Children's Home run by Homes 2 Inspire Limited in Nottingham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 1 Registered provider: Homes 2 inspire 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, which is owned and operated by a national charity. The home provides care for up to five children who have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is suitably qualified.

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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 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/05/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 12/03/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 3

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outstanding

The staff are committed and resilient, and they are the foundation of this home. A consistent workforce has been established and sustained over time. In the two years the manager has been in post, she has developed a reflective team that has become cohesive and able to provide excellent care and support to the child.

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outstanding

Children learn and develop new skills, which enhances their enjoyment of living in the home and supports them to build friendships. This is helping them to make progress in all areas of their development. One parent said: ‘This has been the best placement my son has had. Staff are amazing. They understand my son’s needs and have helped him to make so much progress, to grow in confidence and maturity. He’s like a different child.’

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outstanding

Children can express their individuality and they are proud of their achievements. This is because the staff give them excellent care and support. The staff and children have created a family feel in the home. For example, one child performed at a singing event and staff attended to support her. The same child is in a basketball team; staff and other children frequently watch her play. This reiterates to children that they are cared for and supported.

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outstanding

Staff speak about children with enthusiasm and compassion and are exceptional advocates for them. Managers and staff provide children with an extremely warm and nurturing home environment. For example, one child was excited to pursue his chosen career. His application was initially rejected. However, he was supported by staff and professionals to appeal this decision and was successful. This was a direct result of managers being tenacious, ensuring that the team around the child came together to achieve the best outcome for the child. The child has now started on their work-based training and is doing exceptionally well.

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outstanding

Managers and staff demonstrate an unwavering commitment to children. For example, when a child started at a residential college, they understood the importance of having a place to call home. Managers worked with the local authority to ensure that the child can return to the home at breaks in training. This has enabled the child to focus on their studies and alleviated any worries. One professional said: `The emotional support they provide to the child and supporting him to come home during training breaks is the icing on the cake. They fought to maintain his placement. The team adore him, and their commitment shines.’

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outstanding

The manager and staff have provided a commendable level of support to help children rebuild relationships with their families. They have also helped children to strengthen new relationships with family members who have become important to them. One child was supported to return to home for an extended period during the summer months, spending time with her family and further connecting with her Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 4 heritage and culture. The progress that children have made in this area is outstanding.

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outstanding

Children make exceptional progress in education. Children who have had long periods out of education are now attending and making very good progress. There are excellent systems in place to review the progress for each child. Effective and collaborative working with external professional agencies has supported children to achieve their full potential. For example, one child had not been in education for over a year and now attends college full time. Another child who did not attend education was encouraged to sit their exams and is now completing a traineeship. Other children have part-time volunteering jobs which they do alongside education. This has helped them to grow in confidence and learn new skills.

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outstanding

Managers and staff have achieved some remarkable work with children preparing to move on to semi-independence. This has involved detailed assessments of each child’s needs and highly individualised support to develop the identified skills.

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outstanding

The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of the risks posed to and by children. They work tirelessly to manage the risks and vulnerabilities of children. They demonstrate persistence and determination, at times, when faced with some very complex situations. When children need extra help to understand risks, the staff provide them with unlimited support, empathy and time. This has helped children to make excellent progress and increased their independence and ability to keep themselves safe.

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outstanding

Children are fully involved in their care planning. They know their individual aims and objectives and how to reach them. They know how to obtain the support and help of staff. Because of this, children are more adept at recognising risk and managing any challenges they are faced with.

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outstanding

Staff are very diligent and attuned to children’s potential risks, ensuring that these are understood and minimised. Children talk openly about their current and previous life experiences. As a result, staff support children to understand their past experiences and to manage current risks. For example, when a child was behaving out of character, a staff member became curious and explored this with the child. This helped to safeguard the child.

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outstanding

Staff empower children to make choices and decisions about their day-to-day care and their future. This means children’s wishes and feelings are listened to and considered. As a result, children have their say and are involved in relevant care planning. For example, following the change in level of risk for one child, the child was fully involved in developing their care and safety plans. This helped the child to understand the strategies in place to keep them safe. The staff captured the child’s views and wishes around how they would like to be supported during any incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 5 Staff have a clear understanding of their safeguarding roles and responsibilities. Staff receive relevant safeguarding training. When there has been a safeguarding incident, the manager and staff reflect on the incident and their care practice to learn valuable lessons. Because of this, safeguarding practice is adapted in line with

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outstanding

The team has been commended by other external professional agencies for their work in managing complex missing-from-care incidents relating to a child. The manager and staff have worked far beyond expectation to support the child and ensure that he returned home safely. The team worked skilfully with multiple external professional agencies, sharing intelligence and collaborative approaches to keeping the child safe. They also worked relentlessly to prevent incidents from taking place, adapting their approaches where necessary. This has resulted in a significant reduction in the frequency of the child going missing from care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is inspirational and focused on providing children with exceptional care. She is well supported by a capable assistant manager. They show commitment to leading and managing a home where child-focused practice is at the centre of everything they do. The staff share the manager’s vision and ensure that children have the best possible experiences. Together, they have created a warm, loving and nurturing environment, where children feel safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and the responsible individual work highly effectively together. They have wide-ranging internal auditing and quality assurance processes. This provides the manager with essential information and the holistic oversight of the care provided. The manager is aware of the strengths of the home and identifies actions to improve and maintain the high standards of care for children. A comprehensive improvement plan provides a wealth of examples of how the managers are eager to improve the quality of care provided.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff team is diverse, and each person brings their own skills and experience, which have been integrated into a consistent approach. The staff enjoy their work and said that they see their colleagues as a ‘second family’. There is a thorough induction for new staff, and their progress is carefully reviewed. Any shortfalls in practice are met with a rigorous response and difficulties are worked through in a professional and accountable way. As a result, the quality of care remains of a high standard and managers accept nothing less.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have developed excellent relationships with colleagues, both internally in the organisation and with external professionals. These professionals commend the home and care provided. The manager is confident to challenge other professionals where there are shortfalls in plans for children. She advocates strongly for children’s needs to be met and the right services being provided for children. As a result, children are well protected from situations that may not be in their best interests. One professional said: `This home is the child’s family. They genuinely care about the children, the standard is exceptional, and they never give up on them.’ A child Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 6 said: `Staff are really good and always fight our corners, which is something I’ve not experienced before, but is nice to see and to know.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager takes great care over decisions about children moving into the home. She has learned from previous experiences, in terms of the location of the home and balancing the needs of the children already living there. Children’s transitions are well planned in collaboration with involved professional agencies. As a result, children soon settle into life in the home and live there until they are ready to move on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The staff training programme, particularly in relation to safeguarding, is extensive. Research-informed approaches to care are included in the training curriculum, including the most up-to-date thinking and research. Training is adapted in response to children’s changing needs. All staff members, however new, have developed considerable knowledge of how they should care for and protect children. The manager considers the learning styles of individual staff members so that they can all develop to their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are very well supported by the management team and each other. Managers provide regular, good-quality, reflective supervision for staff. This provides staff with a forum to explore the impact of their work, in turn leading to improved staff morale and retention. One staff member said: ‘I couldn’t wish for a better management team; they are the best.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 7

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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: 1254745 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Lumonics House, Valiant Office Suites, Valley Drive, Swift Valley Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1TQ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Matthew Earnshaw

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1254745 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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