Children's home run by Skyline Child Care Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 1265096 1 Registered provider: Skyline Child Care Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. It is the only home that this company currently operates. The home is registered to provide care for up to two children who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 20 May 2020.

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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 outstanding

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 1265096 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/05/2022 Full Good 10/11/2021 Full Good 29/01/2020 Interim Declined in effectiveness 30/09/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 1265096 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were two children living in the home at the time of the inspection. Both children have made exceptional progress from their individual starting points. Neither child was able to communicate verbally when they moved into the home and now one child can use single words to communicate, and the other child can communicate using up to three-word sentences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from good-quality care from staff who know them well. Children have positive relationships with staff. One child told the inspector, ‘My favourite staff is [name of staff].’ As a result, children feel valued and respected, and thrive in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy good health. Staff understand the children’s individual health needs and support them to attend all their routine appointments. They provide children with healthy and nutritious meals. Staff help children to understand their life journeys through life-story work. This promotes children’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school and have excellent attendance. The manager and staff support children in their education. Staff communicate regularly with education providers and parents to share education information, progress and achievements. This helps children to reach their goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are proactive in obtaining children’s views, wishes and feelings. Staff communicate with children using children’s preferred methods of communication, for example, the Picture Exchange Communication System. Children can express their views through daily one-to-one communication, key-worker sessions and individual weekly meetings. Staff encourage children to have fun and engage in a wide range of activities. They encourage and support children to choose the activities they want to be involved in. One child goes to the local disco weekly and enjoys dancing. Other activities children enjoy are swimming, pamper nights and day trips to theme parks. Taking part in activities supports children to build their self-esteem and build positive relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Race and ethnicity are valued and respected in this home. One child is a practising Sikh and staff have supported them to take part in cultural and religious events, such as visiting the gurdwara and celebrating Diwali. As a result, this helps children to express and enrich their own identity and feel confident and proud of who they are.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff have been proactive in supporting children to spend time with people who are important to them. This helps children to enjoy meaningful relationships and have a sense of belonging. Inspection report for children's home: 1265096 4 The children’s home is welcoming, homely and well decorated. Children’s photos, and records of their celebrations and achievements are displayed throughout the home, and children’s bedrooms are personalised and comfortably furnished.

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

The manager and the staff promote a safe and positive environment for the children. Staff understand and manage the risks associated with each child. Risk assessments are in depth and robust, and are used by staff to address the specific needs and any emerging vulnerabilities of children. The manager and staff regularly review the plans, and any updates are completed immediately.

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

Staff have a good understanding of children’s behaviours and triggers, which enables them to anticipate incidents and take action to prevent behaviours from escalating. This means that children are kept safe from harm. Staff ensure clear boundaries are in place, through appropriate supervision to always keep children safe. As a result, children’s challenging behaviours and incidents are reducing.

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

Staff are trained to deal with challenging behaviour safely and effectively and are skilled in de-escalation techniques. Children can become unsettled due to the range of their complex needs. When staff have used restraint, this is always a last resort and is appropriate and proportionate. All incidents are followed by child debriefs and a key-working session.

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

Managers take prompt action when there are allegations or complaints. He ensures that information is shared swiftly with appropriate professionals to avoid delay and ensure that children are protected from harm. Staff and managers act quickly when there are complaints. Children are kept informed of any outcomes. This ensures that children feel confident to raise concerns. It also helps them to feel safe and secure in their environment.

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

Children live in a safe environment. Staff complete regular checks on the safety of the home and ensure that children participate in regular fire drills. This means that children know how to exit the building in an emergency.

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

The manager follows safer recruitment practices. This ensures that only vetted individuals work at the home and provide care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by a qualified, experienced and very confident registered manager. He demonstrates extremely strong and effective leadership of the operation of the home. The manager is inspirational and ambitious for children and staff alike. He has created an ethos of continual learning and development so children receive the best quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is visible and approachable and has high aspirations for the children and expectations He ensures that staff have the training, skills and expertise to Inspection report for children's home: 1265096 5 improve the lives of the children. He is dynamic and influences the staff team to be ambitious and creative in their thinking for the children. For example, he has developed an online monitoring tool that family and professionals can all access, so everyone has up-to-date knowledge of the child. This supports a consistent approach for children. As a result of this, one child’s challenging behaviours have reduced, and they are now enjoying more time with their family.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager provides highly reflective and innovative team meetings, where he creates additional learning opportunities to develop staff practice, so children receive the highest quality of care. He continually strives for excellence, leading by example, drawing on learning from incidents and feedback from children, their parents and external professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are supported effectively by the manager. Staff spoken to during the inspection were highly complimentary of the support and development opportunities they receive. Most staff are provided with regular high-quality supervision. However, bank staff supervisions are not always completed in line with the organisation’s policy. While this has not impacted on the consistency of the children’s care, as bank staff have attended training and regular team meetings, this does not support them to develop in their roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager maintains effective partnerships with external agencies to ensure the best possible care, experiences and futures for children. Feedback from external professionals was excellent. One social worker said, ‘Communication with the home is great, all phone calls and emails are responded to quickly. I have always been impressed with the care, they are good advocates.’ A parent said, ‘[child’s name] is 110% supported by the home. It’s like they are parents.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has an excellent understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. He uses a variety of highly effective monitoring systems. He scrutinises and monitors children’s care and the home’s performance effectively. He obtains feedback from children, parents and professionals to review the quality of care and uses this feedback to inform the continual development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

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Recommendations

 The registered person should have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 3.2)

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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: 1265096 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Skyline Child Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 29 Old Farm Drive, Wolverhampton, West Midlands WV8 1GF

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Inspectors

Jas Nahar, Social Care Inspector Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1265096 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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