Children's home run by Thrive Childcare Services Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 1 Registered provider: Thrive Childcare Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This private provider is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three children who have experienced early childhood trauma, and have emotional and behavioural needs as a result of these experiences.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been at the home since it was registered in August 2020. She holds a level 5 diploma in leadership and management and is an experienced registered manager.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/06/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. Children have developed positive relationships with staff. Children feel listened to, and they are encouraged to share their views, wishes and feelings. Staff know children well and they understand their needs. As a result, children are happy and settled in the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to make good progress. Staff understand the starting points for children, and they support children to develop their strengths. Children’s achievements are celebrated, and they are encouraged to aspire for their future. As a result, children feel valued and their experiences in the home are positive.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with people who are important to them. Their families are consulted, and they say that they feel involved in decisions about the care given to their children. As a result, children are supported to maintain relationships with their families.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is valued. Staff have developed very good relationships with the children’s education settings. Staff play a significant role in supporting children to meet expected academic targets. In addition, any barriers to children making good progress are explored and addressed collaboratively with their school and social worker. As a result, children are cared for by adults who care about their future and who aspire for them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in activities and hobbies that they enjoy. Their interests are promoted, and staff ensure that children can continue to develop their skills. For example, one child has been encouraged to start a chess club at school. This has ensured that the child has supported others to acquire a new skill, and this has enabled the child to develop new friendships. Consequently, children are developing their confidence and self-esteem.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children who have left the home have experienced planned moves to their new homes and to their families. These were well managed, and children speak positively of their experiences and the support from staff. One child’s move from the home was unplanned. The manager considered the needs and safety of all the children in the home to ensure that this decision was in the best interests of all children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint. The manager takes sufficient action to ensure that children’s complaints are taken seriously. Children are reassured and their views are respected. Staff who are the subject of a complaint are also adequately supported. The manager ensures that restorative discussions take place to help repair fractured relationships. As a result, children feel heard, and they are assured that their views are important. Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 4 Overall, the home feels welcoming. However, some areas, including one child’s bedroom, were untidy. The inspector saw used plates and utensils, as well as a full and unemptied rubbish bin in the child’s bedroom. In addition, there were some items in the garden that are no longer in use but had not yet been disposed of by the home. The manager ensured that the concerns about the child’s bedroom were immediately addressed during the inspection. However, this has an impact on the

p.3

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

Children feel safe in the home, and they can identify staff who they can speak to if they have any worries. Children who struggle to settle shortly after moving into the home are supported effectively. They experience consistent boundaries, structure and routines which help them feel safe. This has resulted in serious incidents reducing in the home.

p.4

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

Staff ensure that they take sufficient action when children self-harm. They ensure that immediate action is taken to keep children safe. In addition, all relevant agencies, including the clinical team and the school, are consulted to ensure that a holistic approach is taken to keep children safe. This promotes good safeguarding practice.

p.4

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

Children who go missing are supported effectively. Staff ensure that they follow the appropriate protocols to ensure that sufficient and timely action is taken when children go missing. For example, one child’s missing episodes significantly reduced as staff where able to identify the push and pull factors for them. Staff developed good relationships with the child’s network, which aided in implementing effective safety plans. The manager and staff also advocated for the child to ensure their views, wishes and feelings were listened to and understood by the local authority. As a result, risks to the child reduced and the child made good progress.

p.4

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

Overall, physical restraint practice in the home is good. This is used proportionately and as a last resort to manage children’s behaviour. The recording of physical restraints is good, and staff ensure that debriefs are completed with children to explore their feelings and their experience of the intervention. The manager ensures that staff are spoken to about the actions taken, and there is good oversight commenting on the appropriateness of the intervention. This practice promotes the safety and well-being of children.

p.4

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

Staff do not consistently record rewards or consequences imposed on children. This impacts on the effective monitoring of behavioural management strategies in the home.

p.4

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

Risk assessments are not consistently clear about risk management strategies. For example, staff have used a strategy not outlined in the child’s individual risk assessment to manage their behaviour. This strategy did not reflect trauma- informed practice, nor the therapeutic parenting approach used by the home. On another occasion, staff contacted the police to help address a child’s challenging Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 5 behaviour, but staff’s recording of the incident did not evidence that there was an imminent threat of harm that required this level of intervention. Unapproved strategies result in poor management of challenging behaviour, and staff’s actions may have resulted in a child being criminalised needlessly.

p.4

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

On one occasion, staff did not follow safeguarding procedures when an allegation against a member of staff was made by a child. Staff delayed in notifying a senior manager of the concerns. This was identified by leaders and the manager, who took immediate action when they were informed of the concerns. They have ensured that staff have been supported through further training to help improve their knowledge of good safeguarding practice.

p.5

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

Overall, the manager responds to allegations against staff well and decisions are made to safeguard children. The manager ensures that all relevant professionals are informed. However, on one occasion, leaders and the manager did follow their policies and procedures when investigating allegations into staff’s practice. Leaders made a decision to deploy a staff member under investigation to another home, but a risk assessment was not completed to demonstrate the appropriateness of this decision. In addition, the organisation did not complete a comprehensive summary of their findings. Leaders and the manager’s written records do not evidence the support offered to the member of staff during the investigation period and prior to their return. This hinders effective safeguarding practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong leader, who is experienced, knowledgeable and suitably qualified. She is committed to achieving positive outcomes for children. In addition, she is child focused and advocates for the best interest of children in the home. As a result, children are well cared for and looked after in the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working at the home. They are motivated to provide good-quality care so that children enjoy their lives and make progress. There is a strong sense of teamwork and mutual support among staff. Staff also speak positively about the support from the manager and describe staff morale as good. As a result, children are looked after by staff who understand the ethos of the home and their role in supporting them to make good progress.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External partners and families speak very highly of the manager and the staff. Professionals have described the communication from the home as excellent, and state that the manager and staff have been instrumental in the progress that the children have made. The manager ensures that other agencies are challenged when necessary, and works collaboratively with others to ensure that children’s needs are understood. This ensures that all agencies are involved in the children’s care and their outcomes.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, the manager has good monitoring and reviewing systems. These are particularly effective in monitoring children’s progress. As a result, the manager has Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 6 efficient systems to evaluate the quality of care provided to the children and is continuously making improvements to the home.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment practice in the home is good, and the manager ensures that all staff are safely recruited. Sufficient checks are completed of newly recruited staff. Therefore, the manager is assured that all adults working with children are safe to do so.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that the home’s placement plans for children are comprehensive and meet their individual needs. She also ensures that she supports staff to understand the children’s plans to enable them to be effective. However, the manager is not ensuring that the home has up-to-date documents from the local authority and other external agencies. This omission may hinder effective care planning.

p.6

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The regulator is not always informed of serious incidents in the home. For example, the regulator was not informed of an incident involving a child attending the hospital following an incident of self-harm. On another occasion, the regulator was not informed by the leaders, or the manager, of an incident relating to poor misconduct by staff. The regulator is, therefore, not able to review the actions taken by leaders and the manager to ensure that children are safe and that their welfare is promoted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 7

p.6

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.

p.7

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

p.7

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)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(b))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that risk assessments provide sufficient strategies to help manage children’s behaviour; and that these strategies consider trauma-informed approaches used by the home. 21 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 8 In particular, staff must follow the home’s policies and procedures to notify senior managers of any allegations made against other staff working in the home.

p.7

Requirement Due date

In addition, leaders and the manager must ensure that they follow the home’s policies and procedures when investigating allegations into staff practice.

p.8

Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

p.8

Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there.

p.8

Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(c)(e))

p.8

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the regulator is informed of all serious events in the home. 24 February 2023

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that the home meets basic day-to-day needs and physical necessities of all children living in the home. They must ensure that there are effective systems in place so that the home environment, including children’s bedrooms, is kept clean and tidy. Staff must ensure that any items no longer in use or defective are disposed of as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.7)  The registered person must ensure that staff record all rewards and consequences imposed on children. Leaders and the manager must ensure that these are subject to systems of regular scrutiny so that their use is fair and appropriate. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person must ensure that the home has an up-to-date record of all relevant children’s documents. This must include an up-to-date placement plan

p.8

Recommendations

and a record of the review of the placing authority’s plan for the care of the child as set out in Schedule 3. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.3)

p.8

Information about this inspection

Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 9 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: 2593928 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Thrive Childcare Services Ltd

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 72 Oakdale Drive, Heald Green, Cheadle SK8 3SW

p.10

Inspector

Mazviita Makiyi, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2593928 11 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.

p.10

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11