Children's Home run by Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in Rotherham

Inspection report children’s home: 2597567 1 Registered provider: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered in July 2020 and is owned by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2022. She has a wealth of experience and is currently completing a leadership and management qualification.

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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 children’s home: 2597567 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2597567 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Over time, children have built positive relationships with staff. Children trust the staff and respond well to the consistent advice and guidance they receive. Staff model good parenting and are extremely nurturing. As a result, the children are more settled and are making progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from structured day and night routines. They know when they are attending school, visiting family and friends, or have planned activities or social events. These consistent routines give children a sense of predictability, which is helping them to feel secure and better manage their emotions and anxieties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress in areas such as building their self-confidence, increasing their attendance in education, improving their personal presentation and developing key life skills. Children are proud of their achievements, and these are clearly celebrated by everyone in the home. This creates an aspirational culture where children are at the heart of everything.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children regularly see family members and others who are important to them. Staff recognise how vital this is to the children’s identity. Staff ensure that the children maintain these essential relationships. They regularly keep in touch with parents and others to support these crucial family connections.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff focus on finding enjoyable activities for the children to take part in. Children enjoy spending time with friends, baking, going to the driving range, fishing and having pamper sessions at home. The inspector observed the children preparing for Halloween celebrations. The children carved their own pumpkins and decorated the home ready for the festivities. The atmosphere in the home replicates one of family life. As such, the children are thriving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are encouraged and supported to take part in learning how to look after themselves. They routinely help to clean and tidy their bedrooms and are involved in cooking and doing their laundry. This helps children to develop necessary independent life skills, appropriate to their age.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s wishes, feelings and views are given importance and are valued by staff. Their opinions are positively taken on board and include matters that affect their everyday life. This influences the care children receive. The children have daily discussions with staff, and they take part in a weekly ‘biscuit and brew’ children’s meeting. This results in children having a real say about things that matter to them, for instance the activities they wish to do, the decoration of their home and seeing their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child is attending school, college or an alternative provision. They continue to increase their attendance. Some have completed exams and are much more Inspection report children’s home: 2597567 4 confident about their next steps. However, not all personal education plans specifically set out children’s educational targets. This does not assist the manager in monitoring, mapping and maximising children’s progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health improves due to the staff promoting a healthy lifestyle. Staff support children to access health assessments, check-ups, and support services for their emotional well-being . Where children struggle to attend dental check-ups, due to anxiety, staff persist to find the right support to make sure that they feel able to. The children enjoy a balanced and healthy diet and take part in physical activities to further support their good health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a positive environment. The house is well furnished and decorated throughout. Some rooms are personalised, including the lounge and children’s bedrooms. There have been some incidents where damage has occurred. Repairs are undertaken promptly, which helps to ensure that the home is a positive place to live. However, the inspector noted that the hallway and landing lack personalisation, such as pictures and photos. In addition, the rear garden is uninviting and is not an area that is fully utilised by the children.

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

The safety of children is given the utmost importance. Staff fully demonstrate a knowledge and understanding of the care, vulnerabilities and potential risks for each child. This is reflected in the children’s individual and detailed care plans and written risk assessments. These set out clearly how staff should care for and support the children. These plans are regularly reviewed to ensure that staff have the most up- to-date information to care for children and keep them safe from harm.

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

Children now respond well to the clear and consistent rules, boundaries and daily routines. This reliable care approach helps the children enormously to feel safer and more secure.

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

The staff access assistance from the therapeutic team to support the children in the most appropriate way. All efforts are made to de-escalate situations when children are in crisis. When serious incidents occur, staff have clear, calming and supportive strategies to use for each child. The frequency of serious incidents has reduced as the children have started to feel safer and more secure.

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

Physical intervention is only used when children are at risk of harm. Since the last inspection, there have been four occasions when physical intervention has needed to be used. These incidents are promptly reviewed by the manager to make sure that all the actions taken are in line with legal requirements. The child’s well-being is always checked. This makes sure that safe practices are used to keep children safe.

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

Safer recruitment practices are followed. Thorough checks are undertaken. These include police checks and previous employment checks, along with others. This ensures that as much as possible is done to check the suitability of staff. Inspection report children’s home: 2597567 5 When children make allegations, these are taken seriously. Safeguarding procedures are followed and outside professionals are informed and involved. Safety measures are implemented until a full investigation is undertaken and concluded. Therefore, suitable action is taken to protect children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A new manager is in post and is committed to improving the leadership and management of the home. She is child centred and believes in a high-nurture approach. She implements this approach with children and staff. This ensures that children feel well cared for and the staff can provide good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s internal and external monitoring systems are thorough and effective. A number of improvements have been made to internal auditing tools. These improvements help the manager to take swift action to rectify any shortfalls identified. This makes certain that a good standard of care continues to be provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The previous requirements and recommendation made at the last inspection have been addressed. Staff are working well as a team and are child focused. All staff have taken part in a fire drill. In addition, all staff and external professionals are kept up to date with relevant information about the child. These improvements have been made under the direction and leadership of the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive great support informally and during formal supervision. Supervision is used positively to further develop staff’s skills. It also helps staff to reflect on their work practice and set targets. This helps to increase staff’s skills and knowledge to ensure that they can meet the needs of the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive and benefit from a detailed induction and access to mandatory training. This training includes areas such as safeguarding, first aid and behaviour management. In addition, staff access more specialist training in restorative practice, self-harm and child criminal exploitation. However, not all staff receive physical intervention training before they commence working in the home and caring for the children. In addition, staff have not had training in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. This does not ensure that the staff have all the knowledge and skills needed to meet the needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from having periods of time when they receive one-to-one care and support from the staff. The good staffing levels ensure that children’s individual needs can be routinely met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff work in partnership with other professionals. These professionals say that staff work collaboratively and communicate well with them. This helps to provide children with consistent care and support. Inspection report children’s home: 2597567 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. In particular, this relates to replenishing and further personalising all areas of the home, including the upstairs staircase and hallway, and further developing the garden to make it more child focused. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children’s educational progress is measured and evidenced in various ways. In particular, personal education plans should set out all targets clearly, to demonstrate the achieved progress in attendance and attainment and assist in maximising the child’s progress. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 26, paragraph 5.2)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities

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Recommendations

and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. In particular, all new staff should receive physical intervention training prior to working directly with the children. In addition, more specialist training should be provided to all staff in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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 children’s home: 2597567 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council, Riverside House, Main Street, Rotherham S60 1AE

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Inspector

Debbie Foster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2597567 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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