Children's Home run by Nurture Me Psychological Services Limited in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 1 Registered provider: Nurture Me Psychological Services 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 owned by a small company. It is registered with Ofsted to care for up to four children who have learning disabilities and/or emotional and behaviour difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has the appropriate experience and qualification for the role. He has been registered since February 2021.

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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 outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/07/2021 Full Outstanding 18/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 16/07/2019 Full Good 09/10/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 3

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outstanding

Three children live in the home, all of whom have lived there for more than two years. Two children have moved out since the last inspection, in line with their plans. The staff sensitively support children when they move out of the home and also consider the feelings and loss experienced by other children who miss their friends.

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outstanding

The home is a large house. It provides ample space for children to spend time alone and together. Children have personalised their bedrooms, and there are photos of them displayed in the home; this helps them feel a sense of belonging. There has been some building work to extend the home, and currently the gardens are being landscaped. Children understand the changes to their home and are openly sharing ideas of what they would like to have in the garden when it is finished. There has been some recent redecoration of the home, and new carpets are due to be fitted.

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outstanding

Children benefit from a therapeutic assessment of their needs and support tailored to their individual needs. Children receive therapeutic intervention threaded through their day-to-day care and the activities they do, and they are helped by staff to manage their feelings and emotions. All children have made good progress with their therapy. For example, one child has progressed from play therapy to talking therapies, which is a huge achievement for them. Children who want to engage with direct therapy are supported with their views and wishes and are now engaged in sessions. When face-to-face therapy has been too overwhelming for children, the therapist has communicated through letters, which has enabled the children to engage and feel supported in a way that best suits them.

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outstanding

Staff implement boundaries and routines that help children feel safe and understand their day. One child told the inspector that they practice mindfulness with a member of staff at bedtime, and this has had a positive impact on them being able to settle for the night.

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outstanding

Children are happy living in the home. They enjoy the company of staff and the positive relationships they share. One child said, ‘It is the best place I have lived,’ and that they would not want to change anything. Staff spend time playing with children, watching TV, playing board games, doing activities and eating together. Mealtimes are times when children and staff sit together and spend time talking with each other. The home and the staff team provide children with a homely environment.

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outstanding

Children enjoy a variety of activities suited to their therapeutic needs and interests. They have been to theme parks and farms, gone walking and swimming, joined a darts team, joined a gym and had fun days out. Children have also benefited from a holiday and said that they enjoyed it and saw lots of attractions. Staff take photos of children while enjoying activities, in and out of the home, and on special occasions. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 4 These help children look back on memories they have made and help them understand their journey. Children are currently discussing with staff what they would like to do to support charities. This helps children feel a sense of achievement and understand the wider world around them.

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outstanding

Two children attend school and are making good progress. Staff have worked with the school to advocate for one child to have a flexible timetable; this has proved invaluable in supporting their needs holistically. One child has had a difficult journey after leaving school, despite achieving good grades. They have struggled to find the right course; staff have been unwavering in their support, and the child has enrolled on a new course due to start in the next academic year. In the meantime, staff are supporting them with independent living skills, and the child has secured a part-time job.

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outstanding

Children share their wishes and feelings openly about their home, and they refer to this as their ‘community’. At the request of the children, the manager is talking with senior leaders about the possibility of getting a dog. There is a strong sense of a child-centred approach in the home. Within community meetings, staff and children reflect on what is going well and things they would like to change, and they offer each other praise for their achievements.

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outstanding

Children’s individual risks and behaviours are discussed with the therapist. This helps staff understand that the behaviours children display are due to their experiences and are a form of communication. Staff told the inspector that they see past the behaviours and think about what the child is trying to express in that moment and how they can best support them. Risk assessments support staff to understand children’s risks and how to respond to help keep children safe.

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outstanding

Before the children lived in this home, they would often go missing from home. Since moving into the home, children have not gone missing from the home. One child has been missing from school on three occasions. When this has occurred, staff have responded appropriately, followed their protocols and worked with the school to help keep the child safe.

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outstanding

On one occasion, when a child went missing from school, there was a significant safeguarding incident involving the child. The manager has worked with the child and professionals in response to this incident. The child’s social worker said that the manager had done an ‘excellent job’ in ensuring that all the relevant professionals were involved and in advocating on behalf of the child. The manager has made a complaint to police services regarding their response to the incident. The child told the inspector that the staff have been ‘really supportive and couldn’t do anything better’. As a result of the strong safeguarding response, education and positive relationships between the child and staff, the child’s risks are reducing. This was confirmed by the child’s social worker. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 5 Children are helped to develop life skills. For one child, there has been a focus on

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outstanding

him having time independently in the home. As a result, they are now able to sit calmly alone and concentrate on an independent activity. This is exceptional progress for this child, and staff talk proudly of their achievements. Children are supported to learn basic life skills to help them prepare for their future and adulthood. Children are learning to keep their own spaces clean and tidy, to cook and to understand the value of money.

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outstanding

Children feel able to speak to staff and voice any concerns they have. When children are unhappy about something, they are encouraged to follow the complaints procedure. Consequently, children feel empowered, that their complaints are taken seriously, and that the manager responds to them quickly and ‘always sorts it out’.

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outstanding

Children told the inspector that they get along well. However, when they do fall out, staff support them to spend time separately, and children will apologise to each other. The values of positive relationships are strong within the home, and the topic of bullying is frequently revisited to ensure that children receive consistent messages about kind and acceptable behaviours.

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outstanding

Children are supported to see people who are important to them. Staff work well with families to ensure that family time is meaningful and children and families feel well supported. To strengthen children’s relationships with their families, the clinical therapist works with the families to help them understand the children’s needs and behaviours. One child said that this means that their family member has a much better understanding of them, and family time is now positive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is enthusiastic about the support children receive in the home. He has high aspirations for them and knows their individual personalities and histories well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the manager and say that he is ‘child-centred’, ‘supportive’ and ‘approachable’. Children speak highly of his involvement in the home, and they share positive relationships with him.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The leadership team works to ensure that the therapeutic approach to children’s care is unified. The work devised by the therapist to support children’s needs is threaded through staff interactions and the individual ways they care for children. The therapist is very insightful and understands children’s lived experiences and the impact they have on their lives. She tracks the progress they are making in a holistic manner, and all information is shared with staff to provide children with consistent support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked directly with the children and undertaken shifts during staff shortages. However, this has impacted on his ability to consistently manage the home to the high standards noted at the previous inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 6 There have been a lot of staff changes since the last inspection. The manager has ensured that new staff have relevant experience, and most staff have qualifications to support them in their roles. Staff have robust inductions and report feeling well informed and trained to do their jobs. Despite this, there remains outstanding training in the specific therapeutic models that the home is embedding and in relation to children’s specific diagnoses. There is a development plan to ensure staff are appropriately trained in the near future. The gaps in training have been bridged by the therapist working directly with staff, formulating children’s plans and

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

overseeing the work and progress children are making. Consequently, there has not been a negative impact on the care children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has positive relationships with professionals and children’s families. He keeps them well informed about the children’s progress and any difficulties that arise. One parent told the inspector that their child is receiving ‘the best care’. Another parent said that their child has made ‘a lot of progress…and is doing really well’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals have stated that the staff have been able to support children effectively where other placements were unable to. One social worker said that the home is ‘the gold standard of care’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not completed a review of the quality of care that children receive. Although he has information to evidence the positive impact on children’s experiences through the feedback he receives from children, families and professionals, he has not formulated a report. This is a missed opportunity to collate information to support reflection and plans for the future. Additionally, this means that the regulator does not have oversight of the service between inspections.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has not ensured that Ofsted has been provided with the most up-to- date statement of purpose for the home, despite the requirement to do so when it is updated. He provided the inspector with this during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The management team is in the process of moving to an online system. The impact of this is that information is currently stored in multiple places, which resulted in delays in accessing information during the inspection. The leadership team and manager are aware of the difficulties this presents and understand that moving from a paper-based system will take some time to embed. Additionally, they are working with staff to ensure that they are all recording information in the correct place and titled uniformly; this is work in progress. Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 7

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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 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))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that staff having training in relation to children’s specific needs, and as per the home’s training plan. 30 June 2023

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Requirement Due date

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. (Regulation 45(1)) 30 June 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should review and update the children’s guide as necessary, and make sure children are given an explanation of any changes. This specifically relates to the statement of purpose being shared with the regulator within 28 days of when it is updated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.23)  The registered person should ensure that electronic records can be easily accessed by anyone with a legitimate need to view them and, if required, be reproduced in a legible form. This specifically relates to systems being used effectively to ensure information can be collated and located with ease. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 14.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 8

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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: 1270298 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nurture Me Psychological Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 58 High Street, Madeley, Telford, Shropshire TF7 5AT

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Inspector

Jodie Lewis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1270298 10 and inspects 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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