Children's Home run by Blue Mountain Homes Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC436469 1 SC436469 Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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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: 15 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: SC436469 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/02/2022 Full Good 26/02/2020 Full Outstanding 18/07/2018 Full Outstanding 18/10/2017 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: SC436469 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, experiences and progress for children are good. Staff develop strong relationships with children and understand their needs well. One child said, ‘I like it here. It’s homely, not like a children’s home. They [staff] help me. It’s like living with your mates, who take turns being here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to develop skills for independence. Staff undertake a range of key-work sessions with children, tailored to their needs. One child was worried about moving on to independence. Within a short period of time and with reassurance from staff, the child, although still nervous about moving, has become excited about it. When children move on to independence, staff provide them with outreach support and a hamper. The hamper includes their favourite items and products that will help them with the transition.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy being able to access a range of activities and experiences. This helps them to develop confidence and social skills. Children each have a memory book, to which staff add photos to remind them of things they have enjoyed doing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to share their wishes, feelings and views in planned and unplanned key-work sessions. A social worker said, ‘[Name of child] is opening up since coming here. The staff have worked brilliantly with him. They are just wonderful.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s meetings do not always provide time for children to share their thoughts together. This is a missed opportunity to engage the children in matters affecting their daily lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has minimal educational provision. The manager has escalated her concerns to the responsible local authority. Although children take part in a variety of educationally focused activities, this child continues to receive little in the way of formal education. As a result, this child’s learning and development are being hampered through a lack of identified educational provision.

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

Individual support and safety plans include details that help staff keep children safe. This includes children’s views about how they feel staff can best support them.

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

When children go missing, staff are clear about the actions they need to take. Staff follow the missing-from-home protocol and work with external professionals to support the children and secure their safe return home. This helps to ensure that children are protected from known risks when they are missing from care. Inspection report for children's home: SC436469 4 The staff rarely resort to physical intervention to manage children’s behaviour. The manager and staff support children to help them understand what happens when they use physical intervention. This support is reflective and helps staff update risk assessments and ensure that they keep children safe.

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

The location risk assessment identifies risks within the local and wider community. The assessment includes how risks can be reduced, and these are linked to the needs of individual children. This enables staff to provide increased safeguarding support to children.

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

The manager has carefully considered the safe use of the internet by children. Staff discuss the extra safeguards with children and their social workers. Staff carefully assesses children’s internet use to ensure that the safeguarding measures in place are tailored to the needs of individual children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff understand children’s specific needs. Team meetings include discussion about the children’s progress and areas where they may need extra help. A social worker said, ‘They [staff] are really supportive of [name of child] and doing all they can to support his independence. They are really strong advocates for him.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by managers. One staff member said, ‘The staff at the home are supportive of both the young people and of each other, once again signalling a family structure. This encourages the growth of everyone through new experiences, positive attitudes and a structured environment.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive a range of training, including safeguarding training. Training is regular and varied, taking into consideration children’s specific needs. Training in relation to the home’s preferred model of practice is having a positive impact on staff and the way they support children when they are struggling with their emotions. This enables staff to have a good understanding of children’s care needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision meetings are regular and supportive. The agenda includes what the staff feel is working well and what they may be concerned about. However, discussions during supervision sessions do not consistently promote reflection on what staff could do better.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Monitoring and oversight of the functioning of the home by managers are evident, although inconsistent. This reduces the understanding of the strengths and development opportunities of the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC436469 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure that staff consistently encourage children to engage in educational activity, particularly where children are not attending formal education. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.15)  The registered person should make best use of internal monitoring processes (including under regulations 44 and 45) to ensure continuous improvement.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC436469 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Blue Mountain Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 20-21, Pullman Business Court, Mallard Way, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8GX

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Pradeep Manaktala

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Inspector

Kathryn Hurley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC436469 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 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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