Children's Home run by Cheshire West and Chester Council in Cheshire West and Chester

Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 1 Registered provider: Cheshire West and Chester Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is run by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for two children with social or emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There were two children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in April 2021.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 21 February 2023

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/02/2023 Full Good 26/07/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a good quality of care. Children make progress from their starting points. Staff spend time developing their relationships with children and have a good understanding of their needs. Transitions, both into and out of the home, are well planned and sensitively managed by staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for children and support them with their education. Staff communicate effectively with children’s schools. Any barriers to learning are quickly identified and resolved. As a result, children’s attendance and engagement in education have improved since moving to the home.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff ensure that children see health professionals when necessary. When children need additional support with their emotional health, staff have accessed therapeutic support from external agencies in a timely manner.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with opportunities to engage in activities inside and outside the home. Staff regularly seek the views of children and ensure that activities relating to their interests are promoted. Children have attended the gym, swimming baths and trips to the zoo. Staff support children to personalise their bedrooms, allowing them to be creative. This provides children with a sense of ownership.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff nurture children’s relationships with their families and friends. This includes facilitating children’s time with their family and providing them with regular updates. This helps children to maintain important relationships and develop their networks for the future.

p.3

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

Staff develop clear boundaries and routines to help children understand acceptable behaviours. Praise and rewards are used regularly to promote positive behaviour. Consequences are used only when necessary and in line with each child’s behaviour management plan.

p.3

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

Children have individual assessments to help staff understand their known behaviours and the triggers that can escalate behaviours. Staff have the skills and knowledge to support children and de-escalate situations as required. This means that physical interventions are rarely used. When physical interventions are used, the manager evaluates these incidents to identify any learning on how to better support the children.

p.3

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

Staff understand the missing-from-home procedures and take appropriate action to support children. Plans reflect each child’s individual needs. Staff speak with children following any incidents and support them to understand how to help keep themselves safe. On a small number of occasions, recordings made by staff Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 4 contained some errors or were only partially recorded. This may lead to information not being consistently shared between the staff team.

p.3

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

Children know how to make a complaint. Appropriate action is taken in response to allegations or disclosures made by children, and this is well documented. This ensures that children’s views, wishing and feelings are heard.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an enthusiastic and committed manager, who is child- centred in her approach and leads by example. Staff have positive experiences of working in the home and say that the manager is very supportive. Team meetings take place on a regular basis and are well attended. The manager listens to the views of staff, and staff feel valued.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff access regular supervision and have an opportunity to reflect on their own learning needs. There is evidence of constructive challenge by the manager to address shortfalls in practice. New staff members have a thorough induction.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Appraisals of staff are completed by the manager. However, these do not include the views of children and other professionals. This is a missed opportunity to support staff to reflect on their practice and inform further development.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have positive working relationships with children’s families and partner agencies. Professionals are complimentary about the standard of care provided to the children. Family members are positive about the care that children receive.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive training specific to the needs of the children. However, the manager does not have a system in place to ensure that mandatory training is completed by staff. This could lead to inconsistencies in staff receiving the appropriate training to care for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 5

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

are kept up to date. (Regulation 36 (1)(b))

p.5

Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that direct work sessions with children are recorded by staff in a timely manner. 28 May 2024

p.5

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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; and

p.5

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)(c)(h))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must have systems in place to ensure that mandatory training is completed by staff and that this is reviewed and monitored.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In addition, the registered person should ensure that management oversight is effective in identifying minor shortfalls in practice and that actions taken are timely to rectify these. 28 May 2024

p.5

Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home. 28 May2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 6 The registered person must—

p.5

Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home’s rotas contain a record of the actual hours worked by both staff and managers.

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should include the views of the children and other professionals when completing appraisals with staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.5)

p.6

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: 2547847 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Cheshire West and Chester Council

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Portal, 4 Civic Way, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH65 0BA

p.7

Inspector

Carrie Mayes, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2547847 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8