Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 1 SC412476 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care and accommodation for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2019.

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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: SC412476 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/05/2021 Full Good 11/02/2020 Full Requires improvement to be good 25/02/2019 Full Good 16/01/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from their long and stable placements at the home. This stability has allowed children to form strong and meaningful relationships with the staff. Children hold the staff in high regard and describe their relationships like being a family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel loved and have the trust of the staff to take age-appropriate risks and to develop their independence, with the knowledge that support is never far away.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff involve the children in how the home is maintained. The home has recently been redecorated and the children have been involved in choosing artwork for the shared areas. Children are proud of their bedrooms and personalise them to reflect their identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager help children to see friends and family who live far away.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to participate in household tasks such as cooking and cleaning. Staff support children to travel independently, using public transport and learning how to drive. As a result, children are becoming more independent and growing in confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children access the local community, going to the beach, swimming, playing pool and going out for meals. As a result, children have rich experiences that are centred around their individual interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to invite friends to the home for barbecues and to spend time with them, including being able to visit and stay over at their friends’ homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are all in full-time education. They have strong educational goals and, as a result, know clearly what they want to do in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide regular updates to children’s social workers. As a result, social workers are well informed about their child’s experiences and progress.

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

Staff build strong and meaningful relationships with the children. One child described her key staff as her ‘safety support bubble’. These relationships support effective conversations with the children, which help each child to stay healthy and to understand safe behaviours. As a result, children feel safe.

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

Staff and managers identify, understand and manage risks well. Together, they regularly review risk assessments to ensure that children can take managed risks. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 4 Staff involve the children in their risk assessments, and as a result children understand how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff respond swiftly to any incidents, including children going missing from home or self-harming. The staff follow detailed management plans which have had input from the child. Staff understand these plans and consistently put them into practice. Their approach has resulted in a reduction of these types of incidents.

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

Managers create detailed behaviour support plans for each child and train the staff in understanding the underlying reasons for these behaviours.

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

The registered manager responds to concerns appropriately. For example, allegations against members of staff are managed well, with the local authority designated officer (LADO) being consulted.

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

The registered manager has organised a programme of development days to ensure that staff are aware of how to get specialist advice and support, including understanding the role of the LADO.

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

Children know how to make complaints. Children say they are listened to and their concerns are taken seriously.

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

The policies and procedures for ensuring that children are kept safe are good. However, there have been a couple of recent instances when systems for ensuring that children only have access to age-appropriate music and television have failed. While this has not had a negative impact on the children, this is a missed opportunity to ensure that the risks associated with e-safety, including streaming platforms, are closely monitored and kept under regular review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by a suitably qualified and experienced manager. They are supported by a knowledgeable and supportive deputy and responsible individual. As a team, they work closely together, know the children well and have a clear understanding of the progress children are making.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have good relationships with all managers and are actively encouraged by them to be involved in the day-to-day decisions in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported well in carrying out their roles. New staff receive a good and well-planned induction. Staff are well trained and they have regular supervision with a manager. They are confident in asking managers for more training, support or supervision when they need it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff joining the home have the appropriate skills and experience to work with children. The registered manager manages recruitment well. This includes carrying out the appropriate pre-employment checks and exploring employment gaps. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 5 The registered manager understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses and uses the monitoring systems effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager notifies Ofsted when there has been a serious incident. However, there have been instances when reporting of notifications has been delayed. While there has been no direct impact on children’s care, this has been a missed opportunity to ensure that good practice is always followed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in their responsibilities set out under regulation 34, they prepare and implement policies that set out arrangements for the safeguarding of children from abuse or neglect, clear procedures for referring child protection concerns to the placing authority or local authority where the home is situated if appropriate, and specific procedures to prevent children going missing, and to take action if they do. The policy on protection of children from abuse and neglect should include arrangements in relation to dealing with allegations involving staff in the home, e-safety and to counter risks of self-harm and suicide. All policies should be reviewed regularly and revised where appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.19)  The registered person should ensure that they judge whether the incident is

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Recommendations

sufficiently serious to make formal notifications and, if it is, which other relevant persons may be notified, for example, the police, probation service, health professionals, the local authority for the area the home is located in (if this is not the child’s placing authority) and others involved with the care or protection of the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.12)  The registered person should ensure that there is a system in place so that all serious events are notified, within 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 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 for children’s home: SC412476 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michelle Callard

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Inspector

Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC412476 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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