Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Today Children‟s Services

Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 1 SC021677 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Children’s Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children who may have experienced social or emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2022.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/03/2023 Full Good 27/07/2021 Full Good 22/10/2019 Full Good 19/09/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from high-quality relationships with staff and sustain their positive attachments. A child said, ‘I like it here and get on well with staff. I like the fact that it is always the same, but in a good way.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points. They benefit from well-planned, highly individualised care that promotes their needs effectively and contributes to change and improvement in their lives. A social worker said, ‘Staff really care and always go the extra mile, they’re brilliant.’

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the health needs of children and ensure that they have access to the services that they need to be healthy. This includes therapeutic support to promote their emotional and mental well-being. Staff provide continuity of care to help children to have stability and consistency in their lives.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with their families. This ensures that children sustain their close relationships with the people who are most important to them.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend school or other alternative educational provision. Staff help children to overcome any barriers that may negatively impact on their education and learning. Staff have consistently high aspirations for children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with positive opportunities to develop their interests and hobbies. Children enjoy youth clubs, kick boxing, paintballing and go-karting.

p.3

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

The safety of children is of the utmost importance to staff. Risk management plans provide staff with clear strategies to manage behaviours and risks to children. Staff are responsive in their efforts to promote the safety of children.

p.3

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

Restraint is rarely used. When it has been used, this has only been to protect children from harm. The consequences that staff use to manage unsuitable behaviour are fair, balanced, and proportionate. Staff consistently have high expectations of behaviour and they praise and reinforce positive behaviour.

p.3

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

The frequency of missing-from-home episodes has reduced for children. On the rare occasions that children have gone missing from the home, staff have followed procedures effectively and worked in partnership with the police to locate children quickly and promote their safe return.

p.3

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

Significant incidents are reported to the appropriate authorities who have a duty to protect children from harm. Staff maintain highly effective partnerships with social Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 4 workers, police, and other safeguarding agencies to promote the safety of children. There have been no complaints or allegations since the last inspection.

p.3

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

Safer recruitment practices are followed and adhered to. Adults who are employed to care for children are vetted and recruited carefully to protect children from people of concern.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed efficiently and effectively. The registered manager makes child-centred decisions in the best interests of children. They advocate on the behalf of children and ensure that the needs of children are prioritised effectively. They maintain effective partnerships with social workers and other professional agencies to ensure that children benefit from the best possible wrap-around support.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff have regular team meetings and benefit from child- focused, practice-related supervision. Supervision is supportive of staff’s well-being while enabling staff to reflect on their practice and performance. Staff meet the aims and objectives as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. They deliver a good- quality service for children.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is dedicated to promoting a safe and harmonious environment for children. Health and safety matters are addressed effectively by staff. Children benefit from a physically safe, homely and comfortable living environment. There are plans to improve the home’s front garden and rear driveway. The manager is currently obtaining quotes for this work to be completed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Sufficient numbers of suitably qualified, well-trained and experienced staff are employed to meet the needs of children. However, staff rotas do not include the full names of staff, or hours worked on the rota. Door locks to communal living areas are not required, and those fitted to external doors need replacing to ensure that children can leave the premises freely and without restrictions.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes good use of the home’s internal and external monitoring activities to identify and tackle any shortfalls to secure the home’s continuing improvement. The requirements and recommendations from the last inspection have been met and addressed by the manager and staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 5

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected;

p.5

Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

p.5

Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

p.5

Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to removing locks to all communal areas and replacing those on the front and back doors with suitable thumb locks. 31 October 2023

p.5

Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

p.5

Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to including the full names of staff, including the manager, and their actual hours worked on the rota. 31 October 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the proposed plans for the redesign of the rear yard and front garden take place. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.9, page 15).

p.6

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: SC021677 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 2nd Floor, Lansdowne House, 85 Buxton Road, Stockport, Cheshire SK2 6LR

p.7

Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC021677 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8