Children's home run by Exceptional Care Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 1 Registered provider: Exceptional Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to two children with social or emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

Not previously inspected. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home. The child is making progress from their starting point. The child proudly showed the inspector around the home and gave the home ‘ten out of ten’. The child said the home was good and they enjoyed living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector observed positive relationships between staff and the child. The child is held in high regard and is building positive and trusting relationships with staff. One professional said, ‘Staff talk to the child with respect and the child treats them with respect, and the consistent staff team has helped the child settle.’ This safe and caring environment has provided the child with a sense of permanence and belonging. This has supported the child to invest in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is attending education that is tailored to meet their individual needs. The child is progressing with their learning and is in the process of moving to mainstream school. However, the child’s personal education plan is significantly out of date. This impacts on staff’s understanding of the educational plans for the child. A requirement has been made to address this shortfall.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key-work sessions are child focused and are responsive to the child’s individual needs. This helps the child to talk about their feelings and supports their emotional well-being. The sessions are also informative and creative by sharing information from local and national news, as well as crime statistics. This helps educate the child of the potential risks of certain behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s physical and emotional needs are met well in this home. Staff are skilled in promoting multi-agency work to ensure that the child has access to specialist services. This provides holistic care to the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are supportive of maintaining children’s relationships with those who are most important to them. This includes supporting children to see their friends and birth family members, both in the community and in the home. This enables children to sustain meaningful relationships, which supports their identity.

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

When the child goes missing from home, there is a well-coordinated multi-agency response. Records show that staff follow the agreed protocol in trying to locate the child. One professional stated, ‘What the manager and her team are doing exceeds expectations, and the child is maturing with the support of the positive relationships the child has with the team.’ This has resulted in a significant reduction in missing from home incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 4 Risk assessments are individualised to meet the child’s needs. Staff were able to articulate to the inspector how they would respond to risk-taking behaviours. However, the rating of the risks are inconsistent and confusing. This hinders staff having a clear understanding of the level of individual risks.

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

Staff take a restorative approach and work on promoting incentives through positive behaviour as opposed to consequences for negative behaviours. Behaviour support plans are easy to read and understand and, because of this, staff are able to use strategies that are effective in de-escalating behaviours. This means that physical intervention has not been used in the home.

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

Medication is safely stored, and records show that staff understand how to administer, check and record medication safely.

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

The home is warm and welcoming. The physical environment for children is safe and secure and protects them from harm. However, the manager must ensure that certificates for annual checks on outdoor oil tanks are completed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run by a dedicated and committed manager. She is currently in the process of undertaking the relevant management qualification. She and her team are committed to providing a high standard of quality of care to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is well respected by her team, and she provides a high level of support to staff. This has created positive team morale and staff feel supported. Staff all work interchangeably, but have champion areas in which they take the lead. This enables all staff to develop leadership skills. This high level of support has created a stable staff team. This benefits the child by providing consistent and stable care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff receive regular supervision which is reflective and practice based. Team meetings and training are well attended by staff. Annual appraisals are in place, which review staff’s knowledge and skills and identify future training needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s internal monitoring is effective and demonstrates her understanding of the child, the staff team and how the home is operating. These systems also help the manager identify any shortfalls and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has excellent working relationships with partner agencies. The inspectors gained positive feedback from a professional and birth family member. They were extremely complimentary about the standard of care provided to the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is achieving its aims and objectives as set out in its statement of purpose. The registered manager needs to ensure to update the statement of purpose after any changes to the service and send this to the regulator. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 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 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. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, to ensure that children have personal educational plans and that they occur within statutory timescales. 24 May 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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, to have clear and consistent ratings of risks so that staff understand these and how to use these within risk assessments. 24 May 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home complies with relevant health and safety legislation and, in doing so, obtains annual certificates for oil tanks. Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 6 (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should develop and keep under review a statement of purpose. The registered person needs to ensure to update the statement of purpose after any changes to the service and send it to the regulator. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.5).

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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: 2630446 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Exceptional Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Exceptional Care Limited, Malthouse Business Centre, Southport Road, Ormskirk L39 1QR

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Paula Swindells-Walsh

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Inspector

Nicola Clements, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2630446 8 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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