Children's Home run by Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited in Manchester

Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 1 Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education 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 run and managed by a large private company and provides care for up to seven children who may have learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 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 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: 27 September 2023

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/09/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/03/2023 Full Good 19/01/2022 Full Good 12/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know children well. Children have positive and trusting relationships with staff who treat them with dignity and respect. One family member said that, ‘Staff genuinely love and care for [name of child].’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a wide range of ways to express their views, wishes and feelings using children’s preferred communication methods such as Makaton and Picture Exchange Communication Systems (PECS) to support them to voice their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Children have access to routine medical appointments, and external support is sought when necessary to meet their health and well-being needs such as therapy services.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to attend school each day and ensure that their education needs are met. Children appear to enjoy attending school and are doing well in line with their individual educational targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Positive behaviour is promoted, and achievements are celebrated with the children through monthly awards ceremonies. Staff ensure that children have access to a wide range of activities to meet their hobbies and interests such as swimming, visits to the beach, monkey forest and going to the cinema. In addition to this, staff support the children with activities to help enhance their life skills such as making pizzas, learning how to do simple household tasks and baking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager do not make use of the local offer. This is a missed opportunity to ensure that children and staff are aware of the resources and information available for children, which could be beneficial for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Family time is supported in line with agreed plans. Staff work with families to ensure that children can spend time with their family and maintain relationships that are important to them. However, there could be more meaningful work done with children around their culture and heritage to educate them on their family history and to promote children’s individual identities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who have left the home have moved out in a positive and planned way in line with their individual arrangements. One child has moved on to an adult service provision. Staff fully supported the child with their move to their new home to make the move as comfortable as possible for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager work with placing authorities to support positive outcomes for the children. However, current placing authority care plans are not always available and this is not challenged by the provider. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 4

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

Staff are trained in safeguarding and understand the company’s whistle-blowing procedures. When necessary, staff have put this into practice to raise concerns. When concerns have been raised, all necessary professionals were notified and, in line with agreements, suitable action was taken by the manager to investigate the concerns. Children’s welfare was a priority throughout.

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

When it has been necessary to physically hold a child, it has been reasonable and proportionate and used to keep them and others safe. Reports are detailed and include a thorough manager’s response that reflects on staff practice and identifies possible triggers for the child. Following a hold, both the child and staff have received a debrief to explore the effectiveness of the hold and to explore the child’s understanding of why a hold has been used.

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

Staff take suitable action in response to self-injurious behaviours. Staff ensure that medical support is sought when necessary and have worked with the internal positive behaviour support (PBS) lead to identify strategies to help reduce the risk of injury when these behaviours happen.

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

Children’s individual risks are detailed in their plans and risk assessments. These are detailed documents which are updated regularly. They include all necessary information for staff to provide consistent care for children. Internal plans are informed and reviewed through consultation with the internal PBS lead.

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

There are suitable systems in place for the safe storage and administration of medication. When errors have occurred, suitable action has been taken to investigate these and to identify actions to reduce the likelihood of reoccurrence.

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

Direct-work sessions take place frequently with children. However, these sessions focus mainly on children’s experiences, and are a missed opportunity to support children to prepare for key events and to understand their own emotions and risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an experienced manager and deputy manager in post who work together to provide support and guidance to the staff team. Staff describe the managers as visible and open to discuss any matters that arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has suitable arrangements in place to ensure that he has an overview of the home and can identify the home’s strengths and address any shortfalls or areas for improvement.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are supported by a core staff team that knows them well. However, there have been some periods of inconsistency since the last inspection with several changes to the Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 5 staff team. There is now a stable staff team, which is complemented by using regular agency staff who have positive relationships with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are systems in place for the safer recruitment of staff. When agency staff are used, there is a suitable system in place for the managers to access agency staff recruitment information to ensure that they can be confident that agency staff are safe to work with the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are suitably trained and qualified in subjects to meet the children’s individual needs. However, not all staff have completed the PBS training or training in PECS, and some staff are still completing key training as part of their induction process.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision sessions. However, they are not always practice related. The manager has introduced a new format which focuses more on staff practice and reflection. In addition to this, team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. They are used to share information and as a reminder for staff about their responsibilities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There are significant shortfalls with the home environment. Some of the shortfalls could be quickly fixed to make the home appear more homely and inviting, such as repairing damage to walls, redecoration of tired and worn areas of the home, and ensuring that the decoration and furnishings are welcoming and inviting for children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 6

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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

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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 and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

provide to children living in the home the physical necessities they need in order to live there comfortably;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(vii)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the home is decorated and maintained to an acceptable standard, and that any damage or wear and tear is quickly addressed and rectified.

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Requirement Due date

In addition to this, the registered person must make sure that the home environment is welcoming and inviting for children. 29 November 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 7 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

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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

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all staff have received training to meet the individual needs of the children. Specifically, staff should be trained in relevant communication methods and positive behaviour support. 29 November 2024

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that each child’s relevant plans are followed. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(c ))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that the placing authority care plan for each child is available for staff. If this is not provided by the placing authority within a reasonable timeframe, then this should be suitably challenged. 29 November 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff support children to be aware of and manage their own safety and emotions. Staff should help children to understand risks and emotions and to prepare them for significant events in their lives. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff support children to understand who they are and where they come from. Staff should support children to understand their culture and heritage to help provide them with a sense of identity. (‘Guide to the Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 8 Children’s Home Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that managers and staff are aware of the local offer setting out the support available for children with special education needs or disabilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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: 1247773 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Keys Group Progressive Care & Education Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspectors

Katie Tomlinson, Social Care Inspector Mathew Morris-Jones, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1247773 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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