Children's Home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 1 SC363384 Registered provider: Keys Educational Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is experienced and was registered with Ofsted in December 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/08/2021 Full Good 27/11/2019 Full Good 08/01/2019 Full Good 10/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There has been significant refurbishment of the home since June 2022, which is nearing completion. Leaders and managers have transformed the home into a very well furnished and comfortable place for children to live. There are two children living at the home. They were consulted in the planning of the changes and chose some of the decorations and furnishings. This helped the children to feel included during a time of considerable change in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed strong relationships with the manager and staff. The manager and staff have ensured that children continue to receive good care during the renovations. When children had to temporarily move out, staff found appropriate accommodation close to the home so that children could maintain their daily routines, including attending school. The children moved back into the home as soon as possible. The manager and staff worked hard to provide children with the stability and security they needed during these transitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health. They are well supported to attend routine and specialist appointments. One child has a specific health need which requires regular medical oversight. The manager and staff are working closely with specialist agencies to ensure the child’s needs are met. External professionals involved with the children say that the home offers children excellent support with their health. As a result, children have made significant progress, which has improved their quality of life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have helped children to establish good routines. They attend school and have gradually increased their attendance, due to bespoke timetables and good support. Children are planning to go on to further education and have aspiration for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have busy lives. They regularly see family and friends and can invite people to spend time at their home. Time spent with family has increased for one child. The manager and staff provide a good range of activities and experiences for children, including holidays and day trips. This helps children to build their confidence in new situations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff undertake regular direct work with children. This includes talking to them about important issues including sexual health, online safety and becoming more independent. Some written records completed by staff contain language and phrases which could be stigmatising for children. Although this is not intentional, this has the potential to impact negatively on children’s self-esteem. The manager recognises the importance of maintaining child-centred records which children find helpful. Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 4

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

The manager and staff have a good understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities for each child. They work hard to manage these risks, but understand that they are dynamic and changeable. Some risk assessments are written well. They include relevant and sufficiently detailed information. Others are unclear about the nature of risks and measures in place to manage them. These documents do not provide evidence that all staff have read the content. This leaves room for error in terms of keeping children safe.

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

Staff have had to manage a high number of incidents. The manager has provided regular training and support to help staff manage the children’s behaviours. Overall, this has been effective. A real strength has been the support provided to children during incidents of self-harm. There has been a reduction in frequency and severity of these incidents. However, on occasion, the supervision of children has not been at the right level. The manager has addressed shortfalls in practice but recognises that further work is required to prevent further incidents taking place in the future.

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

The children rarely go missing from care. When this has happened, the manager and staff work effectively with external professional agencies to make sure children return safely and quickly. This shows the commitment of the manager and staff to keeping children safe from risks such as exploitation and criminal activity.

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

Leaders and managers have a very good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities. They act quickly when concerns are raised about children’s safety. Support is provided to children and staff in these circumstances. Leaders and managers promote transparent practice with the staff team and maintain good relationships with all relevant external safeguarding agencies. As a result, professionals have good oversight of any concerns and have confidence that children are protected.

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

Staff recruitment is carried out in accordance with safer recruitment protocols. This helps to prevent unsafe adults caring for children. The manager has required some support from an employment agency. She ensures that the same member of staff from the agency works in the home. This means that children receive care and support from staff they know and trust.

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

The manager ensures that the physical environment is well maintained, to keep children safe. The manager has considered the renovations and recognises the importance of completing a health and safety audit to ensure security measures are reinstated to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has an experienced manager who is providing strong leadership. She is full of energy and passion and has brought stability and consistency to the home. The manager shows commendable commitment to the children. She is very much Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 5 involved in all aspects of their care. She always has time for them, which makes children feel valued and cared for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has kept the staff team stable. The staff have confidence in the manager. They value her open and supportive approach. Staff benefit from regular training which is relevant to the children’s needs. This has helped them to develop new ways of working which have had a positive impact on their relationships with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive professional supervision which focuses on children’s needs. There are opportunities to discuss personal issues and professional development. This helps to maintain resilience and motivation in individual staff members and the wider team. However, the manager could not locate some supervision notes. This has the potential to disrupt the effectiveness and continuity of the supervision process, for example, reviewing actions and performance-related issues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates well on behalf of children. She makes sure that the children’s wishes and feelings are part of the decision-making process. The manager is confident to challenge other professionals when there are shortfalls in plans for children. As a result, children are well protected from situations that may not be in their best interests. Professionals speak with enthusiasm about the home, saying it is ‘brilliant’, and have considerable confidence in the care being offered to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers make careful decisions about children coming to live at the home. They prioritise the needs of children already living there, so their progress is not disrupted. This ensures that children have the stability and security they need to become settled and reduces the risk of children having to move on in an unplanned manner. Children receive good support when they do move on. They stay in touch with the home to share their news and ask for advice. This shows the enduring nature of the relationships children develop with the manager and staff. Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(v))

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Requirement Due date

This relates to having clear, well-considered risk assessments which reflect the current nature and level of risks to children and how these are to be managed. This also relates to ensuring that staff read these risk assessments and maintain the levels of supervision required for each child at any given time. 18 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that a record of supervision is kept for staff, including the manager. The record should provide evidence that supervision is being delivered in line with regulation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene, etc); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 7 the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  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. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. 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)

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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: SC363384 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Educational Services Limited

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspectors

Laura Walker, Social Care Inspector Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC363384 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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