Children's home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

Inspection report for children's home: 2697861 1 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children's home

The home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children. The provider states in the home’s statement of purpose that it provides care for children who have experienced social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

There is a separate annex that is located adjacent to the home. One of the three children lives in the annex. The registered manager explains that this arrangement helps children to become more independent, although support from staff remains available.

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Information about this children's home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 2023.

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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 outstanding

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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: 7 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: 2697861 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/02/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2697861 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making excellent progress from their starting points. Children say that they enjoy living in their home. They say that the staff are caring and friendly, and that they help them when they are upset or worried about something.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage positively in their education and learning, whether this be at school, college, work apprenticeships and/or other places of work. Children want to achieve well, and they accept the additional support that is offered to them by staff and their education providers, such as revision sessions and individual tutoring. As a result, children are helped to believe in themselves, and they are actively pursuing further education and their career aspirations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop friendships in the community and participate in a range of activities that they enjoy, including horse riding, gaming and scrapbooking. Staff also work collaboratively with children’s families to help them to develop positive relationships with their children. The arrangements that are in place for children to see their family members are led by children and centre around their individual views and wishes. One family member commented that their child is making huge progress and gets the support that they need to help them to flourish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s healthcare needs are being met. Children have access to medical services and specialist emotional-health support. Following consultation with medical and psychological professionals, it is planned for staff to receive additional specialist training to ensure that their responses to children’s health and wellbeing needs are well informed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The environment is warm and homely. It is nicely decorated and there are photos of children on the walls spending positive time with each other and staff. In the home, there are spaces for children to play, do arts and crafts, and learn. The home’s annex provides one child with a separate living space and is used to help children to develop the skills that they will need in the future. The annex is nicely furnished and includes a self-contained kitchen, bathroom, lounge/diner and two bedrooms. Staff spoke positively about the process of supporting children to develop their life skills, although are clear that children who live in the annex are still able to access the nurturing care that they require.

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

Children say that they feel safe in their home. The registered manager works within a multi-agency team of professionals to explore children’s individual needs, vulnerabilities and support strategies to help keep children safe. The registered manager takes a positive approach to risk management, which focuses on helping children to understand risk and how to mediate it. Consequently, children are Inspection report for children's home: 2697861 4 supported to take carefully considered risks so that they can realise their goals of greater independence.

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

Children are supported to have access to internet-enabled devices and social-media platforms that are suitable for their age and understanding. When online safety concerns are identified, robust actions are taken by staff to protect children from harm. Children are provided with a comprehensive package of education and learning opportunities to support them to identify risks online and respond to them safely. By working collaboratively with children, children are assured that they can seek support from staff when they are exposed to online content that they find worrying.

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

When concerns about staff are raised by children, leaders and managers respond swiftly to help keep children safe. The concerns are shared with the relevant external professionals and robust actions and outcomes are agreed. Children are provided with regular updates about what is happening and any outcomes that are reached. As a result, children know that they are listened to and protected by staff.

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

The home’s therapist helps children to reflect on their relationships with staff. As a result, children are more able to accurately explore their concerns about staff and what happened that worried them. This has led to a reduction in concerns about staff being raised. Plans are in place for staff to further support reflections with children about their relationships by using storyboards. Although this has not yet been actioned, it demonstrates a continual desire to develop practice.

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

Children are helped to understand the risks of running away from home or school, which includes guidance from specialist services and consideration of exploitation. Children are provided with alternative strategies that they can use to express their feelings so that they do not feel as though they need to run away. This has led to fewer missing-from-home episodes. Although a focus has been placed on educating children about the dangers of running away and/or being absent from the home, door alarms are being used to mitigate risk during the night until the effectiveness of the education that has been provided can be safely tested. These arrangements are regularly reviewed with children and professionals.

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

Low-level physical interventions have been used on rare occasions to prevent harm to others. Children are supported to reflect on what happened, why the intervention was used, and how they could respond differently in the future. Children are also actively involved in deciding what other strategies staff could use in the future to support them, which has resulted in staff being better able to support children to express themselves safely.

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

Although a member of staff who used a physical intervention is promptly supported to reflect on its use, there is a lack of critical analysis about what could have been done differently. As a result, the member of staff is not helped to think about how the use of the intervention could have been avoided. Despite this, subsequent team analysis allows for more robust reflection and appropriate amendments are made to staff practices. Inspection report for children's home: 2697861 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager speaks with extraordinary enthusiasm about the care of the children and the progress that they are making. The registered manager holds aspirational goals for children, which helps them to start to believe in themselves. Children’s achievements are celebrated with them and the staff team, which provides them with positive recognition for their efforts and the desire to continue to strive for exceptional outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has meticulous oversight of the home and the care that is provided to children. The registered manager uses reflection and learning to identify what is going well and areas for development. Reflection and learning sessions are well informed by input from specialist services and guided research by staff. All the requirements and the recommendation that were raised at the last inspection have been met.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager works purposefully within multi-agency teams of professionals to ensure that children receive high-quality care. One professional commented that information sharing is excellent and ‘is the most prompt, concise and child-focused communication [that they] have received from a [children’s] home’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

When children move into the home, they are welcomed sensitively and in a planned way, taking into consideration their individual needs and previous experiences. This helps children to form trusting relationships with staff, feel that they belong, and develop a sense of togetherness with the children who they live with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Records are written in a child-focused way and demonstrate how passionately staff support children in their everyday lives. Children contribute to their records and their voice is strongly heard throughout, and clearly highlights what is important to them and their hopes and dreams for their futures.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff training compliance is high. Staff are provided with training opportunities to help them to meet the individual needs of children. Staff are encouraged to share their own learning and understanding about pertinent topics with the team. As a result, the team work cohesively with a shared understanding of the holistic care of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There are no vacancies in the team, although a relatively consistent group of agency-employed members of staff have been used to cover some annual leave and periods when staff have been unwell. The provider has adapted their rotas to allow for permanent members of staff from the provider’s other homes to cover shifts, thereby reducing the need for agency-employed members of staff going forward. Through careful contingency planning, children are provided with care from staff whom they know well and whom they trust. Inspection report for children's home: 2697861 6

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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: 2697861 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove B60 4AD

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Inspectors

Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2697861 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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