Children's home run by Prestige Adolescent Care and Education Limited in Stoke-on-Trent

Inspection report for children’s home: SC407933 1 SC407933 Registered provider: Prestige Adolescent Care and Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a private company and is registered to provide care for up to four children who may experience social and/or emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since April 2021 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 21 February 2022

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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: SC407933 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2022 Full Good 13/01/2020 Full Good 18/03/2019 Full Outstanding 12/03/2018 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC407933 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and two children have moved out of the home. One child has moved to another home and one child has returned to live with their family. At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home. One child has lived at the home for over three years and is making excellent progress in all areas. The other child has been living at the home for two months and is starting to make progress. They are building positive relationships with staff and their peers, and their education attainment is improving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress and experiences of children who live in this home are incredibly good. Children feel safe and secure because of the trusting and loving relationships that they have with staff. Children receive consistent, high-quality, individualised care from a dedicated and skilled staff team. Staff work well together. They are well organised, proactive, sensitive and insightful. As a result, children develop a sense of belonging and have a range of positive experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most children have positive experiences when moving into or out of the home. Where possible, staff ensure that children have well-planned transitions. For example, prior to moving in, staff encourage children to visit the home to see what it is like and to meet the staff. When children move out of the home, staff support children to meet their new carers and use transition plans to reintegrate children back into their families before they return home. This supports children to reduce their anxieties and settle into their new homes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make substantial progress from their starting points in education. All the children who have lived in the home have been in full-time education. Staff understand the barriers to children attending education and work closely with educational professionals to overcomes these. When required, staff will support children in school by going into lessons with them. This promotes consistency for children and helps them to feel safer in the school environment. One child, who has previously struggled in school, now has excellent attendance and their unwanted behaviours in school are reducing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to try new things and develop hobbies and interests. One child attends a variety of weekly clubs, including scouts, shooting, jumping and swimming. Another child has achieved a silver award in swimming. The staff and children have set up a vegetable patch in the garden and have successfully grown a variety of vegetables and fruit. Sharing activities enables children to grow in confidence and improve their self-esteem. It also helps children to build relationships with their carers and supports them to improve their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good physical and emotional health and well-being. Staff support children to access internal therapeutic support and will seek support from medical professionals when required. Staff work with children to help them to understand Inspection report for children’s home: SC407933 4 their diagnoses and the reasons for taking medication. This promotes positive health outcomes for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend family time with people who are important to them. Staff work sensitively with families to ensure that this is a positive experience for children. One child’s parent told the inspector that staff keep them informed about their child. This supports children to maintain a sense of belonging in their families, and it promotes their sense of identity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are highly valued by staff and the manager. Children have multiple opportunities to have their say, for example through children’s meetings, debriefs, consultation and extensive key-work sessions. This allows the children to share and talk about their achievements, reflect on events and learn how to manage conflict. These opportunities provide valuable life experiences for children to learn how to communicate and listen effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious, with appropriate furnishings, decor and personalisation of children’s bedrooms. The home offers the opportunity for communal meals and interactions, as well as space for children to be alone. There are memorabilia on display around the home of children’s time at the home. This enables children to feel a sense of belonging and identity.

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

Children feel safe and supported living in the home. Staff have a strong response to safeguarding children and work closely with agencies. Staff know the children extremely well. They understand their needs, risks and the actions they need to take to keep children safe. There have been times when children have displayed behaviours that have been challenging. Staff have managed these periods well.

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

Comprehensive behaviour support plans and risk assessments provide staff with clear guidance and strategies to support children and reduce risk. Staff work extensively with children to understand their behaviours, risks and triggers. This has supported the children to become safer. As a result, incidents have reduced.

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

Children very rarely leave the home without authorisation. When necessary, staff follow the child’s individual plan to ensure that they are located as quickly as possible. When children return, staff warmly welcome them back, and they understand that staff worry for their safety. This means that children can talk to staff about what happened while they were missing and feel reassured.

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

The use of physical intervention is minimal and proportionate. Children and staff review incidents, which helps them to reflect and learn. This means that staff maintain positive and healthy relationships with children.

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

Staff use verbal praise and rewards to promote positive behaviours. Children only normally receive consequences when they cause considerable damage to property. They understand the reasons for these consequences and staff use debrief sessions Inspection report for children’s home: SC407933 5 to encourage children to reflect on their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions. This enables them to demonstrate more positive behaviours and improves their relationships. However, the consequences are not restorative in nature and focus on children forsaking their pocket and reward money. This is not in line with the home’s ethos.

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

Staff and the manager do not consistently review restrictions in place in a timely manner. For example, staff have not allowed one child to keep their electrical hair appliances in their bedroom for over two months. Staff have not reviewed whether these restrictions are necessary and proportionate. This means that restrictions may have been in place longer than necessary, which does not support children to grow in their independence.

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

The manager follows safer recruitment practices. This ensures that only vetted individuals work at the home and provide care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A committed and proactive manager leads the home. She has high aspirations for children and staff alike. The manager shows high ambition for the home and where it aims to be. This ethos is shared with the staff and children, which results in high- quality care. The manager and staff have an exceptional knowledge of the children’s starting points and what they have accomplished since living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the strengths and areas for development of the home. The manager has extremely effective monitoring systems which support her to review the quality of care. She uses these well, along with development plans and independent visitor assessments, to continually assess and improve the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff morale is extremely high. Staff say that they enjoy working at the home and are particularly positive about the support they receive from the manager and director of care. Staff receive high-quality supervision and annual appraisals. Team meetings are regular and reflective. These practices enable staff to feel developed, supported and valued.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well trained. As well as mandatory training, the manager has ensured that staff have access to extensive additional and child-specific training. This means that staff have the skills and knowledge to keep children safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and the manager work closely with a wide range of professionals so that children receive well-coordinated care. The manager will challenge those who are not meeting children’s needs, or when she feels decisions are not in the best interests of the children. Feedback from professionals and parents is excellent. They are extremely positive about the progress that children make while living at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC407933 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that any restrictions in place are regularly reviewed. Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: SC407933 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Prestige Adolescent Care and Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 90 King Street, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 1JB

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC407933 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 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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