Children's Home run by Worcestershire Children First in Worcestershire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 1 Registered provider: Worcestershire Children First Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide short breaks for up to six children with learning and/or physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 36 children were receiving short-breaks services. Another six children were in the process of being admitted.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2019. She is a qualified social worker and holds a leadership and management diploma at level 5. She is an experienced registered manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 14 December 2021

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 3

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outstanding

Children have great fun during their short breaks. They make new friends who they share a wide range of experiences with. These friendships are often maintained over several years while they continue to receive a service. Children and their families are overwhelmingly positive about the service they receive. One parent said, ‘The staff are all amazing and have done so much to help and encourage my son. I know my son is safe and all his needs are catered for when he is there.’

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outstanding

New children and family members feel welcomed when they are first introduced to the service. Staff provide valued reassurances and gradual planned introductions to overnight stays. The registered manager and staff liaise and meet with parents, carers and professionals and visit schools to gather information and ensure that staff receive any training required prior to a child receiving a service.

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outstanding

Staff have excellent knowledge of the children’s health needs. They work closely with medical professionals and a team of community-based nurses. For example, prior to the child’s first overnight stay, staff receive training that is specific to their individual needs, such as feeding or epilepsy. This training includes a competency element, which is then renewed by the community-based nurses annually for each staff member. Staff acknowledge the nurses’ time is limited and come in on their days off to complete this training.

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outstanding

Staff are experienced at balancing planned activities with activities chosen by the children. These might include arts and crafts, using the home’s sensory room, playing computer games, baking or playing in the garden. Staff also support the children to go out into the local community. This might be a walk to the local park, a trip to the cinema or going to the shops to spend pocket money. Some of these trips and activities enable the children to have social opportunities with friends that they are not able to experience at home or school.

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outstanding

Each month, staff plan themed activities around a specific topic. These are delivered to all the children during the month and are adapted to suit each child who is staying on the day. At the time of the inspection, the recent ‘create a picture’ topic was proudly displayed, which showed inspiration taken from two artists. These activities are linked to the children’s targets set out in their education, health and care plans. For some, this activity focused on hand-to-eye coordination and fine motor skills. Progress in these targeted areas is fed back by staff when they attend the children’s education, health and care meetings.

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outstanding

Children grow in confidence and self-esteem. Some develop skills that increase their independence, such as dressing and washing. Others develop their skills in communicating their needs or socialising with other children. Parents and Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 4 professionals praise the staff team’s ability to create a safe and nurturing environment where children can be themselves and flourish.

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outstanding

When children leave the service at 18, they receive a send-off party that is shared with friends and planned with their involvement. They receive presents and a photo album filled with memories. The family of a child who has recently left the service said:

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outstanding

‘The photo album which came home with him this week is fantastic. A wonderful record of his time at respite, including a lovely leaving/birthday party with his friends. He has a large bag of cards and presents from the staff to be opened on Sunday! We cannot thank the staff enough for the wonderful care and support they have given to us over the last two years.’

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

Managers and staff ensure that the children are safe. They understand the children’s vulnerabilities and the importance of having safeguarding measures in place to reduce the likelihood of incidents happening. There have been no complaints from the children, parents or professionals. There have been no significant safeguarding incidents. There have been no physical restraints, and consequences are not used.

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

Children enjoy positive relationships with the staff, who know them well and are sensitive to their needs. Staff are well equipped to support the children to feel safe because they are given clear guidance on how best to respond to children in certain situations and settings. If a child requires additional support, the staff liaise with the child’s school and parents to ensure a consistent, reassuring approach.

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

Staff provide safe environments in which the children can explore and grow. Children are supported to take risks that consider their individual circumstances and understanding. The monthly topics used to organise activities have included subjects that promote safety and well-being, such as fire awareness, summer safety and travel safety. These activities range based on the children’s abilities and understanding. For example, travel safety activities ranged from imaginary play, where children created a ‘bus’ of chairs and wheelchairs, to a walk to the local park, where children observed and discussed traffic lights, road crossings and crossing the road safely.

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

The home is welcoming and well maintained. The registered manager and staff team are always developing areas and replacing items, which ensures that it is maintained to a good standard. Risk assessments are of a good standard and ensure that the environment and any specialist equipment are safe for all children.

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

The registered manager ensures that all recruitment checks are carried out for the staff coming to work at the home. This means that children benefit from having staff working with them who have been safely vetted. Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is experienced and well established at this service. She uses her extensive knowledge and expertise to continue to develop the service. For example, she has now recruited a full management team that meets regularly to discuss ongoing areas for progression for the service. As the team of staff develops, and grows in size, she is using research to build on their cohesive practice. This is ensuring that they can meet the needs of the growing cohort of children effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is a strong advocate for the service and ensures that it operates in line with the statement of purpose. She ensures that the number of children who currently stay overnight is based on the needs of the children and the current size of the staff team. This ensures that staffing numbers are in line with the children’s assessed needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The team of staff are professional, experienced and consistent. All staff hold appropriate level 3 qualifications and have attended a wide range of specialist training linked to theories and research specific to children with physical and learning disabilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff say that team meetings and supervision sessions are regular and reflective. They feel that managers provide excellent support and talk positively about the development and direction of the service and that this is informed by research and new technology. They feel actively involved in new initiatives and that their ideas are listened to and incorporated into plans. They have strong links to external professionals and work and train directly with them, for example when children use new communication tools or require new medical or health interventions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff give excellent focus to working in partnership to ensure the best outcomes for children. For example, due to a child’s disability and health needs, they could not travel in an ambulance to hospital in an emergency. Therefore, a member of staff drove the specially adapted minibus with the paramedic from the ambulance on board. The member of staff then stayed at the hospital with the child until their parent arrived.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff operate a wide range of auditing systems. These are implemented effectively and ensure the safety of the children. For example, staff recently identified that a pharmacist had put the wrong medication into a clearly labelled box. Their prompt action resulted in the child receiving the correct medication. The matter has been escalated with the pharmacy.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and staff have well-established relationships with the children’s families, and they are well regarded. They have also developed strong relationships with other agencies, particularly schools, community-based health teams and social care teams. The registered manager has, when assessed as appropriate, enabled children to have additional and extended stays to support Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 6 families’ and children’s emergency plans. She has also loaned out equipment to enable children to be with their families in emergency situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager and responsible individual are proactive at addressing any concerns raised and use monitoring and lessons learned to inform future practice. They continue to raise the service’s lack of a specialist vehicle that can be driven by a wider cohort of staff with more-senior managers. This shortfall is highlighted in the service’s development plan and has been repeated as a recommendation in this report. Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should, in conjunction with any relevant person (such as a parent or school), assess what would be safe, achievable and reasonable for each child, in line with relevant plans, when children with disabilities or illnesses have physical or emotional difficulties which prevent them from participating in leisure or cultural activities in the community. The registered person should ensure that appropriate opportunities are available for each child to have fun, form friendships and enjoy life, relative to their stage of development and individual needs. This specifically relates to all children having access to transport that would enable them to have access to a wide range of social opportunities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 32, paragraph 6.10)

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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: 2557361 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Worcestershire Children First

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Spetchley Road, Worcester WR5 2NP

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2557361 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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