Children's home run by 2nd Nurture Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 1 SC454265 Registered provider: 2nd Nurture Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately run and provides care for one child. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for children who may have social and/or emotional difficulties or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2013.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 25 January 2022

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/01/2022 Full Good 11/09/2019 Full Good 28/02/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness 14/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 3

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improvement to be good

There is one child currently living in this home. They have lived at the home for several years. The child is cared for by a small and consistent team of staff who they know well. During the inspection, positive relationships were observed between the child and the staff.

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improvement to be good

The child takes part in activities that they enjoy. Since the last inspection, the child has continued to attend a sea cadets group in the local community. During the summer holidays, the child enjoyed a trip away with staff where they participated in different activities, such as archery.

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improvement to be good

Staff support the child to build and maintain relationships with their family members. The child’s views regarding the time they spend with family are listened to and acted on appropriately by staff.

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improvement to be good

There is effective communication between staff and educational professionals. This ensures that the child gets the support they need and that any difficulties are understood and addressed. The child has recently received an award for achieving 100% attendance at school. However, the child’s most recent personal education plans are not on file, which had not been identified by the registered manager.

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improvement to be good

Plans are in place to support children with their individual health needs. The child is registered with relevant health professionals and is supported to attend routine appointments.

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improvement to be good

This small family home is comfortable and homely. Photos of the child during their time living in the home are on display. Some recent improvements have been made to the property, such as new windows to the utility room. However, the home’s bathroom door requires attention to ensure that it locks with ease.

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improvement to be good

Risk management plans are in place to address the child’s risks and vulnerabilities. However, not all plans have been updated to ensure that they contain the most current information. Consequently, the strategies in place do not reflect staff practice. Furthermore, plans have not been reviewed to ensure that the strategies in place remain the most effective and proportionate way of managing risk.

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improvement to be good

When incidents occur, staff respond quickly, and information is shared with relevant professionals. However, records do not always demonstrate that further follow-up work is carried out by the staff team to address the child’s key areas of need. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 4 There has only been one consequence used since the last inspection. While records indicate that the measure used was proportionate, they have not been completed with the level of detail required by regulation. This was a requirement at the last inspection and is restated.

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improvement to be good

Plans that detail how staff are to manage the child’s behaviour have not been updated since the last inspection. During this inspection, it was identified that there is an inconsistent approach from staff regarding how they promote positive behaviour. This creates a lack of consistency for the child.

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improvement to be good

There have been no incidents of the child going missing from this home since they moved in. There is a written protocol for staff to follow in the event the child goes missing. However, not all staff are confident in the actions required should the child go missing from the home.

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improvement to be good

Internal door locks have been removed and thumb-turn locks have now been fitted to external doors of the home. This means that the child has access to all areas of their home and can leave the home independently in the event of an emergency.

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good

The home is managed by a suitably experienced and qualified registered manager.

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good

There is a small and dedicated staff team. Staff spoken to during the inspection describe a supportive environment and are positive about the home and the support they receive from the registered manager. All staff receive regular supervision. However, staff have not received an annual appraisal. This does not ensure that staff are supported to review and develop their practice, particularly staff placed in senior roles.

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good

Staff are working towards achieving the relevant qualifications for their role. The home’s statement of purpose sets out the organisation’s approach to specific training for staff. However, this has not been prioritised in a timely way. Furthermore, staff have not received training in online safety, despite this being necessary.

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good

Monitoring and review systems are ineffective. The registered manager does not review incidents thoroughly enough to understand what can be learned or to ensure that any further action required is taken.

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good

The registered manager must ensure that the home’s rotas clearly record the actual hours staff work in the home. This will ensure that there are accurate records kept if there are any safeguarding concerns.

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good

At the last inspection, a requirement was made regarding the home’s review of the quality of care, specifically in relation to the lack of evaluation and consultation with others. Sufficient action to address this has not been taken. Actions identified are weak and repeated in reports. Reports have not been sent to Ofsted within the Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 5 timescales required by regulation and do not support the registered manager to drive forward improvement.

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good

The home has an independent visitor to provide external scrutiny of the home. They have been visiting this home for several years. However, the content of reports gives limited feedback to the provider. This does not support the registered manager to develop practice in the home.

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good

Leaders and managers have failed to meet four of the requirements made at the last inspection. Therefore, these requirements have been restated. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 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

help each child to understand how to keep safe. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that: risk management plans are accurate; the strategies in the child’s risk management plans are reviewed and evaluated to ensure that they are effective; all plans are known and understood by staff. 12 April 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; 12 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 7 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the home has sufficient experienced and qualified staff and that there are effective monitoring systems in place to ensure that all aspects of the day-to-day running of the home are carried out.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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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)(c)) 12 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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Requirement Due date

details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure; 12 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 8 within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This refers to the registered person’s monitoring and oversight of each measure.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child;

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Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that children’s case records are kept up to date.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 12 April 2023

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that rotas record the actual hours worked in the home, including those of the registered person.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 12 April 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 9 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

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

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)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must improve the evaluative content of the report through gathering feedback from stakeholders and including actions to drive forward improvements in the home. The registered person must ensure that reports are sent to the regulator within timescales required by regulation.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 12 April 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person makes a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home’s arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home’s care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5)  The registered person should ensure that the bathroom door is repaired or replaced. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that expectations of standards of behaviour are clear and unambiguous. Positive behaviour and relationships should be encouraged with strategies clearly recorded in the child’s relevant plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11) Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 10

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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: SC454265 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: 2nd Nurture Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 64 Nathan Drive, Haydock, St Helens, Merseyside WA11 0GW

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Inspector

Genevieve O’Reilly, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC454265 12 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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