Children's Home run by Nottinghamshire County Council in Nottinghamshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC036732 1 SC036732 Registered provider: Nottinghamshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home provides short breaks for up to eight children with learning disabilities at any one time.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager is suitably experienced and qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children using the short-breaks service at the time of the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC036732 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/10/2022 Full Good 21/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 16/11/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/04/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC036732 3

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outstanding

The home is now beautifully presented. It is warm and inviting, and it has the feel of a family home. The staff have worked hard to make the environment better, and this is a significant improvement. Staff adapt children’s bedrooms to their individual tastes each time they stay. The communal indoor and outdoor areas are colourful, with seasonal themes that transform the space. There is now a real sense of pride from the staff working at the home.

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outstanding

Children benefit from exceptionally good relationships with staff who know them incredibly well. The staff are highly skilled, nurture the children and provide excellent emotional warmth. Staff are excellent role models for the children. Their interactions with each other and the children create a calm atmosphere. The children are happy, settled and secure.

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outstanding

Children have positive experiences during their stays and have fun. Staff use the home’s resources and the wider community very well to provide positive experiences. Children have opportunities that may not have been possible for them without the short-breaks service. Staff are passionate about offering children a variety of positive, enjoyable and new experiences.

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outstanding

Several of the children do not communicate verbally. Staff work creatively to ensure that all children can communicate their wishes using various communication systems and other methods, such as stories, to help them manage new experiences. This is highly effective. Children’s ideas, wishes and feelings are harnessed well to improve their short breaks.

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outstanding

The manager and staff have built positive relationships with the children’s parents, providing practical and emotional support. As a result, feedback is unanimously positive, and parents feel supported. One parent said, ‘They are fantastic. I couldn’t wish for a better service.’ Another referred to the home as a ‘lifeline’ and said that it has ‘almost become a second family’. Parents and professionals consistently referred to the service as ‘amazing’.

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outstanding

Children make exceptional progress in all aspects of their lives as a result of the short breaks they receive. The manager has implemented measurable targets to evidence this progress for children. This is shared with parents and other agencies. Children’s progress is noted in social development, independence skills and communication, in addition to improved access to social opportunities.

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outstanding

The manager understands that families and children need to feel reassured before children have short breaks. Time and effort are taken to provide individually tailored plans to prepare children for the short breaks. Children and their families visit the home, and children start with short visits before they progress to longer day visits or Inspection report for children's home: SC036732 4 overnight stays. The manager has introduced pre-stay calls before each stay to make sure children have the best experience. Parents and children feel reassured and well prepared for the short breaks.

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

Children receive excellent care and support during their short breaks. Parents are confident that their children are very happy and safe.

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

Risk assessments and support plans for children are thorough. They include all known behaviours for each child and detail the best ways for staff to respond. These assessments and plans are used as live, working documents and are discussed regularly in handovers. As a result, staff are continually aware of risks and how to keep children safe.

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

Children are well supervised by staff and do not go missing from the home. However, there are systems in place should a child go missing, to ensure that staff understand the associated risks and the action they must take to respond.

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

Medication systems are effective and secure. There are rarely any errors. Storage is safe, and the policy pertaining to medication management has been reviewed. Trained staff follow processes and understand the risks. This helps children stay safe.

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

There have been no physical interventions since the last inspection. Staff help and support children to learn how to regulate their own behaviours. They are effective in understanding the emotions that can trigger certain behaviours, and this is documented in the children’s records. This helps to reduce incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and suitably qualified. She has managed the home for over 16 years. The manager has high aspirations for children and is very passionate and nurturing in her approach. She models this positive practice, and staff have the same nurturing approach. Staff benefit from the manager’s experience, and they meet the needs of the children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff have good partnership working with social workers. One social worker said, ‘They really are fantastic, so caring, and you can see that they really do genuinely care about the children.’ Partnership working enables a multi-agency approach to help children achieve good outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s monitoring systems have improved since the last inspection. Using these systems, the manager has direct oversight of all the work undertaken in the home. The manager is always keen to improve the practice and uses audits and feedback to continually seek to improve the service and children’s experiences. Inspection report for children's home: SC036732 5 Staff have access to a comprehensive range of training and developmental opportunities. This includes bespoke training to meet children’s identified health needs. Staff receive regular individual supervision. Team meetings are held weekly, and they help to coordinate staff in providing effective care. Staff are supported by managers to understand the children’s complex needs and reflect on their practice. As a result, staff are attuned to the children’s needs, skilled and understand their roles and responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel able to share their experiences and reflect openly on their practice in daily handover meetings at the end of their shift. They can challenge one another because they trust and respect each other. This leads to excellent teamwork, and they support each other during challenging times. A member of staff said, ‘The past 12 months have been a journey, but we have gone from strength to strength as a team, and the improvements are incredible. We couldn’t have done it without the support of our manager. She’s one in a million.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses the monthly independent visitor’s reports and quality of care review reports to regularly assess the difference the service is making for children. As a result, she has a very clear understanding of how to support children to make continued progress.

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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: SC036732 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nottinghamshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Loughborough Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 7QP

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jennifer Whiston

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Inspector

Zoey Lee, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC036732 7 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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Inspector

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