Children's Home run by Rochdale Borough Council in Rochdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 1 SC034922 Registered provider: Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by a local authority and is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience social and/or emotional difficulties. Four children were living at the home at the time of the visit.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 2021.

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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: 19 October 2021

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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: SC034922 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/10/2021 Full Good 28/08/2019 Full Outstanding 27/02/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 30/04/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a caring and stable team of staff that knows them well. Children value the trusted relationships they have with the manager and staff, and they feel at home, listened to and cared for. One child said, ‘It is like one big family.’ Another child said, ‘I am thankful for the care and support they are providing to me and my family.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are at different places on their learning journeys. Two children are accessing education and making positive progress, and two children are not yet in full-time education. The manager and staff work proactively with professionals to identify education provisions. However, there is a lack of structure in place for the children who are not yet accessing education. The staff have not accessed or used the local offer to children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are promoted. Staff support and encourage children to attend health appointments. Children are in good health, and staff ensure that referrals are made to specialist services when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is welcoming, and children’s rooms are personalised. However, there are some fittings in the home that provide a more institutional feeling to the home. The manager acknowledged this and is already implementing plans to improve the home environment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to access a range of activities, including day trips to theme parks, swimming, dog walking and bowling. One child has recently applied to become a police cadet to support their career ambitions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to spend time with their families. Staff acknowledge how important families are to children and aim to promote positive relationships. Staff go above and beyond to show children that they care about their families. They regularly take food and offer additional support to families, above what is expected of their roles. As a result, this strengthens the relationship that children have with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to have positive endings. Children who have left the home often visit due to the continued care and support they receive. Children are provided with memory books to support them with their life story.

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

Children say that they feel safe. Appropriate risk assessments are in place relating to the needs of children, and they are reviewed and updated regularly. However, they do not always identify clear steps for staff to follow. Additionally, there is no Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 4 evidence to show that staff are kept informed about changes made to children’s records.

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

Staff understand their responsibilities when children go missing from care. There is a well-coordinated response, and staff search for children, communicate with families and involve the relevant professionals to ensure a quick and safe return. Debriefs are completed with children, which has supported a reduction in children going missing from the home.

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

Children receive care that promotes positive behaviours. Staff value relationships and pride themselves on knowing the children well. Consequently, staff can implement effective de-escalation techniques and strategies to support children to manage their emotions effectively.

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

Room searches are carried out in a sensitive manner. Children understand the reason for the search, and their consent is sought. Documentation is clear and evaluated by the manager, and risk assessments are updated accordingly.

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

The home has effective links with partner agencies. Staff use the services and support available to minimise risks to children. Children are encouraged to access appropriate services to address substance misuse. Professionals spoke with confidence and positivity about the high standard of care provided, which is supporting children to make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home employs a skilled and experienced registered manager who provides clear and effective leadership. The manager is ambitious for children to be safe and reach their full potential. There are high expectations of staff to provide a good standard of care and support to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive the right support to enable them to fulfil their roles. Regular supervision is provided alongside informative child-centred team meetings. There is effective use of training. The manager is proactive in sourcing relevant training to ensure that staff understand how to respond to children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A stable staff team is employed to provide stability and continuity of care to children. Staff enjoy working at the home and report a high level of job satisfaction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers value feedback from children, families and professionals to improve the quality of care provided. A social worker said, ‘Staff have responded quickly and positively to requests for information.’ A parent said, ‘Staff communicate with me well. I am happy with the way [name of child] is looked after.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have implemented a monitoring system to ensure that all documentation is up to date. There is evidence of challenge to the local authority when plans are Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 5 not in place, but this has not been escalated effectively. Consequently, this has left one child without a clear transition plan in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Suitable actions have been taken to address all requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 6

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider should ensure that children’s daily routines encourage and promote their engagement in education. The registered person should access and use the local offer. 21 June 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 7 In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (c)) 21 June 2023

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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

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the provider should ensure that risk assessments outline clear actions for staff to take. Oversight from managers should identify that staff have read and acknowledged any changes. 21 June 2023

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of the children. It should be a homely, domestic environment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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 Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 8 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: SC034922 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Rochdale Metropolitan Borough Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU

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Inspectors

Kayleigh Treanor, Social Care Inspector Sylvia Eboigbe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034922 10 regulates 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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