Children's home run by Birtenshaw in Bolton

Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 1 Registered provider: Birtenshaw Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is part of a large charitable organisation. It provides care for up to three children who may have learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in 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 requires improvement to be good

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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: 1233310 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/07/2022 Full good 11/01/2022 Full good 16/04/2019 Full good 23/01/2019 Full good Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled and view this as their home. They have been living together for several years and have built trusting relationships with the staff. Staff and parents said that they are proud of the progress each child is making.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the needs of each child. They support the children in developing their communication skills verbally and through sign language and the Picture Exchange Communication System. Children can express how they are feeling and what they want. This enables children to participate fully in their daily lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend school regularly. There is good working relationships and daily communication between staff at the home and the children’s schools. Children are settled at school, enjoy attending and are making progress in their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children actively participate in activities in the home and out in the community. They are given choices and their interests are considered. Other children are also invited into the home and to meet them out in the community to celebrate special occasions. This gives the children an opportunity to develop friendships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are in good health and all medical appointments are up to date. As one child is moving on to adult services, the manager is working closely with health professionals to ensure that their emotional health needs continue to be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have positive relationships with children and support them to develop coping strategies to manage their own difficulties. The children will regularly choose to spend time in areas of the home such as the sensory room, large back garden or their own bedrooms, to help them regulate their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children’s achievements. Artwork and crafts that children have created are displayed around the home. Each child has a memory book that is full of photos of the activities they have taken part in. Children are encouraged to add to the memory books through pictures they have created, and they regularly enjoy looking through these with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff play an active part in encouraging and supporting children to spend time with their family. As well as having regular time at their families’ homes, the children have daily interaction with their parents through a video link.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff sensitively help children to develop their life skills and independence. For example, children are supported to carry out small tasks around the home, prepare meals, attend to their personal hygiene, visit shops and travel on public transport. Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 4

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

Children are safe in the home. Staff have a good understanding of children’s individual needs and the support they require. High staffing levels ensure children’s safety in the home and when out in the community. One parent said, ‘The staff keep my child safe. The staff have a good understanding of my child’s needs and he is well looked after .’

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks to the children. There are clear risk assessments in place, which are reviewed regularly. Staff appropriately support children who self-harm. However, staff use a blanket approach in monitoring children when they are asleep, rather than an individual needs-led approach.

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

There has been one missing-from-home incident. Staff responded appropriately and followed the missing-from-home procedures effectively. This included actively looking for the child and securing their safe return.

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

Positive behaviour is constantly promoted. Staff use effective de-escalation techniques to meet each child’s needs. Staff are calm and nurturing in their approach. Physical intervention has only been used when necessary to prevent the children from causing themselves harm due to their needs. There is clear management oversight of each occasion. The manager also uses a monthly audit tool to look for patterns and ways that the use of physical intervention can be reduced.

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

There has been one complaint, which has been managed effectively. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s emotional and communication needs. This allows staff to quickly identify when children are unhappy, and they can communicate with them so that the child’s concerns are addressed.

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

Staff ensure that the home environment is safe, clean and tidy. Due to the needs of the children, there are lots of soft furnishings to help to protect children from harm. All appropriate health and safety checks are carried out. Any shortfalls are rectified quickly. Staff ensure that all risk assessments and checks are regularly reviewed and up to date.

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

Staff safely administer medication to children. All staff who administer medication have received the appropriate training. There is clear management oversight, including weekly and monthly audits. This ensures that children receive the medication prescribed to meet their health needs.

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good

The home is run by an experienced and qualified manager, who is child centred and aspirational for the children. Parents and professionals speak highly of the manager’s and staff’s understanding and ability in meeting the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 5 The home is appropriately staffed to meet the needs of the children. The manager has ensured that there is now a consistent full-time team in post. Staff are committed, enthusiastic and child centred, and they feel supported by the manager.

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good

The manager has oversight of the day-to-day practice in the home. However, there are no clear systems in place to ensure that the manager can quickly identify any shortfalls in the plans for the children. The manager was able to obtain documents during the inspection but not without delay. The manager must ensure that he regularly communicates with other professionals to ensure that appropriate up-to- date plans are shared with the staff in the home.

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good

The manager has carried out a review of the quality of care; however, there is lack of feedback sought from professionals, children, parents and staff. This is a missed opportunity to develop children’s care based on the views of others.

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good

Supervision sessions and appraisals are reflective, and the staff are actively encouraged to raise issues. However, new members of staff have not always received regular supervision to help them develop their practice and identify their learning needs. As new members of staff work alongside more experienced staff, this has prevented the impact this may have on children.

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good

Monthly team meetings take place which follow a set agenda. During these meetings, staff have an opportunity to refresh their knowledge. The manager regularly identifies an area for development, which enables the staff to have group discussions. This helps staff come together as a team to reflect, share and develop their practice.

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good

There is a comprehensive training programme in place for staff. Staff have attended all mandatory courses and specialised courses to meet the children’s individual needs. This has given staff the opportunity to continually develop their knowledge and skills. The manager has undertaken group training on developing report writing skills for the team. This has helped to ensure more consistency in the recording. Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 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

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is adequate management oversight in identifying when plans or other documentation for the children are not up to date.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all staff new to the home receive regular supervision sessions so that they have an opportunity to reflect on their practice. 9 December 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— 9 December 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 7 the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that when carrying out a review of the quality of care, feedback from children, parents, professionals and staff is considered.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that monitoring of the children while they are asleep at night is only carried out when there is a need or risk identified for each child. 9 December 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 8

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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: 1233310 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Birtenshaw Darwen Road, Bromley Cross, Bolton BL7 9AB

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Inspector

Simon Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1233310 10 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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