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Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 1 SC428599

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Registered provider: Courtyard Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. It provides care and support for up to five children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in September 2022.

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Information about this children’s home

Date of last inspection: 21 September 2022

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Information about this children’s home

Judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Information about this inspection

At this inspection, the inspector evaluated:

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Information about this inspection

 the care of children  the safety of children  the effectiveness of leaders and managers. Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children, using the social care common inspection framework. This assurance 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’. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 2

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Findings from the inspection

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance inspection.

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The care of children

Children live in a nurturing and supportive home. Staff provide children with high- quality personalised care and strive to make a positive difference to children’s lives.

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The care of children

Children’s education is promoted, and the staff work closely with the children’s schools and college. The continuity of approaches between the staff and education providers enables children to feel secure in their learning. This ensures that any concerns are addressed without delay and that children are supported.

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The care of children

Children are encouraged to take part in a variety of activities. Children’s memories are captured in keepsake books and photos displayed throughout the home. This helps provide children with positive memories of their time spent with staff and helps them to develop a sense of belonging in the home.

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The care of children

Staff support children to develop their independence. Children are supported to develop practical skills and to have an understanding of their rights and entitlements in preparation for leaving the home.

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The care of children

Children are encouraged to express their views about arrangements for their care and support plans. The manager has devised consultation documents to further empower children to share their views and wishes about their care, and how they feel about their behaviours that are not always safe.

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The care of children

Children are supported to keep in touch with people who are important to them. Their wishes about family time and those who are important to them are respected by the staff. The manager advocates for children and has challenged professionals when family time has not been agreed in a planned way.

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The care of children

Children take pride in the home and have personalised their bedrooms with their choices of wallpaper. The refurbishment of the bathrooms has improved the quality of the accommodation and there are now plans to improve the kitchen space.

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The safety of children

There is a multi-agency approach in the home. The manager works closely with a number of health professionals to agree safety strategies to support children and ensure that their emotional health needs are met.

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The safety of children

Support plans offer guidance to staff in the event of a significant incident. However, plans lack clear guidance for staff supporting children after an incident, and would Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 3 benefit from more succinct detail regarding the monitoring and observation of children who have displayed self-injurious behaviours.

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The safety of children

Staff support children to be aware of risks and manage their safety both at home and in the community. Direct work has been completed with children to educate them on topics such as internet safety, healthy relationships, and the impact of substance misuse.

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The safety of children

Children are supported to respect each other’s cultural differences and understand equality. Training has been delivered to children in a fun and educational way to support this topic. Children were able to confidently discuss what they had learned and enjoyed sharing their knowledge with the staff team.

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The safety of children

Behaviour management is effective. Children are supported to develop appropriate coping strategies. Staff use effective behaviour management techniques to support and safeguard children. As a result, staff have not needed to hold children to keep them safe.

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The safety of children

Children feel valued in the home and are encouraged to share their views and wishes. Children have trusted adults they can approach. Children understand how to make a complaint and feel they are listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has worked hard to address the shortfalls identified at the last inspection. She is passionate about improving the quality of care and protection children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Since the last inspection, the staff team has completed training to inform practice and improve the quality of care. However, not all staff have completed child-specific training. This reduces opportunities for staff to develop their knowledge and skills to manage or recognise children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

Team meetings have taken place with both the staff team and lead practitioners. The manager has used this forum to complete additional training and support with staff around safeguarding and whistle-blowing. Research around sleep hygiene to support the children has also been shared.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers

The manager has improved the home’s monitoring and review systems to ensure that she has a clearer understanding of the impact that the quality of care provided is having on children’s progress and experiences. The manager will use the findings effectively from her review of children’s records and serious incidents to improve the quality of children’s care and protection. Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 4

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/09/2021 Full Outstanding 04/09/2019 Full Outstanding 02/10/2018 Full Outstanding Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 5

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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;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that all risk assessments contain clear steps for staff to follow should an incident arise. In addition, the registered person must ensure that all staff working at the home are trained to meet the individual needs of children. 7 April 2023 Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Courtyard Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Siskin Drive, Middlemarch Business Park, Coventry, West Midlands CV3 4FJ

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Inspector

Kelly McCurdy, Social Care Inspector Assurance inspection report for children’s home: SC428599 7 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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Inspector

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