Children's Home run by My House Calow Limited in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 1 Registered provider: My House Calow Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to four children with learning disabilities.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

There were four children living in the home at the time of the inspection. All children contributed to this inspection.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in December 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/06/2023 Full Outstanding 08/11/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/08/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled at this home. The children are cared for by dedicated staff. Interactions between the staff and children are very good and the staff are caring and supportive towards the children.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the children are healthy. Appointments are made with health professionals if needed, and staff ensure that everything is seen through to conclusion. The children eat limited diets, but staff continue to offer a variety of options to encourage them to sample new foods. Meals and snacks are chosen to reflect children’s cultural needs and personal preferences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children are not currently in formal education. This is because staff have been advised by health professionals that supporting the children’s health needs should take priority. Staff work in collaboration with education professionals and highlight the need for the children to access some form of education when they are ready. Staff do support the children to make some educational progress within the home. This includes counting and colouring.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are being supported to develop their life skills every day and make good progress. Staff recognise and celebrate children’s significant achievements, such as brushing their teeth, trying new foods or developing their communication. Some children’s progress fluctuates, but staff quickly identify this and adjust the support to the child to get them on track. This helps children to make continuous progress.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to participate in a wide range of activities, both locally and further afield. These activities provide lots of fun and laughter, creating wonderful memories that are captured in photos. The activities have included days out at the beach, shopping at a large shopping centre for a suit for prom and local activities such as swimming. This enables children to have different experiences that promote social inclusion in their wider community.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from having individualised time with staff. The focus of this time can be around developing a new skill or undertaking a children’s meeting. The staff have lots of resources they can use to communicate with the children. At times, though, the staff rely on communicating using their voice and do not consider the children’s specific needs. Therefore, children are not being fully supported to communicate their wishes or requests.

p.3

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

Children’s complex health and behavioural needs mean that there are times of upset, distress and behaviour that are challenging for adults. Staff are skilled at promoting Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 4 positive behaviour and have embedded a consistent response on these occasions. Staff are adept at considering how any incident impacts on all the children in the home.

p.3

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

Physical intervention is rarely used to manage the children’s behaviour. When there is an incident of behaviour, children are not always provided with the opportunity to explore their feelings about what happened in a way that they will understand. This potentially leaves children trying to make sense of what happened themselves, and this could have a negative impact on them.

p.4

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

The children’s individual risk assessments are of good quality. Behaviour support plans identify all known risks and provide detailed guidance to staff on keeping the children safe. They provide staff with the direction they need to manage identified risks and vulnerabilities.

p.4

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

Staff safely administer medication to children. All staff who dispense medication have received the appropriate training and have had their competency assessed. There is clear management oversight, including daily and weekly audits. As a result of the systems in place, there have not been any medication administration errors.

p.4

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

Children have personal evacuation plans that detail what staff need to do in the event of a fire. The plans have not been reviewed or updated as expected. This means that staff may not be equipped with the right knowledge should there be a fire.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is devoted to the children in her care, demonstrating compassion for those living in the home. She consistently strives to support their well-being and help them achieve positive outcomes. The manager is supported by a knowledgeable responsible individual and together they have a clear vision for the children and home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported by the managers and enjoy working in the home. There is a strong ethos of teamwork and supporting each other to meet the needs of the children. The staff receive regular supervision, but these are limited in content and the children are not always discussed. The manager holds regular team meetings and uses these as an opportunity to upskill staff around certain subjects.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The current systems for monitoring work in the home are not yet robust enough to assure the manager of consistent quality. In addition, there is a lack of thorough management oversight, making it harder to spot patterns and areas that need improvement.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Partnership working is strong. Without exception, feedback from external professionals complimented the manager and the staff on their effective communication and multi- agency working. This is helping to ensure that children receive the help and support they need without delay. Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 5 The manager recognises the importance of children maintaining links with people who matter to them. There is a coordinated approach with families and professionals to ensure that family time is positive for all. As the home and staff are so welcoming, family members feel able to come to the children and ‘make themselves at home’. This has been positive for children and families to reinforce their bonds with each other. Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 6

p.4

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 must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

Requirements Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

p.6

Requirements Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

p.6

Requirements Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

p.6

Requirements Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure.

p.6

Requirements Due date

In particular, the registered person is to ensure that staff and children are debriefed after a physical intervention has taken place. 10 March 2025

p.6

Requirements 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.6

Requirements Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirements Due date

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

p.6

Requirements Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; and 10 March 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b))

p.6

Requirements Due date

In particular, the manager needs to ensure that they have oversight of all the work undertaken in the home, and supervision notes are thoroughly recorded.

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children must feel and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. This includes the children knowing what to do in an event of a fire and the children’s personal evacuations plans remaining current. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills and confidence to communicate easily and understand the importance of listening to, involving and responding to the children they care for. They should also understand how children might communicate their feelings through their behaviour, or non-verbally especially

p.7

Recommendations

where the child has a disability which does not allow them to communicate as others might. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping, and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that children are consulted regularly on their views about the home’s care, to inform and support continued improvement in the quality of care provided. Due consideration should be given to the child’s cognitive

p.7

Recommendations

ability in the development and implementation of any consultation processes. Children should be able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted upon. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

p.7

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 Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 8 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: 2660470 9

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: My House Calow Limited

p.9

Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2660470 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.

p.9

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.10

Inspector

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

p.10

Inspector

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

p.10