Children's home run by Keys Child Care Limited in Telford and Wrekin

Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 1 SC480318 Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

A private company owns the service. The home is registered to provide care for up to four children. It provides a 12-week assessment for children in crisis. Some children have difficulties that make it very hard for them to live in a family setting. Some children have experienced early childhood trauma.

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Information about this children's home

A new manager was appointed in April 2024. She has submitted her application to Ofsted to register. She is currently completing an appropriate qualification.

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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: SC480318 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/03/2023 Full Good 09/03/2022 Full Good 07/08/2019 Full Good 07/08/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are warmly welcomed when they come to live at the home. Staff work proactively with other agencies to ensure that they have as much information as possible to inform the care of children. Children live at the home for 12 weeks. During this time, an assessment is undertaken, which informs how their future needs might be met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have positive experiences while living in this home. A motivated staff team provides the children with a safe, nurturing environment. Staff are skilled at quickly building positive relationships with the children. This enables the staff to complete good quality assessments with the input of the home’s clinicians and the onsite school staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s physical and emotional well-being improves as a result of their time at the home. Staff ensure that the children attend appointments and access specialist and emergency health services as necessary.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education takes place on the same site as the home. The home’s staff team and a dedicated teacher, work in close partnership to ensure that the 12-week assessment includes an assessment of each of the children’s academic abilities. Children who have been out of the education system for a significant period of time are helped to re-engage. Staff consistently promote the children’s education attendance and attainment through daily praise, encouragement, and personalised incentives, such as a trip to Mario go-karting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress and talk fondly about their time at the home. The children engage in a wide variety of activities, which promote their good health and their interactions with staff and peers. Some of the children stay in touch with the staff team after they have left, wanting to share their news and achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is furnished and decorated to a good standard. The manager is involving the children and staff team in plans for further refurbishment work to brighten the décor of the home.

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

Children feel safe and quickly stop previously high-risk behaviour. Staff make effective use of risk assessments and make informed decisions about the risks and needs of each of the children. Staff provide consistent and clear boundaries so that the children know what is expected of them. Staff resolve situations that arise through talking and being open about what is causing the children to become frustrated or upset. Children begin to Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 4 learn to keep themselves safe, accept responsibility for themselves and understand the effect of their actions on others. Incidents of children going missing have reduced. There have been no incidents for the three children currently living at the home. When incidents do occur, staff respond appropriately and record the steps that they take to locate the children. When children return, staff are thoughtful of the children’s needs and ensure that

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

they are provided with warm food and the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings. This ensures that the children feel supported and helps the manager to gain information to reduce future risks.

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

The use of physical interventions to keep the children safe has also reduced since the summer. There have been no incidents for the three children currently living at the home. However, when incidents do occur, staff de-briefs either do not take place or records are minimal and do not evidence staff reflection and learning.

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

Staff have a clear understanding of how to manage any safeguarding concerns and the risks associated with child sexual exploitation and radicalisation. Staff recognise that the children are vulnerable and require high levels of supervision to stay safe. Staff discuss risks with the children frequently through key-working sessions and detailed risk-reduction plans. Where appropriate, the children also receive specialist support to explore the risks related to topics such as exploitation. This increases the safety of the children, helps them to prepare for their next placement and informs the final assessment of their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new manager has been appointed and she is applying for registration with Ofsted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The children say that the staff are a key strength at this home. There is a core group of consistent staff and some new team members. Staff are supported to develop their practice through training, supervision, and structured team meetings. All of these enable them to reflect on their practice, discuss how well the children are progressing and implement new strategies. All staff have received annual appraisals, but records of these meetings are not available for all staff. The responsible individual and manager use external and internal monitoring arrangements to improve standards in the home. For example, the lessons learnt after a challenging summer period have resulted in a significant reduction in high- risk incidents such as going missing from care and the use of physical interventions. The lessons learnt after the summer also highlighted the need for the management team to be more proactive in ensuring that the 12-week timescale does not drift for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

the children. Discussions are now taking place at the point of referral and throughout the 12-week period to try and identify when a local authority is struggling to find the right next placement or if this placement is delayed. If extending the children’s stay is considered. This decision is not made lightly. A Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 5 decision is based on the children’s needs and any risks or impact to other children living at the home. There are good partnership arrangements with external professionals. One social worker told the inspector, “This placement has been a good stepping stone for the child. The staff team have been very good at giving the child the opportunity to be trusted. (…) The whole placement has enabled her to continue to move forward with her independence and learning. The manager and the staff team are good at communicating, sharing information, attending meetings, and producing timely

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

reports.’ Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 6

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Recommendations

 All staff must have their performance and fitness to carry out their role formally appraised at least once annually. This appraisal should take into account, where reasonable and practical, the views of other professionals who have worked with the staff member over the year and children in the home's care. As part of the performance management process, poor performance should be addressed by a timely plan to bring about improvement. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.5)  Records of restraint must be kept and should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where an issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including

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Recommendations

the quality standards', page 49, paragraph 9.59)

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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: SC480318 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Bryn Melyn Care Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Inspector

Dawn Bennett, social care inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC480318 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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