Children's home run by Keys Educational Services Limited in Rossendale

Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 1 SC363393 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 owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since May 2020.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC363393 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/04/2021 Full Good 22/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/10/2019 Full Good 16/01/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel safe in this home and are able to approach staff when they require support. Interactions between children and staff are warm and nurturing. This helps children to have a sense of belonging, and they consider this to be their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have a range of individual support plans that capture their views and wishes with regards to their care. Plans provide an overview of individual progress and provide strategies for staff to support children to meet their aims. This has helped children to make progress in this home from their starting points.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key-work sessions encourage children to talk about the things that are important to them. However, key-work sessions vary in quality and are not always sufficient in focus or depth to support children to reach their potential. For example, one child is not always being provided with meaningful advice and guidance about how to develop their independence skills and make positive life choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Feedback from staff and one social worker is positive. Staff have a good understanding of each child’s needs and how to support them. A social worker commented on the positive relationships between their child and staff, which are underpinned by ‘genuine and individual care’. This means that children enjoy spending time with staff and are able to seek support when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are attending regular educational provisions. When children struggle to attend school, staff work with the child in order to plan meaningful educational activities. However, in order to support children’s learning, school attendance should remain a priority.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the environment is homely, warm and nurturing, with photos of children throughout the home. Children have been supported to keep their bedrooms tidy, which has previously been a challenge for one child. The home has a plan for further development of the environment.

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improvement to be good

On the whole, safeguarding concerns are responded to appropriately by staff and managers. However, the registered manager has failed to identify the significance of reoccurring themes of concern for one child. This has resulted in an insufficient response to meet the child’s holistic needs. For example, specialist intervention for one child should be a priority, and managers have not done enough to provide an adequate service in a timely fashion. This means that the child is preparing to leave the home without having received the specialist support they require. Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 4 Support plans and risk assessments identify risk and provide strategies for staff to support children to keep themselves safe. However, plans and risk assessments have not been updated when new or increased concerns have been identified. For example, strategies to mitigate risk in relation to concerns raised by education

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improvement to be good

colleagues have not been included in supporting documents.

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improvement to be good

Behavioural support plans provide the staff with clear guidance about how to support children to manage their behaviour. This, alongside the positive relationships between children and staff, has resulted in physical intervention being rare. When physical intervention has been necessary, it has been proportionate and used only as a last resort.

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improvement to be good

All incidents, including those of physical intervention, have been evaluated by a member of the management team. Debriefs with children and staff promote reflection and seek to identify what could be done differently in the future. This has supported children to express themselves safely more often and led to a reduction in behaviours that challenge others.

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improvement to be good

The location risk assessment includes regular consultation with the local police force. This has allowed the registered manager to remain up to date when identifying risk and how to manage it. However, the risk assessment is generic and does not consider the individual risks of children in relation to the location of the home. This means that staff are not supported to consider how risk factors can interact or how to support children to keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has a clear understanding of the progress children are making and the support provided by the staff team. Interactions between staff and children are ‘nurturing, loving and kind’ and are underpinned by the principles of therapeutic care. The registered manager supports staff well to develop these practices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s quality of care review evaluates the home and seeks to identify areas of improvement. This positive process could be improved if children we consulted and if identified developments always included detail about how a target will be achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In order to support the children, leaders and managers offer a comprehensive training programme to the staff team. When additional needs of children are identified, staff are provided with relevant training opportunities. Most staff have completed mandatory training, while others require some refresher training sessions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s documents are not always up to date or reflective of the day-to-day experiences of children. For example, daily observation logs do not provide an accurate representation of the meals provided to children. This means that it is difficult to identify additional areas of support for children through management monitoring. Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 5 Team meetings provide staff with good opportunities to reflect on the needs of children and how the support offered by the team can improve outcomes. Team meetings allow for practices to be shared and developed. For example, guidance about meeting children’s sensory needs has been explored during a practice workshop in a team meeting. Team meetings also allow for incidents to be reflected on, with a focus on what could be done differently by the team in the future. This means that the team is able to respond effectively to the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. Supervisions provide staff with the opportunity to reflect on their individual practice and the practice of the team as a whole. Staff are supported well to reflect on their relationships and explore their personal development. Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; and

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Requirement Due date

understand their roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that staff implement strategies to reduce risk, and these strategies should be reflected in supporting documentation. 12 December

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Requirement Due date

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs. (Regulation 5 (b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children receive appropriate input from specialist services. 06 February 2023 Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 7

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Recommendations

 The registered person should support staff to be ambitious for every child in the home and to gain skills and experience that enable them to actively support each child to achieve their potential. The registered person should also ensure that staff understand and can meet each child’s needs, in line with their responsibilities. In particular, the registered person should ensure key-work sessions are of good quality and support children to achieve their potential. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards, page 52, paragraph 10.5)  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. In particular, recordings should accurately reflect children’s experiences and opportunities. (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: SC363393 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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Inspector

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC363393 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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