Children's Home run by Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd in Lincolnshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 1 Registered provider: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The children’s home provides care for up to four children with learning difficulties and specialises in caring for children with autism.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since 4 October 2023. The acting manager of the home has submitted an application to register with Ofsted.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

Inspectors were aware during this inspection that serious allegations were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. While Ofsted does not have the power to investigate allegations of this kind, actions taken by the setting in response to the allegations, alongside other evidence available at the time of the inspection, were taken into account to inform the inspectors’ judgements.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

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

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

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.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 2 Enforcement action since last inspection: At the last full inspection on 3 and 4 October 2023, the home was judged to be inadequate. A restriction of accommodation notice was issued to prevent the admission of any other children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 3

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2023 Full Inadequate 05/04/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 20/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/06/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 4

p.3

improvement to be good

Children freely give hugs to staff and enjoy spending time with them. Children enjoy an array of activities, such as bowling, air-soft play and squash. Staff seek private tuition for children to help them to further excel in their hobbies and the things they enjoy. Staff encourage children to learn new skills, such as cooking or home maintenance. Staff and the manager advocate for increased educational home tutoring for children to help with their education.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff have made an improvement in how they manage conflicts between children. This has resulted in children’s experiences of living in the home being more positive. Staff have also begun to build positive working relationships with children who previously did not accept them. This has been helped by completing work with children on differing cultures. Staff have spent time with children, and this has improved their relationships.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff support children to learn about their heritage, such as through trying new foods and learning about different cultures. One child has also been supported to attend a barber who can help him to explore hairstyles that are culturally significant to him. This is supporting the child to develop his sense of identity.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff are not yet confident in talking to children about topics in relation to sex and relationships. This leads to misinformation being shared with children, which can be confusing for them. Staff do not ensure that the advice they provide is complementary to that provided by external medical professionals in relation to sex and relationship education.

p.4

improvement to be good

Important information relating to an ongoing police investigation was sent by the manager to their personal email account. The information was sensitive and led to the information not being shared appropriately with the right authorities. The manager failed to recognise this error.

p.4

improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, staff have not had to physically intervene with children to manage behaviour. However, external professionals and family members of one child are concerned that the staff are not implementing sufficient behavioural boundaries. They expressed concerns that staff use methods of appeasement to manage behaviour.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children feel that they are kept informed while their complaints are being investigated by the manager and leaders. The manager writes letters to children about what steps are being taken to investigate their complaints or grievances. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 5 However, on one occasion, staff did not notify the appropriate professionals when a child’s complaint included an allegation against a member of staff. Should children later withdraw allegations, the manager documents these as false or wrongful. This fails to reflect the circumstances appropriately, and could lead to children feeling blamed or not believed.

p.4

good

An acting manager was appointed on 4 October 2023. Although the manager has oversight of the home, it is not yet clear how this drives practice improvements that can be sustained. For example, where the manager recognises that an incident could have been avoided, it is unclear how practice learning is disseminated to the team.

p.5

good

Regular team meetings take place, and staff feel supported by the manager. The staff have voiced their excitement for the future with the current manager leading them. Supervision meetings regularly take place between the manager and staff. However, they currently lack reflective practice discussions that can lead to improvements in care practice.

p.5

good

The manager has not yet formed consistent positive working relationships with external professionals. For example, a child was told that he would be moving home without the agreement from the child’s social worker. This created stress for the child, who could not get clarification from his social worker.

p.5

good

The manager, on occasion, has failed to ensure that staff communicate effectively with external professionals regarding meetings for children. This results in staff taking children out of the home when professionals are due to visit.

p.5

good

The manager does not always record important discussions that he has had with children. On occasion, incorrect names are used in children’s records. The manager has not always responded if staff do not write in a child-friendly or supportive manner. Although the written element is not reflective of the nurturing care observed, it could have a negative impact on children when reading their records.

p.5

good

The manager needs to ensure that any revised versions of the home’s statement of purpose are shared within appropriate time frames.

p.5

good

At the last inspection, five statutory requirements remained and an additional statutory requirement was added. Five of these statutory requirements have been met. The statutory requirement relating to the protection of children has been restated. Following this inspection, a decision has been made to lift the restriction of accommodation notice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, 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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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;

p.6

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

p.6

Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

Requirement Due date

that the effectiveness of the home’s child protection policies is monitored regularly. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii)(e))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that appropriate safety measures are put in place and relevant professionals are alerted to safeguarding concerns in a timely manner.

p.6

Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 4 March 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 7 The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

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;

p.7

Requirement Due date

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

p.7

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that systems are used to review the quality of care to support practice improvements. 4 March 2024

p.7

Requirement Due date

the privacy of children is appropriately protected. (Regulation 21 (a))

p.7

Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to ensuring that sensitive information about children is only shared through the appropriate avenues. 4 March 2024

p.7

Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

p.7

Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(b)) 4 March 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 8 In particular, this relates to the registered person ensuring that revised statements of purpose are shared with HMCI within 28 days of any revision.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording-keeping. Staff should record information about individual children in a non-stigmatising way, ensuring that the correct names are used for children. Staff should also be mindful of the impact that their choice of words could have on the child if they were to read records written about them. It is also important that staff ensure that they document key discussions with children or professionals. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being. Staff should work with education settings to ensure that the advice offered supplements that provided by personal, social and health education. Staff should have the relevant skills and knowledge to be able to help children to understand and, where necessary, work to change negative behaviours in key areas of health and well-being, such as, but not limited to, sexual relationships, sexual health and contraception. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.18)

p.8

Recommendations

 Registered persons have a key role in seeking to develop the home’s effective working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons (regulation 5 – engaging with the wider system to ensure children’s needs are met). It is important that staff communicate with professionals if a child is unable to attend an appointment. It is also paramount that staff are guided by appropriate professionals in regard to telling children key information about their care planning and do not take this upon themselves without appropriate agreement. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)

p.8

Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2) Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 9

p.8

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: 2570253 10

p.9

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd

p.10

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Pasture View Nurturing Homes Ltd, 92 Linkside, Bretton, Peterborough, Northamptonshire PE3 8PA

p.10

Inspectors

Ellen Monk, Social Care Inspector Emma Dacres, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2570253 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.

p.10

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.11

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.11

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.11