Children's home run by Stockport Supported Accommodation Service in Stockport

Inspection report for children's home: SC039070 1 SC039070 Registered provider: Stockport Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a local authority. The home provides care for up to five children who may have social and emotional difficulties or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, the home was providing care for four children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 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 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: SC039070 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2023 Full Good 14/02/2022 Full Good 16/09/2019 Full Good 31/07/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC039070 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who live in the home make good progress due to the stable, nurturing and consistent care they receive from the staff. Children spoke positively about their relationships with the staff. One child told the inspector, ‘We always have fun together.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of activities. This provides the children with opportunities to socialise in their wider community and to broaden their experiences. One child has enjoyed weekly bike rides and boxing sessions, which have improved their physical health.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are accessing education and have made significant progress since moving into the home. When children have had long periods out of education, staff have been proactive in ensuring that tutoring has been put in place. Staff consistently work with educational providers to ensure that there are plans in place to support children back into full-time education. One educational professional said, ‘Staff strive for the best educational experiences for all of the children and young people in their care.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, six children have moved out of the home and six children have moved into the home. When children move into the home, this is well planned, and wider agencies are consulted with. This ensures that children’s needs can be met. For one child, this meant additional communication aids were considered and put in place before the child moved in. This has supported the child to feel safe and cared for by the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled and experienced in providing trauma-informed care for children. This means that staff are skilled in seeing children’s behaviours as an expression of communication. Children are effectively supported by the staff to develop skills and strategies to manage their own feelings. An example of this is the use of visual aids. This approach supports staff to identify and take swift action to support children’s emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff treat children with dignity and respect. Staff ensure children are supported to celebrate differences in their identity. At the time of the inspection, the home was decorated for LGBT+ History Month.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have created a warm and homely environment for the children to live in. As a result, the children and staff enjoy spending time together in the communal areas of the home.

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

Risks are identified, understood and managed well by staff. Staff take effective action to safeguard the children living in the home. When needed, the manager Inspection report for children's home: SC039070 4 seeks input from wider agencies to ensure strategies consider children’s individual needs.

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

When children go missing from home, staff take effective action and follow the home’s procedure. When children return, staff speak with them to help them understand the possible risks of going missing from home.

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

Physical interventions are used as a last resort and have only been used to keep children or those around them safe. Incident records are clear and well recorded. The manager ensures that both staff and children are spoken with following any incident of physical intervention. This allows the staff and children to reflect on the reasons for the holds and which strategies work best to support individual children.

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

Risk assessments for children are reflective of the home’s trauma-informed models of care. When incidents occur, staff consistently use the identified strategies. This helps children to feel safe due to the consistent response they receive. However, not all safeguarding measures taken, particularly with regards to mobile phones, are recorded in the children’s risk assessments.

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

When bedroom searches are undertaken, staff do not always capture the views of children. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that children understand the reasons for room searches being conducted.

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

The manager has effectively challenged placing local authorities when appropriate action was not taken following concerns of sexual exploitation for one child. This ensured that referrals were made to wider agencies to reduce further risk of exploitation.

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

On one occasion, the registered manager has not notified Ofsted of a serious concern. This means that Ofsted is unable to scrutinise information in a timely manner to ensure that children are kept safe. However, this has not impacted on the safety of children living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is a strong, experienced and confident leader. She has high expectations of her staff and provides them with the guidance needed to meet children’s needs. She is supported by a knowledgeable and effective deputy manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff enjoy working at the home and speak proudly about the progress of children. As a result, there is a consistent team of staff who are highly motivated. The long-standing staff team provides children with a consistent quality of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager supports staff to feel empowered to work with partner agencies to ensure that children’s needs are met. The registered manager is a strong advocate for children and has successfully challenged care planning arrangements that have been delayed for children. Inspection report for children's home: SC039070 5 The registered manager has clear oversight of staff training. When children move into the home, the manager ensures that staff have the relevant training specific to the child’s individual needs. This means that the staff have the skills to understand and meet children’s individual needs. All staff have completed trauma-informed training, and this is fully embedded into the staff’s day-to-day practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders support the registered manager when she feels it is not appropriate to move more children into the home. This ensures that children living in the home are fully prepared for a new child to move in and that the staff are able to meet their identified needs. Inspection report for children's home: SC039070 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when children’s rooms are searched to keep children safe, records capture children’s views. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 17, paragraph 3.20)  The registered person should ensure that Ofsted is notified without delay if a child is suspected of being involved in sexual exploitation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 63, paragraph 14.10)  The registered person should ensure that when safeguarding measures are in relation to the use of technology, these measures are reflected in children’s plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,’ page 17, paragraph 3.21)

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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: SC039070 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fred Perry House, 10 Edward Street, Stockport SK1 3XE

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Inspector

Alexandra Pearson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC039070 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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