Children's Home run by Knossington Grange School Limited in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC436386 1 SC436386 Registered provider: Knossington Grange School Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to six children who have social and emotional difficulties and learning disabilities. Currently, four children live in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

A suitably experienced and qualified registered manager leads the home.

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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: 31 January 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: SC436386 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2023 Full Good 16/03/2022 Full Good 27/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC436386 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

This is a home where children have fun. The children all get along, which provides the house with a feeling of being a home. The staff and the children continually review the home environment and make changes so that the children feel happy in their surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. All children are registered with the appropriate healthcare services. One child has recently been diagnosed with a complex health issue. Staff have gone above and beyond to support the child through the difficult time of them trying to come to terms with their diagnosis. Staff are continually on hand to offer support whenever children need it.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise children’s education. They work closely with education colleagues to ensure that children go to school and achieve while they are there. A child who was attending school has recently chosen not to. Education and care staff are trying creative approaches to encourage the child’s continued learning. This includes education staff coming to see them at the home to ensure that this link with school remains open.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Each child is making progress in their own way. One child is learning to regulate their emotions more. Instead of them becoming worried about something and distressed, they seek out staff to explore their worries. The mother of the child commended the staff for their support and guidance so that her child could achieve this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are developing their independent living skills. Staff take time to explain what the children need to do. They offer encouragement and praise, which helps children to feel proud of themselves and what they achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves into and out of the home are managed well. Records show that there is a multi-agency approach to moves and they are child-led. New placements of children are evaluated to ensure that new children can have their needs met in the home. If necessary, decisions are made to end placements in the interests of the children already living in the home.

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

The staff take time to get to know the children in the home. This allows them to continually build on their knowledge of the children and the most appropriate way to support them. Detailed risk assessments and behaviour support plans have been produced. These documents provide staff with the necessary guidance on how to meet the children’s needs on a day-to-day basis. Inspection report for children’s home: SC436386 4 When incidents occur, staff use de-escalation techniques to prevent them from escalating. In most instances, this approach works. Consequently, physical intervention is only used as a last resort. Incidents have the manager’s oversight. This includes focusing on lessons learned and how practice can further develop. However, staff do not always ensure that children are spoken with following incidents.

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

When any conflict occurs in the home, staff act quickly to resolve the issues. Staff seek to have restorative discussions with those involved to quickly repair relationships. This helps the atmosphere in the home to remain light-hearted and relaxed, which benefits all the children.

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

The medication protocol has been reviewed and extra safeguards have been added. This has provided staff with a step-by-step process to follow that should limit medication errors in the future.

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

Staff understand the risks posed when children use mobile phones and the internet. An e-safety worksheet has been developed to explore children’s knowledge about being safe online. This creative approach has encouraged children’s participation to explore this area of worry. There are suitable measures in place in the home so that children remain safe while using the internet.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is truly dedicated to the children living in the home. The work she carries out every day is very child centred and focuses on the children making progress over time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is clear about the vision she has for the home. Her focus is on improving outcomes for children and providing them with the best possible care. This vision is communicated and continually reinforced with staff to ensure that they are clear about the manager’s expectations when supporting children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team benefits from structured team meetings. An extra element of the meetings is for the staff to participate in an upskilling session. Furthermore, an in-house clinician leads reflective practice. This provides staff with a forum in which to gain new skills and knowledge, explore their own feelings and develop new ways of working.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked hard to develop good relationships with external agencies and families. Communication between parties is good and the manager ensures that everyone is kept up to date regarding children’s progress. A new monthly progress letter has started to be sent to important people in the child’s life. This letter includes photos which capture special memories for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager constantly seeks new ways to improve practice in the home. This has led to her developing forms and systems that support the members of her team in their role. Staff say that the changes made have been positive overall. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC436386 5 acknowledge the recent challenges in the home but feel that those have built on the team’s resilience and ethos of wanting the children in their care to achieve good outcomes. Inspection report for children’s home: SC436386 6

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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.

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly relates to ensuring that staff and children are debriefed after measures of control are used. 15 January 2024

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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: SC436386 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Knossington Grange School Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Charlotte Van Niekerk

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC436386 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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Inspector

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