Children's home run by Headway Adolescent Resources Limited in Monmouthshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 1 SC470290 Registered provider: Headway Adolescent Resources Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately operated and provides care for up to three children aged up to 18 years who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 9 May 2022. At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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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

Date of last inspection: 5 February 2024

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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: SC470290 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/02/2024 Full Good 13/09/2022 Full Good 29/03/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/08/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled and said they feel safe and happy living at the home. All children have lived at the home for several years and have positive relationships with staff, whom they trust. Children said they can express their wishes and feelings and feel listened to by staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress living at the home. Staff have supported children to develop their self-confidence and improve school attendance. All children engage in education and enjoy learning, and all have received a school award for good attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to enjoy regular activities within the community and with their friends. One child recently went abroad with staff and, with support, built the confidence to attend a festival with friends.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to eat a wide variety of food to ensure they eat a healthy and varied diet. Children go to the gym, enjoy sporting activities and go for regular walks with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff to build, maintain and repair relationships with family. Staff have encouraged and promoted family relationships, and these have developed positively for children, who spend regular time with their family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is well presented with soft furnishings and framed photos of children. Children’s bedrooms are personalised and decorated to a good standard in line with their likes and interests, and most bedrooms are well presented. However, there are locked doors upstairs for which staff carry keys. Sharps items, like knives and scissors, are locked away, so children can only use these under supervision. This can make the home feel institutionalised and detracts from the otherwise homely feel.

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

Staff support children with a range of meaningful conversations to address challenging situations and help them explore their feelings and understanding. They also support children discuss enjoyable times, so they can hear from children the positive experiences they have. These experiences can be about a day out, or time spent with their family.

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

Safeguarding incidents have significantly reduced. Staff help keep children safe when they go missing. They search for children, and work with others to return children safely to the home. One incident of restraint has been used in the last three years, so it is rare for staff to intervene. However, when used, restraint is proportionate and necessary to ensure that children are kept safe. Records are detailed, clear and completed within timescales with management oversight. Refresher training was recently provided to staff, so they keep up to date in the use of restraint. Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 4 Positive feedback received from parents identifies progress that children have made and recognises the contribution that staff have made to this, both in terms of the care provided and the relationships staff have developed with children. The manager has weekly meetings with parents to keep them informed and updated, which means joint

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

decisions can be made in children’s best interests.

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

Children have access to devices and there are regular checks and robust filtering systems in place. Although online safety was addressed historically, staff have not supported children recently to understand how to keep themselves safe online.

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

Staff have not always acted appropriately in front of children. Children describe good relationships with staff. However, children raise concerns surrounding staff using inappropriate language around them.

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

There have been some improvements regarding independent skills, with most children learning practical skills in preparation for independent living. However, as older children become young adults, staff have not taken effective steps to ensure they are fully prepared for the transition into adulthood and the community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers share examples of good practice in the home and the support that staff have implemented to help children progress. They have knowledge of children’s experiences, and areas that staff need to focus on to help children develop further.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands it is important to have a consistent and stable team, so that children can build positive relationships with staff, and feel safe and settled in their home. He has managed changes within the team to ensure that there is minimal impact on children, and the use of agency workers is limited.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager recognises that children need an environment where they feel safe and can voice their likes and dislikes.. The manager creates a positive ethos where children feel listened to and have their wishes and feelings acted on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said they enjoy working at the home and share they are supported well by leaders and managers. The manager has arranged specialist training, so all staff understand how to support children in a therapeutic and nurturing environment. There is a wealth of experience within the team and most staff have worked at the home for several years. All staff have up-to-date qualifications and receive regular supervision and appraisals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers deal with complaints effectively. They take appropriate and immediate action to explore and investigate, seeking satisfactory outcomes. Effective monitoring and review systems are in place and safer recruitment records are clear and detailed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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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

help each child to develop resilience and skills that prepare the child to return home, to live in a new placement or to live independently as an adult (Regulation 6 (1)(a) (2)(v)) 11 March 2024

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour; (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(ii)) 11 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home environment is nurturing and does not feel institutional. In particular, this relates to consideration of the impact of staff carrying keys around the house and locking away knives and sharp objects. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. This includes how to keep safe online. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.9)

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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: SC470290 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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Inspector

Emma Fryer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC470290 8 and inspects 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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