Children's Home run by Positive Steps Specialist Care Services Limited in Peterborough

Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 1 Registered provider: Positive Steps Specialist Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This children home is operated by a private company. The home provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities and/or sensory impairments.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2021.

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

Date of last inspection: 14 December 2021

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. Three of the children have lived at the home for a long time. One child has recently moved to the home. Managers planned the move well and considered all of the information from the placing local authority. Effective planning ensured that the child settled quickly and staff are able to meet their needs.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s bedrooms are personalised with items of their choice. The manager recently moved her office downstairs so that the former office could be used as a child’s bedroom, in line with the child’s wishes. The child has an interest in cars and buses and enjoys looking out of the window at the bus stop. The child’s social worker said that the manager is ‘so thoughtful’ because the child has never had a choice of bedroom before and it is ‘fabulous’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have developed trusting relationships with staff. The staff know the children well and can communicate with them using the children’s preferred method of communication. The staff show genuine care and affection towards the children. One parent said the staff go ‘beyond expectations’ and they are ‘warm and engaging’.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support a range of activities to provide the children with new experiences. These include a holiday to the seaside, a youth club, visits to theme parks and taking part in the Race for Life walk. These experiences help to build the children’s confidence and broaden their community experiences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education. The children have specialist education places. One teacher said that communication with the staff is prompt and child- focused and that staff always put the children’s needs first. Another teacher said that the staff are proactive in supporting children’s school plans. These levels of support ensure that children make good educational progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has had some redecoration, and the lounges are spacious and comfortable. However, the kitchen is worn and dated, and this detracts from the overall positive impression.

p.3

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

Staff manage unwanted behaviour well. When incidents do occur, staff use effective and consistent strategies to calm situations. Children respond well to staff and are developing strategies to manage their feelings. Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 4 Staff understand the risks that the internet may pose to children. They hold individual sessions with children to help them keep safe. This helps children to understand safe use of the internet.

p.3

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

The monitoring of fire doors is not effective. Fire doors are propped open with unsuitable objects. This increases the risk to children and staff in the event of a fire.

p.4

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

Pre-employment checks are carried out for prospective staff. However, in one instance, a good conduct check was not carried out for the period when a staff member lived overseas. This does not ensure that all necessary information is available to evidence that staff have a history of good conduct and are suitable to work at the home.

p.4

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

The use of restraint is appropriate, necessary and proportionate. Since the last inspection, there have been two incidents of restraint, involving two children. Management recording of these incidents lacks detail. It does not consider the events leading up to the incident or patterns of behaviour. This prevents staff from using information to reduce future incidents.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well qualified and suitably experienced. The management and staff team are child-focused. They have high aspirations for children to succeed and achieve good-quality outcomes.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a strong advocate for children. She has established good working relationships with professionals and family members. Parents and professionals provided positive feedback about communication and working relationships. The manager ensures that any decisions made in respect of children are planned, well thought out and in the children’s best interests.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager matches children carefully. She will not move children to the home if the move is likely to negatively influence the children already living there. Good matching means that children experience limited disruption.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff contribute to the successful running of the home and feel valued and respected. They have regular supervision sessions and there is an ambitious plan for staff development and training. However, staff team meetings are not consistently held in line with the company’s policy. This can lead to gaps in information-sharing.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager writes a six-monthly review of the quality of care provided for the children. However, the manager has not responded to children’s feedback and has failed to produce a plan of action to improve the quality of care. Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 5

p.4

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.5

Requirement Due date

If the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005(1) applies to the home—

p.5

Requirement Due date

the registered person must ensure that the requirements of that Order and any regulations made under it, except for article 23 (duties of employees), are complied with in respect of the home. (Regulation 25 (2)(b)) 10 January 2023

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

p.5

Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home

p.5

Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

p.5

Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, when possible, verify that staff who have lived overseas have a history of good conduct. 10 January 2023

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality of care review") at least once every 6 months.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

p.5

Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and 10 January 2023 Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 6 any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (2)(b)(c))

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is decorated and maintained to a consistently good level throughout the accommodation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that the records of restraint review the use of control and review any issues or trends. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that the staff team is led and supported through regular staff meetings. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)

p.6

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: 2632330 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Positive Steps Specialist Care Services Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2 Trust Court, Vision Park, Chivers Way, Histon, Cambridgeshire CB24 9PW

p.7

Inspector

Paula Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2632330 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.

p.7

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.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8