Children's home run by The Partnership of Care Limited in Stockport

Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 1 SC068664 Registered provider: The Partnership of Care Today Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private provider operates this home, which provides care for up to five children who may have emotional and/or social difficulties and/or learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The inspectors spoke to all three children currently living in the home during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in October 2020. She is experienced and holds a leadership and management qualification.

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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: 22 February 2023

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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: SC068664 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2023 Full Good 15/03/2022 Full Good 19/11/2019 Full Good 08/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that their home is a good place to live. Children start to flourish because of the quality of care that they receive from the staff. Staff consistently provide nurture and warmth to children. Staff have built strong and trusting relationships with the children. This enables them to thrive and overcome their day- to-day struggles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in most areas of their lives. They have developed their personal, social and independence skills, and their attendance at school has increased. Children are now beginning to manage their feelings and emotions better.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from having contact with their families and others who are important to them, including via video calls, social media, and seeing them in person. Staff recognise that having this contact is very important to children, and they make sure that it is facilitated. This helps to ensure that the children’s crucial relationships and support networks are maintained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to lead a healthy lifestyle. They benefit from attending routine health check-ups. The staff pursue referrals to support the children with their emotional well-being. This is helping to further improve the health of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s learning is well promoted. The manager and staff are proactive and work well with the virtual school team. This helps them to find suitable school placements for those children without a placement. All children have an education placement that is supporting their continued learning. However, one child’s timetable is currently minimal, and a longer-term plan is not yet in place to ensure that this child can return to full-time education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to engage in social and leisure activities. They have enjoyed a summer holiday, day trips to theme parks, and after-school clubs. This promotes the children’s social development and extends their positive childhood experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff actively listen to the children’s views. There is regular consultation that is of great benefit to the children. This means that they have a say in the way that they are cared for. This consultation takes place through the weekly children’s meetings, daily discussions and key-work sessions. The staff act on the children’s suggestions for when they wish to see their family members, menus and activities. This shows the children that their views are important, and enables them to have a say in their daily lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from meeting the staff as they visit the home before they move in. This assists and helps the children to settle into their new home positively. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 4 support those children who move on from the home well. These children stay in touch with the manager and staff after they leave and they make positive use of the ongoing support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, children live in a positive environment. The majority of the house is well furnished and decorated. Most rooms are personalised, including the lounge and the children’s bedrooms. However, in some instances, not all repairs are undertaken promptly. The upstairs landing, staircases and bathroom’s decoration and carpet are showing signs of wear and tear. In addition, these areas lack personalisation, such as pictures or ornaments. Some children’s bedrooms lack sufficient storage. This detracts from the otherwise comfortable environment.

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

Children are routinely provided with learning and advice to help them to understand the potential risks to their safety and how to better protect themselves. As such, the children’s risks reduce over time as they make more-informed, positive choices.

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

The children talk about their fears and worries and are confident to disclose any concerns and incidents to the staff. This is due to the guidance provided by the trusted adults who care for them.

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

Children’s missing-from-home incidents are rare. When children do go missing, the staff take immediate action to find them and help them to return safely. This is reinforced by written risk assessments and plans that set out what actions the staff must take to keep the children safe.

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

Risk management procedures to address risk-taking behaviours are underpinned by a number of related risk assessments. These are routinely reviewed and updated to ensure that they reflect the children’s individual needs accurately. Children contribute to these plans and identify and develop strategies that will reduce their risk of future harm. The manager ensures that the staff are aware of the children’s risks through individual supervision sessions, daily handovers, and weekly staff meetings.

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

Suitable action is taken to protect children, and allegations are taken seriously. Safeguarding procedures are followed and outside professionals are informed and involved. Safety measures are implemented until a full investigation is undertaken and concluded, which ensures that the children’s welfare is promoted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads by example to promote a highly nurturing approach to the children. The manager and staff advocate strongly for the children, ensuring that their needs, well-being and safety are promoted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children benefit from good-quality care. The manager gives direction and support to the staff, which have established sound expectations and the delivery of Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 5 consistent care. A strong family ethos is promoted. This clear leadership has set a resilient foundation that supports the staff to undertake their duties. This ensures that the children are at the centre of all that the staff do.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective communication systems exist and reinforce the delivery of consistent care to the children. These include daily detailed staff handovers and weekly staff meetings. This makes certain that the care of the children is well planned and the staff know what they are doing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When staff talk about their work, they present as caring and dedicated to wanting the absolute best for the children. Staff state that they are well supported and that teamwork and morale are ‘really good’. Staff benefit from receiving formal supervision sessions routinely. This assists the staff to be clear on their roles and responsibilities to care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and staff are committed. They work in partnership and collaboratively with all professionals and agencies. Staff routinely communicate with all professionals to share and pass on essential information. Consequently, the children benefit from the consistent care approaches from all those involved in supporting them. This enables the children to continue to thrive and make progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive the provider’s’ essential mandatory training. The majority of staff hold a level 3 qualification in caring for children and young people. In addition, staff receive more specialist training in areas such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, self-harm and county lines. This provides the staff with the essential knowledge and skills to undertake their duties, provide good care, and meet the individual needs of each child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Suitable internal and external monitoring systems exist. Action is taken to remedy the shortfalls detected to maintain the good quality of care. The majority of the recommendations made at the last inspection have been actioned. However, one recommendation remains outstanding. Staff have not yet accessed training in sleep hygiene. This is a missed opportunity to provide the staff with more knowledge, skills and understanding of how best to support children with poor sleep patterns. Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there are sufficient suitably trained staff, including someone in a management role, on duty to meet the assessed needs of all children in the home. In particular, provide sleep hygiene training to ensure that staff appropriately understand and are able to support children to have good sleep routines. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 51, paragraph 10.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should make sure that the children’s home is a nurturing and supportive environment that meets the needs of their children. They will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations. However, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. In particular, the upstairs decoration should be in good repair and fully personalised. All bedrooms should have sufficient good-quality storage for the children with lots of belongings. The hall and stair carpets should be in good condition. Systems to undertake urgent repairs should be followed to promptly address health and safety risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are in full-time education while they are of compulsory school age, unless their personal education plan contained in the care plan or other relevant plan states otherwise. The home must aim to support full-time attendance at school unless the child’s relevant plan indicates that this is not in their best interests. In particular, the staff should further consult with education professionals to establish a short-, medium- and longer-term plan to increase education participation for the child with a limited education timetable that will support their continued attainment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 28, paragraph 5. 14)

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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: SC068664 7

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Debbie Foster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC068664 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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