Preston Springs Farmhouse

Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 1 SC441080 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care 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 company. It is registered to care for three children. The children who live at the home usually have social and emotional needs that they require support with.

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Information about this children’s home

The home does not have a registered manager. The current manager has been in post since July 2021. He has submitted a complete application to apply to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 16 November 2021

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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: SC441080 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/11/2021 Full Good 06/08/2019 Full Good 18/07/2018 Full Good 06/03/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children live in the home. One child has lived here for nearly four years. The other two children have lived in the home since October 2022. Children’s overall and day-to-day experience of living in the home is positive. Managers and staff work in partnership with the placing authority, children, their families and specialist agencies. These relationships enable staff to provide personalised care that supports and reflects children’s complex needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff want the best for the children who live here. Their positive relationships are clear to see. Children like spending time with staff and enjoy living in the home One child told the inspector, ‘I love living here. They are my family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with their health and well-being. Staff demonstrate an ability to seek specialist help when this is necessary and have undertaken research to meet the specific needs of the children they care for. The multi-team approach means that children’s needs are responded to effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain regular contact with their families when this is safe and appropriate. They provide practical and emotional support to maintain and develop these relationships. This means that children are not isolated from those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help to promote children’s learning. Two children attend school regularly and are making good progress from their starting points. One child requires constant encouragement to attend and engage with school. Despite this challenge, staff work in partnership with education professionals, and they are consistent in their approach and have adapted new strategies to successfully support the child to reintegrate into education. This means that they meet children’s learning needs, and any issues are addressed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and therapy team distil learning from theoretical models to staff. This gives staff a greater understanding of children’s emotional needs and supports staff to deliver consistent and individualised care. Training in therapeutic approaches and an understanding of attachment theory underpin staff practice. Regular consultations with a clinical psychologist are used well and are effective in improving staff practice. This enables staff to better understand the reasons behind some of the children’s behaviours and provide a nurturing environment in which children thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children do not receive effectively planned care, as managers do not have their most up-to-date plans from the local authority. Managers fail to escalate requests effectively to the local authority for the children’s most up-to-date plans. This disorganised approach to the care planning arrangements for children has Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 4 contributed to the children’s needs not being fully understood by staff and managers.

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

Staff and children have positive and caring relationships with each other. Managers and staff listen to children’s views. Children know how to make a complaint, and any complaints are taken seriously. As a result, children feel listened to and valued.

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

Managers and staff demonstrate a great understanding of children’s vulnerabilities and the potential risks posed to them. Clear guidance and strategies to follow are recorded in written risk assessments. This helps to ensure that children are protected from harm.

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

Managers and staff work positively with health and education professionals, social workers and the police to keep children safe. Incidents of restraint are minimal, always a last resort, necessary and proportionate. When restraints have taken place, they have been managed well. Staff use de-escalation techniques to support children well, and they follow children’s positive behaviour risk management plans. Staff work well with children so that children understand behaviour that may present a risk to them. This work has supported children to become increasingly safe.

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

Staff educate children about risk. Meaningful work with children includes topics such as mobile phone safety and the risks of going missing from home. This positive work enhances children’s knowledge of risk and allows them to take the lead in their learning.

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

Incidents of self-harm have been managed well. Children take part in writing their personalised safety plans. The home works well with the clinical team to support children who self-harm and to provide alternative strategies to keep them safe. Because of this, incidents of self-harm have reduced from children’s starting points.

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

There are clear risk assessments in place that direct staff when children go missing from home, and staff follow the joint protocol effectively. The searches that are conducted by staff and the persistent attempts to make contact show children that they are cared about. Proactive collaboration with parents, local authorities and the police supports children to return home safely. However, on one occasion, managers and staff did not take proactive action to bring about a child’s return to the home. Staff completed minimal searches of key areas to look for the child when they were missing. This does not ensure that children’s welfare is safeguarded.

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

Managers and staff place a high priority on keeping children safe. They work in partnership with placing authorities to protect children and promote their safety. The effectiveness of these relationships helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities, and they have a good knowledge of whistle-blowing procedures. On one occasion, following an allegation from a child, the manager on this occasion did not notify statutory bodies within the required timescales and has since taken action to address this. Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 5 Managers and staff use bedroom door alarms to monitor children’s movements. Staff do not adequately assess the need to use these monitoring devices, and there are no highlighted risks to children’s safety if they are not used. The use of these alarms is common practice in the home and infringes on children’s privacy without

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

due reason. For example, door alarms sound when children use the toilet at night.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since July 2021. He is experienced and is in the process of registering with Ofsted. He holds some relevant qualifications for this role and is currently completing a level 5 diploma in leadership and management for residential childcare.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child-focused and passionate. He is ambitious for children and ensures that this ethos spreads through the staff team. Staff morale is good, and they enjoy working at the home. One staff member told the inspector, ‘The best thing about working here is the ongoing support I get from the manager.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working arrangements between the home, the placing authority and other external agencies are generally very positive. One social worker said, ‘They are fantastic; the work they have done in a short period of time is amazing. They hold children and keep them safe.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings and staff supervision sessions take place monthly and are used as a place for reflection and learning. Important issues are tracked and discussed, and children are at the centre of all staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The majority of the staff hold the required level 3 diploma. A small number of staff are currently working to achieve this, and plans are in place to ensure that they complete this within the required time frame. Staff are provided with a wide range of training that informs their practice and meets children’s individual and diverse needs. However, one staff member has not obtained their level 3 qualification in residential childcare within the required time frame. The manager has noted this shortfall and is taking steps to address it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recent review of the quality of care has plenty of detail. However, it would benefit from more evaluation, especially of the lessons learned after children moved out or after significant incidents. Although staff frequently ask for children’s views about the daily activities and their plans, this consultation is not used to improve the quality of the service or children’s overall experience. Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all statutory documents have been received for all children. 20 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the use of door alarms on children’s bedroom doors is adequately assessed. 20 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate 20 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 7 qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home. (Regulation 32 (1) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff working in the home complete the appropriate qualification within the required timescale.

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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.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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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

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must— 20 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 8 supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that the review of the quality of care includes consultation with children living in the home and that significant incidents are evaluated.

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that managers fully follow the child protection procedures, particularly ensuring that the local authority designated officer is consulted in addition to the child’s social worker and HMCI following any allegations. The registered person must also ensure that staff actively search for children when they are missing from home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, paragraph 9.19)

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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: SC441080 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton, Greater Manchester BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Marianne Grandfield, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC441080 10 regulates and inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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