Children's Home run by Keys Education Ltd in Herefordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC062074 1 SC062074 Registered provider: Keys Education Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider. The home provides care for up to four children with complex needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since August 2017.

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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: 27 February 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: SC062074 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/02/2023 Full Good 15/06/2021 Full Good 30/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 02/05/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC062074 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home. One child moved into the home during this inspection, in a planned move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, three children have left the home. Two children moved on in a planned way. One child’s placing authority decided to move the child as they did not settle in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are cared for by a consistent staff team who know them well. Staff are aspirational for children. As a result, most children have a positive experience living at the home and make progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children have left the home, staff continue to provide support. For example, staff collected one child from their new home and took them to a previous education placement so that they could sit their exams. Staff are available to provide advice and guidance over the phone and they celebrate children’s new achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of education and encourage regular attendance. Most children embrace education. They enjoy attending and make progress and some children have passed exams. For those who are reluctant to attend, managers liaise well with education staff to provide bespoke placements and additional learning at home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped by staff to engage in a variety of opportunities. Staff take children on visits to places of interest and encourage children to take part in activities. Children enjoy bike riding, swimming and trampolining. Staff make sure children’s birthdays are celebrated and they have opportunities to enjoy festivals such as Halloween and Christmas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to stay in touch with their family and friends. They take children to visit, no matter what the distance, and help arrange overnight stays with family and friends. As a result, children feel part of their family and maintain relationships with those people who are important to them.

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

Staff know the children well and use that knowledge to keep children safe.

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

Plans are in place to help staff support children, along with strategies to keep children safe. However, plans are generic and do not consistently provide the depth of detail that staff who do not know the children may need.

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

Staff have not had to use physical intervention to keep children safe. They use humour and other diversion techniques to support positive behaviours. Inspection report for children's home: SC062074 4 At times, there are conflicts between children which could be perceived as bullying. Staff have worked with children to understand the impact of their behaviour, through children’s meetings, key-work sessions and online learning. At times, this behaviour continues, and further work is needed to prevent potential harm.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. When children have gone missing, staff have been proactive in searching, keeping in touch with the child and following the child’s missing-from-home plans.

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

When concerns about staff practice have been reported to the manager, the manager has been proactive in reporting and taking action. As a result, children feel listened to and that their concerns will be taken seriously.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a child-focused practitioner who knows the children well. She sets a good example to the staff team and has high expectations and aspirations for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable staff team who have worked at the home for some time. Most of the staff have the relevant qualification. New staff are enrolled promptly on the relevant course.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about the manager and the support that they receive. They say they receive regular supervision, along with a wide variety of training which is developing their skills and knowledge.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive advice and support from the home’s clinical team, which provides guidance to staff to help them understand children’s behaviours and the best way to respond to behaviours. The clinical team also provides bespoke training which further develops staff skills and knowledge to care for the children living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is not afraid of challenging others and advocates well for children. She has been proactive in requesting meetings with education and placing authorities when children’s needs are not being met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On two occasions, there were delays in concerns being reported to the local authority designated officer and Ofsted, due to the manager not being in the home. Systems currently do not identify the action for staff to take if managers are not in work. The manager accepted that work is required to strengthen procedures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has considered the suitability of the location of the home and reviewed the home’s location assessment document. However, it does not have information about local services that can support children. Inspection report for children's home: SC062074 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 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

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 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that children’s risk management plans and behaviour plans have the detail needed to help staff provide child-specific consistent care. 29 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to,

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child —

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Requirement Due date

is instigated; or 29 March 2024 Inspection report for children's home: SC062074 6 concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to having a robust system in place to report incidents in the absence of the manager.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff understand what they must do to prevent bullying of children by other children or adults. Staff should be able to recognise and address different types of abuse, such as peer abuse, cyber- bullying and bullying in day-to-day relationships in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.16)  The registered person should ensure that the home is suitably located so that children are safeguarded effectively and can access services to meet needs identified in their relevant plans. Specifically, the home’s location assessment should contain all the relevant information to assess the suitability of the location of the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.5)

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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: SC062074 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, Worcestershire B63 4AH

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Inspector

Debbie Bond, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC062074 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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