Children's home run by Longboat Special Education Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 1 Registered provider: Longboat Special Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home forms part of an independent school. It provides residential care for up to 16 children and young people aged between 11 and 19 with severe learning disabilities and associated needs, such as limited verbal communication. Children may have autism spectrum disorder. The school offers residential term-time only placements or 52-week placements. There were 11 children resident at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified and has been in post since May 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

The home also incorporates a school which the children attend. Inspectors only inspected the social care provision on this site.

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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: 18 October 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: This home was judged inadequate at the full inspection in October 2022. Consequently, compliance notices were issued. These were found to have been met at a subsequent monitoring visit in December 2022. Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2022 Full Inadequate 07/12/2021 Full Good 04/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, managers have ensured that significant improvements have been achieved. As a result, children are safer and have better experiences in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The dedicated staff team provides good-quality care, which promotes positive outcomes for all children. The staff use their knowledge, skills and experience to meet the needs of the children in a nurturing manner. Staff morale is high, and staff enjoy being at the home. A staff member commented, ‘I love my job, it’s the best job I’ve ever had.’ Another said, ‘It’s so rewarding, I am extremely happy here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children extremely well and have consistently strong relationships with them. They use these relationships to encourage children to become more confident and to learn appropriate life skills. Staff recognise the progress that children make, no matter how small this might be. For example, one child has learned to use cutlery. Another child no longer uses incontinence pads during the day following a successful toilet-training programme. This is good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff seek children’s views and ensure that these are acted on whenever possible. Children make decisions about their daily activities and changes to the home’s decor and menus. Staff are skilled at observing children and picking up on non-verbal cues and changes in their behaviour that might indicate something is wrong. This has improved following some training delivered in this area, and additional training is scheduled for the coming months to further strengthen this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to participate in a wide range of activities. It is clear to see they have lots of fun and laughter, and they create memories while enjoying new experiences, including trips to the seaside, holidays, bowling, disco sessions, birthday parties and much more. Memory books capture the nurture and experiences of each child. Additional photographic progress books are a creative way of showing the progress children have made. These books capture fond, loving memories for the child to reflect on and take with them when they leave the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the need for children to spend time with the people who are important to them. Staff ensure that they maintain appropriate relationships with family members. They promote family time, and transport and supervise children when seeing their friends. This enables the children to maintain important links and helps them retain a sense of identity.

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

A significant amount of work has been carried out to support a reduction in the use of physical intervention. This has been successful and stopped the use of certain Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 4 holds for several children. The home has invested in a positive behaviour strategy to further reduce the use of physical intervention in behaviour management.

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

The accuracy of the physical intervention records has improved. In addition, staff talk to children about their experience of being restrained after it has happened. This ensures that children can express their feelings and discuss any support they need following incidents. If a child does not use verbal communication, staff try to ascertain their views using different communication methods.

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

The manager ensures that any complaints or grumbles are followed up and managed effectively. There is evidence of how this has been used to develop the service and improve communication.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s safety needs. However, risk assessments are not comprehensive. They fail to identify all risks and do not provide staff with clear guidance on how to manage known risks. For example, there have been two incidents of a child pulling staff’s hair. However, this is not identified as a behaviour in the child’s risk assessment and fails to provide guidance to staff on the action to take to manage the risk. This leaves children and staff vulnerable.

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

The home is furnished and decorated to a good standard. There are photos of the children enjoying activities with the staff throughout the home. However, some areas of maintenance have not been addressed in a timely manner. For example, a large hole was identified in one child’s bedroom wall that had been reported several months ago. This has been overlooked by the maintenance team and was repaired during the visit.

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

A specialist independent advocate has been employed who visits the home on a regular basis. In addition, managers have ensured that staff understand the role of the advocate. This service is widely promoted throughout the home for children to use and ensures that children’s voices are listened to.

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

The manager places the safety and welfare of children first and recruits new staff in accordance with safer recruitment protocols. New staff undergo a range of checks that are designed to minimise the likelihood of children being harmed by those caring for them. Improvements have been made to the level of detail and information shared when references are provided for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and leaders have ensured that good progress has been made since the last full inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a manager who has worked in residential settings for many years. She is supported by a very committed deputy manager. Both have a shared vision for the home and are passionate and aspirational for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 5 The manager is reflective, thoughtful and seeks to improve practice. There is a willingness to accept that things may not work, but also a real desire to get it right for children. Some minor shortfalls in practice are still not being identified and addressed quickly enough. N ew electronic management monitoring systems are in the process of being implemented to further assist managers in their monitoring of the home’s operation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Multi-agency working is a strength in this home. This approach promotes the full involvement of the professional network around the child. There is very good daily communication between the care staff, school staff and other professionals. This means that approaches to care are well coordinated. Feedback from social workers is positive. One social worker said, ‘ They are fantastic and remain child centred in the decisions they make.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are some challenges appointing to current staff vacancies. However, staff retention is good. Staff say they feel supported and enjoy coming to work. This results in a warm and inviting home environment where children flourish.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have completed an intense training programme in behaviour management since the last visit. This has equipped them with the skills to better manage children’s challenging behaviour. This has reduced the use of restraint. However, the manager recognises that this has been an area of priority and some other areas of training have therefore not been completed, for example training in helping children to communicate by pictures. The manager has a detailed training plan for the coming months to ensure that staff complete the required training to meet children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have failed to ensure that all staff members receive regular supervision meetings with their manager. Staff do not receive formal supervision during their three-month induction period. This prevents staff from having regular discussions to address any concerns arising, and opportunities for staff to reflect on their practice may be lost.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have clear plans to continue to develop the service further. They are aware of the strengths and areas they wish to improve. There is strong evidence of learning from the previous shortfalls and an aspiration to provide good help and support for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 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;

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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)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that risk assessments reflect the needs and identified risks of the children and include guidance on how staff should respond to the assessed risks. 13 March 2023

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)) 27 March 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 7 This specifically relates to staff having the identified training to meet children’s individual communication needs.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that all staff receive regular, reflective supervision. 13 March 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. Children’s homes will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. The home must comply with relevant health and safety legislations, such as alarms and food hygiene. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2523030 8

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Longboat Special Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hilltop Farm, Danethorpe Lane, Danethorpe, Newark, Nottinghamshire NG24 2PD

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Inspectors

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Shaun Caplis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2523030 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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