Children's home run by Park Blue Homes Limited

Inspection report children's home: 2628430 1 Registered provider: Park Blue Homes Ltd

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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 owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties, who may also have a learning disability. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 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: 16 January 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 children's home: 2628430 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2024 Full Good 08/03/2023 Full Good 15/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2628430 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The inspector saw all three children living in the home and spent time with one of them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive and trusting relationships with staff, which helps them to feel settled in the home. Staff use their individual strengths to provide support to children. The home is warm, welcoming and well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoyed their annual summer holiday, and this year all chose to go to the seaside. Children enjoy a wide range of interests outside of the home. One child attends a local singing group. Other children enjoy more adrenaline fuelled trips to theme parks. In the home, staff support them with craft activities, pamper evenings, or children spend time on their computer games. Staff try to support children to be active every day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child moved in and out of the home in a short period of time. The providers processes ensured that they had the information they needed to make a decision about moving the child in, and they worked with the other children’s social workers to understand how the children would get along. However, there were concerns about the influence of two children on each other. The organisation identified the concerns swiftly and took action to minimise the disruption to all children. The child moved to another home run by the provider and has been supported to maintain the friendship they developed before moving.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to make progress. They understand children well and celebrate all achievements, whether small or large. For example, staff support children to develop age-appropriate independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child attends school regularly. Another child has recently struggled to attend consistently. There is close planning and working with the school to facilitate a positive return. The third child has not attended school for many months and is inconsistently attending the alternative provision that is in place. The manager attends regular review meetings to explore potential options. Staff follow the advice from a psychologist to reduce the pressure on the child. However, this is not then been supported by a clear plan to help the child to develop the resilience to be able to re-engage in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff listen to children and make changes in response to their feedback. Sometimes this is direct feedback, such as a child asking for a window restrictor to be removed. At other times, staff use their understanding of a child to identify what might be needed. Staff support children to develop an understanding of their identity. Staff are curious about family traditions; they encourage tolerance of others, and they help one child connect with their birth language. Inspection report children's home: 2628430 4 Staff support and encourage children to have positive relationships with their families. The manager uses the life-long links work done by the children’s local authority to continue to build and sustain the networks around the children.

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

Children enjoy positive relationships with staff and talk with them about the things that are important. This gives staff the opportunity to have discussions that promote children’s safety. Staff ensure children have opportunities for age-appropriate risk development. There have been unsettled periods in the home, including times when children’s behaviour impacts negatively on each other. As a result of the strong relationships, staff provide support and encourage empathy when appropriate. Staff work together as a team to provide consistent support, and this has helped the children to overcome challenging times.

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

Staff identify safeguarding concerns appropriately and respond to them swiftly, sharing information with other agencies as necessary. When there are concerns about staff practice, the manager speaks with children and will tell them what action has been taken. The manager clearly records concerns about staff practice and the decision- making process about sharing the concerns with safeguarding authorities.

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

When children go missing, staff search for them and call the police for support when necessary. When children return, staff speak with them to understand where they went and why. Managers encourage staff to reflect on their practice following missing incidents. This helps them to think about the actions they took and why, as well as what could be done differently. The manager uses learning identified by staff to modify practice in the home.

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

Restraint has been used with two children. The records relating to restraint are clear, and restraint is only used as a last resort to prevent significant harm. During significant incidents in the home, staff have been injured and the police have attended to provide support. Staff speak with children after the use of restraint. They explore how it felt to be held, as well as talking about what might have been happening for the child leading to the incident. Managers have supportive and reflective conversations with staff to unpick what happened and what they could do differently. However, it is not always explicitly clear how the whole incident is analysed and understood.

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

Staff understand and record when a child’s behaviour may cause themselves an injury. One child has bruised their arms on at least two occasions from swinging or rocking on a chair. The manager understands the cause and has discussed with professionals the need for a referral to an occupational therapist. However, in the meantime the child continues to seek sensory feedback from the movement and as such, the risk of bruising continues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Inspection report children's home: 2628430 5 A confident and experienced manager leads the home. Staff describe her as ‘supportive’, ‘capable’ and ‘on it’. The manager understands what is happening in the home and the areas for development. She knows the children well and has worked hard to stabilise the placement for one child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported in the home. They say the training they receive helps them with their role. Staff receive regular supervision with a manager that helps them to reflect on practice and to understand what is happening in the home. Team meetings are well attended and used to look at larger incidents or patterns in the home, as well as discussing the children and their care in detail.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A therapeutic model of support has been embedded in the home. Staff say this helps them to understand how to work with children in a targeted way. This provides a clear structure and shared language for work. Leaders review this approach and identify further ways to develop the support offered, as staff become increasingly confident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager cultivates positive working relationships with other professionals. These professionals say staff support the children well. Professionals feel able to share when they have worries or concerns and the manager works to address these. The manager challenges professionals when needed. Inspection report children's home: 2628430 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that there is a clear plan in place to support one child to be ready to return to education. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 38, paragraph 8.6)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure incidents are consistently and clearly reviewed for learning. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 55, paragraph 10.4)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure there is support in place for one child's movement/sensory need to be met in a way which does not cause an injury. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 17, paragraph 3.24)

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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 children's home: 2628430 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Park Blue Homes Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 38 Freemans Way, Harrogate, HG3 1DH

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, social care inspector Inspection report children's home: 2628430 8 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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