Children's home run by Norfolk County Council in Norwich

Inspection report for children’s home: SC034419 1 SC034419 Registered provider: Norfolk County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority home provides short breaks for up to four disabled children at any one time.

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Information about this children’s home

There are two registered managers, one who registered with Ofsted in December 2017 and the other in September 2022.

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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: 28 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: SC034419 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/02/2023 Full Good 16/08/2021 Full Good 27/02/2020 Full Outstanding 08/01/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC034419 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, 15 children were being supported on a rotational basis by this short-break service. Children have fulfilling experiences and value their short breaks. Children are supported by skilled staff who provide highly individualised care to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers meticulously plan to ensure that children are well matched as a group when staying for a short break. This includes working closely with parents to build a thorough understanding of children’s needs. Children receive personalised introductions that are based on their preferences. Detailed compatibility assessments support safer matching and friendships between the groups of children who stay.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are particularly skilled and creative in their approach to gaining children’s views and helping them to communicate. Meaningful alternative communication methods and technologies are used to great effect. Regular children’s meetings provide ample opportunity for children to express their feelings and influence their activities during their short breaks. As a result of staff’s support, children make measurable progress in their self-expression and capacity to make informed choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Families highlighted the positive difference that staff’s support has made to children’s well-being. This includes children achieving improved sleeping routines, having increased confidence to share social spaces, the broadening their food preferences and improvements in children managing their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and well-appointed. Staff provide a high number of bespoke and carefully planned in-house activities, which are greatly enjoyed by children. A creative and highly stimulating garden area meets children’s imagination and leisure interests. Staff’s adaption of individual spaces has resulted in a well-equipped sensory room and soft play area that meet children’s preferences very well.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children’s milestones and recognise children’s achievements. Photos and memorabilia provide important keepsakes for children to reflect on their successes. However, the system for capturing and monitoring the steps to help children become more independent needs improvement. Currently, the pace of progress for children in this area is not always clear.

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

Staff are nurturing, kind and committed to children. Staff have good relationships with children and display high levels of positive regard in their interactions. Children are provided with consistent routines and appropriate levels of supervision. This ensures that children experience a stronger sense of stability during their stays. This Inspection report for children’s home: SC034419 4 also ensures that children receive effective support to have their complex needs safely met.

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

Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and have good knowledge of children’s additional vulnerabilities and whistle-blowing procedures. When safeguarding concerns emerge, managers take action promptly and effectively.

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

Staff compile detailed risk assessments, which are regularly reviewed and contain clear guidance for staff to minimise risks to children. Staff use proactive behaviour management strategies to successfully reduce situations that can increase children’s anxiety.

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

Safe recruitment processes for permanent staff are thorough. A suitable system is in place to check recruitment records for agency staff when they are used. However, in one instance, one piece of information around employment history was not gained before one agency worker’s deployment at the home. This means that not all information regarding the staff member’s suitability was assessed.

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

Staff generally manage incidents without the need for physical intervention. When staff use physical restraint, it is proportionate and justified. Managers ensure that individual incidents are reviewed, and learning is identified. However, some of the managers’ evaluations have been delayed beyond the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered managers are both highly experienced and qualified to manage the home. Managers provide strong leadership and have an excellent understanding of children’s individual needs. There is a positive, child-focused ethos, which is reflected by staff across this short-break service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have adapted several areas of research in relation to supporting children with disabilities. Regular staff meetings are constructive and well attended. Staff have responsibilities to study evidence-based approaches and present their findings to the rest of the team. Effective discussions take place between staff on how to implement these findings into their practice. As a result, the staff feel empowered and motivated to provide informed support, which enhances children’s experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have high expectations of the staff. Staff receive high-quality supervision sessions. Staff practice is scrutinised, and development targets are identified. A suitable staff appraisal system is in place. Consequently, there are ample opportunities for the staff’s continuous development and reflection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access a wide range of training. A large proportion of staff hold a relevant social care qualification. Managers provide bespoke sessions around emerging learning resulting from national care reviews. This further equips and upskills staff to meet the needs of children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034419 5 Managers regularly review staffing trends and actively implement recruitment strategies. However, staffing vacancies remain despite this monitoring. As a result, managers continue to close the home for two nights a week to ensure that children are supported by enough experienced and competent staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have strengthened the scope of internal quality of care reviews since the last inspection. External monitoring by an independent person provides an appropriate level of scrutiny to influence continuous improvement. However, the independent person does not always spend time with or explore the views of children during these visits. Therefore, the additional safeguards intended by this form of monitoring are not always realised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Many parents provided good feedback about the quality of children’s experiences and staff’s support during their short breaks. However, the service has not always communicated well with parents and children who have their stays moved at short notice. This has, on occasion, led to confusion and distress for the children who rely on consistent routines. Inspection report for children’s home: SC034419 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that communication with families is consistent when decisions around cancellation of short break stays for children are made. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 11, paragraph 2.5)  The registered person should ensure that all incidents of control, discipline and restraint are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair and the principles set out in paragraph 9.35 are respected. In particular, managers should review interventions within 48 hours. (‘Guide to Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36)  The registered person should ensure that children’s progress in their independence is systematically monitored. (‘Guide to the Children s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure that they make best use of information from

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Recommendations

independent monitoring. In particular, they should ensure that the independent person is supported to spend time with and gain the views of children more frequently. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that they maintain good employment practice that safeguards children. In particular, the monitoring of all schedule 2 checks for agency staff must be completed before their deployment. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC034419 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Norfolk County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Martineau Lane, Norwich, Norfolk NR1 2DH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Nicola King / Claire Pooley

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Inspector

Mark Anderton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC034419 8 regulates and inspects 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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