Children's home run by Pebbles Care Limited in Hyndburn

Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 1 SC456271 Registered provider: Nurture Childcare Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and is registered to provide care for up to two children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in September 2023.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/10/2021 Full Good 25/06/2019 Full Good 13/03/2019 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 3

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improvement to be good

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. Children receive care and support from a consistent staff team. Staff provide children with a caring and nurturing environment that supports children to feel safe and develop a sense of permanence and belonging.

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improvement to be good

Children say that they like living in the home and staff help them. Children are encouraged to share their views, feelings and wishes. This means children feel valued and listened to. However, the complaints process is unclear. One child said she was uncertain of the procedure.

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improvement to be good

The manager and staff support children to attend routine health appointments and annual health reviews. Leaders and managers ensure that children have access to specialist health services to support their individual emotional and physical health needs. They support children to access relevant health services to help them stay healthy and safe.

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improvement to be good

Children make variable progress in relation to their education. Formal education arrangements are not in place for all children. One child is attending college and making some progress; however, another child receives online education in the home and no formal education has been identified.

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improvement to be good

Children enjoy a variety of recreational activities. One child regularly goes to the local village hall to take part in community events. Staff encourage children to try new things as well as to pursue their hobbies and interests.

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improvement to be good

Children are helped to maintain relationships with their families. Managers and staff support and facilitate the arrangements for children to spend time with their families and people who are important to them, in line with their relevant plans.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff understand children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities. Risk management plans are detailed, although they do not contain clear strategies and actions. This does not help support staff in their day-to-day practice.

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improvement to be good

Staff know what to do when children go missing. There are individual missing-from- care protocols in place. Managers and staff work effectively with other agencies and share appropriate information to support children to return home. Children benefit from having independent return home interviews so they can talk to somebody independent from the staff team. Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 4 Incidents of restraint are rare. However, when restraint has been used, there are gaps in records. Leaders and managers do not speak to staff and children following a restraint. This is a missed opportunity for children and staff to talk about the restraint to help leaders and managers identify any triggers, to reduce the chance of incidents occurring again. During the inspection action was taken to develop a new format for any future interventions.

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improvement to be good

Managers and staff do not provide children with clear expectations and boundaries to help promote positive behaviour. Strategies used are not always proportionate or evaluated as to their effectiveness. This means children are not consistently supported to understand their own behaviours.

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improvement to be good

Staff spoken to were clear about their safeguarding responsibilities and the appropriate procedures to follow if they have any safeguarding concerns.

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good

The home is managed by a caring and child-centred registered manager. The manager helps staff feel supported and valued.

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good

Records show that staff benefit from regular and reflective supervisions. Team meetings are used to consider any incidents and children’s progress. Discussions are centred around any learning from practice to improve the quality of care provided to children.

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good

The registered manager understands the plans for children. However, children’s plans do not consistently include relevant information because the registered manager does not ensure that she has up-to-date plans from children’s placing authorities.

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good

Leaders and managers ensure that children are cared for by a consistent staff team who receive training to meet children’s individual needs. However, leaders and managers do not ensure that staff are skilled and competent in managing serious incidents. This has meant that, on occasions, staff have contacted the police for support to manage children’s behaviour.

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good

The manager has made improvements to the monitoring and review systems in the home. The quality of care review was effective in identifying the home’s strengths and weaknesses. Children were consulted and had the opportunity to provide feedback about the care they receive.

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good

Leaders and managers have not taken sufficient action to meet the requirements identified at the last inspection. Two requirements are restated. Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 5

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement is restated. 12 February 2024

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 12 February 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 6 de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children. (Regulation 11 (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(v))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that consequences are proportionate and support children to understand their own behaviour, to develop positive behaviours.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi)(vii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and managers must ensure that children’s plans contain appropriate actions and strategies for staff to follow in practice, to reduce the risk of harm to children. 12 February 2024

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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— 12 February 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 7 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered manager must ensure that staff understand their roles and have the appropriate skills and knowledge to manage incidents of challenging behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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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)(b)(i)(c)) 12 February 2024

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Recommendations

 Regulation 39 sets out the requirements on the registered person to have a complaints procedure. Children must be aware of this procedure and be reminded of it as necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.13)  The registered person should challenge (under regulation 5(c)) any placing authority who asks them to accept a child in the absence of a complete and current relevant plan, as the expectation that a placement of a child without the necessary information would go ahead (in circumstances other than an emergency) is inadequate in relation to their role. It is essential that homes understand what will be required of them before they accept responsibility for a child’s placement, to avoid disruption and instability for the child in future and for other children in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 8 the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.5) This is in relation to children’s local authority documents. Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 9

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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: SC456271 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Nurture Childcare Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seighford Hall, Clanford Road, Seighford, Stafford ST18 9NL

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Inspector

Nichola Croft, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC456271 11 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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