opportunities for learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with the health services they need to be healthy. Staff support children to attend their routine health appointments. Medical consent is obtained to ensure that staff understand the different types of health responsibilities that are delegated to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Specialist services are obtained for those children who need additional help and support. Staff work closely with health professionals to meet the children’s specific health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with positive activities at home and in the community. There are good arrangements made to meet the social and leisure needs of the children. One child enjoys playing for a local football and cricket team and goes boxing on a regular basis. Children’s hobbies and talents are actively encouraged.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their families and friends. This ensures that children sustain relationships with the people that are most important to them. A child said: ‘I’m seeing my mother a lot more. I enjoy drives out with staff; it helps me to relax.’

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

Children say that they feel safe living at the home. Children’s safety is consistently at the centre of staff’s practice. Children become increasingly safer because of the support that they receive to help and protect them. Risk-taking behaviours such as substance misuse and children going missing, have reduced in relation to children’s starting points. Inspection report for children’s home: 2616383 4 When children have gone missing from the home, staff actively look for them and work closely with the relevant authorities to promote the children’s safety. Staff follow the home’s procedures for reporting children missing to secure their safe return. Children are reported promptly when they are missing or their whereabouts are not known.

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

Children’s behaviours are managed safely and effectively by staff. Staff have a good knowledge of the specific needs and vulnerabilities of the children. The use of risk assessment and behaviour management plans help staff to work with children and keep them safe from harm.

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

Staff are trained in de-escalation to ensure that they know how to manage children’s behaviours safely. Children are only ever held as a last resort when their behaviour becomes unsafe. Restraint has not been used since the last inspection.

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

Sanctions used by staff are fair, balanced and proportionate. However, most sanctions used by staff are not restorative in nature to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others. A recommendation is made in respect of this.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. However, no complaints have been made by children since the last inspection.

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

Staff are trained in child protection, so they know how to promote the safety and well-being of children. There have been no safeguarding concerns and no incidents of a serious nature. Significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities to support and protect the children from harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from a home that is managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager. Staff confirm that the manager is approachable and supportive of their practice. Staff are well supported and managed effectively. One staff member said, ‘[the manager] continues to go above and beyond, supporting her team and the young people.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from relevant training, so they have the knowledge and skills they need to meet the specific needs of the children. Staff receive regular supervision that is used to discuss the needs of the children and provides a safe environment for staff to reflect on their practice and performance. Additionally, staff meet regularly as a team and have established good working relationships with each other. Staff maintain effective partnerships with all external professionals to ensure that children benefit from the best possible support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Health and safety in the home is treated seriously by staff. Staff ensure that all health and safety checks are kept up to date. Staff routinely check the children’s Inspection report for children’s home: 2616383 5 bedrooms to ensure that rooms are clean and tidy, and free from any damage or hazards to children’s safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager demonstrates effective leadership of the home. The manager has established their own systems to routinely monitor the performance of the home. This ensures that the manager can identify any shortfalls quickly and make improvements when necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The accommodation provided for children is personalised, homely and of a good standard and quality. One child said that their experience of the home was, ‘Respectful, good and stress free most of the time.’ The child also said that the best thing about the home was, ‘My bedroom and staff respecting my privacy.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has met and addressed the two requirements and recommendation from the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 2616383 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any sanctions used to address poor behaviour should be restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: 2616383 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Onextra Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 443 Houldsworth Business & Arts Centre, Houldsworth Street, Stockport SK5 6DA

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Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2616383 8 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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