Children's Home, Residential special school run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 1 SC415138 Registered provider: Staffordshire 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 service provides short-break care for up to four children on a planned or emergency basis. Short-break care is offered to children who have learning disabilities and/or physical disabilities, including sensory impairment. The home is currently operating a reduced service due to having insufficient numbers of staff.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in 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 requires improvement to be 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: 1 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: SC415138 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/02/2023 Full Good 01/12/2021 Full Good 29/01/2020 Full Outstanding 31/01/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and provides children with a ‘home-from-home’ short-break experience. The home is well decorated and furnished to a good standard. Bright and colourful displays throughout the home showcase the children’s experiences. Some children who stay at the home need special equipment to help them get around. The manager ensures that all children have what they need to make their stay comfortable and enjoyable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive a warm welcome and settle in quickly on arrival for their short break. Each child has an individualised ‘chat book’ that helps them to understand, through symbols and photos, what to expect from their stay. In addition, staff provide children with visual communication tools, for example, social stories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a wide range of activities that stretch their imagination and help them increase their skills. Children enjoy crafting in the art room and playing in the ball pool. For older children, a computer games room has recently been developed. In addition, children are supported to get involved in other activities, including trips to the seaside and visits to the supermarket.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a sound understanding of each child and their needs. Staff work closely with parents, social workers and schools to ensure that they have the information they need to care for each child effectively. When one child had not visited the home in a long time, staff ensured that they spoke to family to understand how the child’s needs had changed. Effective planning meant that the child had a positive re- introduction to the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are captured in a wide variety of ways to ensure they all have a say in how they are cared for day to day. In addition, they can participate in more complex decision-making through the children’s council and a range of voting systems. However, a worry box for children to post letters about their thoughts and feelings was not accessible to all children because it was placed too high up on the wall.

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

Children experience high levels of nurture and physical warmth from staff and managers who genuinely care. They develop strong bonds with staff and feel safe in their care. Children feel able to tell staff when they are unhappy, and they know staff will help them.

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

There have been no allegations made. There is a clear procedure in place that tells staff what to do should an allegation be made. Staff understand and can confidently describe the home’s procedures should a child raise concerns about a staff member or other adult. Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 4 Children receive high levels of adult supervision. There have been no occasions when children have been missing from the home. For some children, there is a risk of them running off and this is well recorded in their individual risk assessments. However, this is not in a format accessible to the police. In the event of a child going missing from the home, important information could not be shared easily.

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

Children who stay at the home have a range of health needs and some children need to take medication regularly. All staff who administer medicine are appropriately trained. There has been one occasion where medication has not been administered to a child as prescribed. Managers undertook a thorough investigation and identified lessons, which have been discussed with all staff. In addition, the manager took a restorative approach to support the staff involved to make the changes that were needed.

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

Staff are trained in the model of physical intervention used in the home. There has been only one incident of physical intervention. This was managed well and the child calmed quickly. However, the manager does not have a system in place to ensure that a management review takes place within expected timescales.

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good

Insufficient staffing has led to the home running a significantly reduced service and the manager covering shifts and working long hours. Management tasks are not being prioritised and this has led to shortfalls in the management oversight of the home. The manager has not raised this as a concern with his supervisor.

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good

Systems for the monitoring and oversight of the home are ineffective. For example, audits of children’s records highlighted shortfalls in practice and recordings. However, these are not addressed. These shortfalls roll over from one audit to the next because the manager is unaware.

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good

Children’s files contain most of their key documents, however, several important records, including children’s risk assessments, fail to identify the date and author. This does not help the manager to have effective oversight of records or to hold staff to account.

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good

When serious incidents occur, the manager liaises effectively with other professionals. However, he does not ensure that the actions he has taken to ensure children’s safety are recorded appropriately. In addition, the manager failed to make an appropriate notification to Ofsted. This does not help the regulator to have effective oversight.

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good

Staff say they feel well supported by the managers. Supervision takes place regularly and is of good quality. Staff can reflect on children’s needs with their manager and consider any changes in practice that are needed to better help the child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 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 promotes their welfare.

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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.

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 31 May 2024

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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)(c)) 30 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records (“case records”) for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

are signed and dated by the author of each entry. (Regulation 36 (1)(c)) 30 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

There is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(e)) 30 March 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that tools for children to communicate their wishes and feelings, including the worry box, are accessible to all children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)  The registered person should ensure that each child has an individual missing- from-home protocol in place. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)

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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: SC415138 7

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Children’s home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 1 Staffordshire Place, Stafford, Staffordshire ST16 2DH

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Zouhaier Ben Cheikh Mohamed

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Inspectors

Rachel Walker, Social Care Inspector Ed McCallum, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC415138 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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