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Inspection report for children’s home: SC394463 1 SC394463 Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides care for up to three children who experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home and one child had recently moved out.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 26 April 2023.

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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: 28 September 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: SC394463 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/09/2022 Full Good 08/03/2022 Full Good 27/11/2019 Full Good 04/04/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC394463 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience positive and well-planned moves into and out of the home. They visit the home before they move in and meet the staff team. Staff consider children’s wishes and feelings before they move. One child said, ‘I knew everything about the home before I moved in, staff also helped me to settle when I first came here.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a spacious and warm environment. The home is furnished to a high standard with bright, tasteful decor. Children choose how they want to decorate and personalise their bedrooms and are engaged in other key developments for the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s physical and emotional health needs. They use a therapeutic model of care to consider the underlying causes of behaviours that challenge and help children to manage their emotions. This enables staff to sensitively support children who experience traumatic events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with education and seek to overcome any barriers. All children have improved attendance in school and engage well. This is good progress from their starting points. As a result, one child has successfully accessed a structured curriculum in an alternative educational provision, and this will progress from part time to full time at the start of the new term.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to the organisation’s therapist. This contributes to children receiving support in relation to their development and emotional well-being. The therapist works with staff to further develop their understanding of the children’s needs. One social worker said, ‘[Name of child] has come on in leaps and bounds. The staff have helped them to understand their feelings.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to spend time with people who are important to them. The managers advocate for children and encourage additional time with family members. In addition, staff support children to spend time with friends when it is appropriate to do so. This ensures that children maintain important relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive the support they need to actively engage in activities inside and outside the home, which includes going away on holiday. These activities enrich children’s experiences and serve to strengthen their relationships with staff. Additionally, this helps children to make developmental progress and promotes positive self-esteem. However, staff do not always capture the important experiences in the children’s memory books. Inspection report for children’s home: SC394463 4

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

Children feel safe and supported living in the home. Staff have a strong response to safeguarding children and work closely with agencies. A social worker said, ‘The joint working and communication from the staff team is brilliant.’

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

Assessments and plans consider a child’s experiences and potential triggers for behaviours that may be challenging for staff. This helps staff to decide what action to take to de-escalate situations when needed and means that each child is kept safe, with a consistent approach by staff.

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

Children are supported to take safe and appropriate risks in line with their care plans and developmental needs. Staff complete risk management plans for each child. This enables staff to identify and understand children’s risks. Staff review plans regularly with children and discuss them in team meetings. This helps staff to maintain consistency when protecting children from harm.

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

Children rarely go missing from home. Staff keep children safe by following robust missing-from-home protocols for each child. This ensures that staff can act quickly to prevent incidents from occurring.

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

Allegations are responded to appropriately to safeguard all involved. The staff are confident in their use of whistle-blowing. Professionals are notified promptly to ensure that there is a transparent approach. Children can identify trusted adults in the home who they can confide in. Allegations have been thoroughly investigated, and any lessons learned are discussed as part of reflective sessions.

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

Staff are trained in the use of holding a child to keep them safe. This strategy is only used if a child is presenting as a risk to themselves or others. The child and staff review the incident reports. This helps them to reflect and learn and further supports the identification of themes, which supports keeping children safe.

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

Children are supported by staff who listen to them. Staff spend quality time with children. Discussions take place which help children to understand how to stay safe and the importance of good personal hygiene and managing their emotions. As a result, children say that they feel safe and supported.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is suitably experienced and supported by her seniors and staff team. The leadership team has a thorough knowledge of the children. Managers listen to children’s views and consider their wishes and feelings. This promotes children’s development and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some changes in the staff team. However, the staff team is now consistent and stable. When there have been vacancies, these have been covered by the existing staff team or staff known to children from the sister home or agency. Staff say the manager is approachable and that they feel valued. Inspection report for children’s home: SC394463 5 Staff attend a wide range of training to develop their skills and knowledge. This helps them to provide better care for children. One member of staff said, ‘The training and induction into the home is great, this helped me in understanding how trauma impacts on us all differently.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When the staff experience challenging times, they are highly resilient. The management team recognises the importance of staff support. Further support mechanisms were put in place following an increase in behaviours that challenge from one child. Managers listen to staff and make sure that communication across the team ensures that all staff can raise any issues, in the knowledge they will be taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager carries out appraisals with staff on an annual basis. Staff reflect on their work and set targets for the year ahead. However, appraisals do not include the views of children or key individuals. This limits the manager’s understanding of children’s experiences and the ability of leaders to make improvements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager shares information with other important people in the children’s lives. One social worker said, ‘The manager is great, she stays in touch, and always contacts us to share good news and when she needs to share concerns. I couldn’t ask for anything more.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of the strengths and areas for improvement of the care provided. The manager makes effective use of external monitoring to identify and address any shortfalls quickly. Inspection report for children’s home: SC394463 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff capture children’s positive achievements. This will assist children in documenting significant life events while living in the home, which includes creating memories in the children’s journey books. The documentation of positive achievements in a journey book will help children to understand their progress from their initial starting points. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff appraisals include the views of children and other professionals who have worked with staff over the year. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

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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: SC394463 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cornerstone Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 4th Floor, Centenary House, Centenary Way, Manchester M50 1RF

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Inspector

Jennifer Quest, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC394463 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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