Children's Home run by Trauma in Mind Ltd in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 1 Registered provider: Trauma in Mind 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider. It offers care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2023

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Information about this children’s home

There were three children living at the home at the time of this inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Date of last inspection: 15 January 2024

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/01/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are happy, settled and they are making exceptional progress in all areas of their lives. Staff understand the children’s individual needs and they provide them with a high standard of consistent and nurturing care. Children respond to the strong boundaries, structure, and routines in place at this home and they thrive on the high expectations that staff set for them. Staff are aspirational for the children, they consistently provide children with positive praise and encouragement, and they celebrate their achievements. Children have consistently positive experiences, and they are flourishing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy secure and trusting relationships with staff who are attuned to the children’s individual needs and to their emotional well-being. With oversight from the in- house clinical lead, staff educate the children about brain development and how their past experiences may be causing them to experience the difficult and confusing emotions that they may be feeling. Staff use fun activities to deliver this work in a child- focused way that the children understand, and they encourage children to take ownership of this learning. This innovative approach has helped children to develop skills for reflection and helps children to build confidence, self-esteem and to change the way that they see and feel about themselves. Staff tell the children that they are loved, and they work hard to help children to accept feeling valued, cared for and loved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are making remarkable progress in their education. Staff understand the barriers to children’s education, and they are strong advocates for the children. The manager and staff work collaboratively with education professionals to ensure that children’s emotional needs are better understood. This has led to improved attendance and progress for some children and has helped one child to return to education after a period of not attending. Staff place high expectations on children’s education, and they provide them with lots of opportunities to do educational activities to compliment formal learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff place a high importance placed on supporting children to develop independence in a way that is in line with children’s individual age, abilities and understanding. Staff are creative in their approach, they focus on helping children to build confidence and resilience, which equips them to take ownership of their own learning about what independence means to them. For some children this has meant reaching developmental milestones and for others developing practical skills to live independently in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children enjoy a wide range of activities in line with their individual hobbies and interests such as art and crafts, swimming, gaming, and Lego modelling. The children have a love of animals, they enjoy going horse riding, dog walking, visiting a local farm and caring for their pets at home. Children get involved in meaningful activities in their community such as helping at out at the local foodbank. Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 4 Children are consulted with regularly and their wishes and feelings are held at the centre of decision making in this home. There is an innovative and child focused approach to capturing children’s opinions about the care they are receiving. Records designed to capture daily events are written by children, which means that the child’s day-to-day experiences are captured from the child’s perspective. Children are involved in making their own memory books which include lots of photographs, memorabilia and their own

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

reflections about their time living at the home.

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

The risks for each child have reduced since they moved into the home. Staff have an exceptionally good understanding of the children’s needs, their vulnerabilities and the risks that affect them. Staff place an importance on being open and honest with children and building positive and trusting relationships with them to help children to feel safe and secure. They are skilled at using their relationships to intervene when children become upset, which has helped children to find better coping strategies and has led to a reduction in incidents.

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

Incidents where children show unwanted behaviour have reduced, and staff have rarely needed to intervene physically with children. There have been some incidents that have led to one child being held, this happened soon after they moved into the home and records show that the use of restraint was necessary to keep the child safe. Children are provided with the opportunity to talk about incidents and staff ask them how they are feeling. Staff routinely discuss incidents with the in-house psychologist, which helps staff to reflect on what happened and to discuss the strategies used to support individual children.

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

There has been one occasion this period when a child went missing. Staff were proactive in their approach, they reported the child missing and they worked collaboratively with the police to search for the child until they were found. The child was provided with the opportunity to talk to an independent person when they returned home and there are lots of records of conversations with the child about the risks of going missing. Children’s individual missing from home plans are detailed and provide clear steps to follow. Staff are clear about their responsibilities to children who go missing. This incident happened soon after the child moved into the home and has not happened since.

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

Children’s individual risk assessments identify all known risks to the child, they are detailed and kept under review by the manager. Staff are clear about the steps they need to take to safeguard children.

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

Staff take a balanced and non-restrictive approach to managing the risks to children. Staff have meaningful conversations with children, and they utilise a wide range of resources and researched material to inform how they educate children about risk. Children respond to the fun activities that staff use to engage them in learning about safety. Children take ownership of making decisions about their own safety and they talk about being helped to make better choices. This positive approach has led to one child Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 5 being less vulnerable in their relationships because they are now better equipped to make safer choices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and her deputy work exceptionally well together to provide the team with positive child-focused role modelling and effective leadership. The manager has a wealth of experience, and she is appropriately qualified. She sets high expectations for her staff, and she is ambitious about the quality of care that children experience. She is committed to ensuring that children have security, feel cared for and loved. These aspirations are the goals of the whole staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Senior leaders are present in the home, and the in-house clinical psychologist provides the manager and staff with an additional level of support and oversight. This helps the manager and staff to reflect on their practice, ensure that they keep the strategies they use with children under review and to provide an outstanding quality of care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive a high standard of supervision that is reflective and provides staff with the opportunity to discuss the children. Staff said that they are happy working at the home, and they describe it as ‘a second family.’ Staff said that they feel valued and supported by their peers, the manager, and the senior leadership team. Team meetings happen regularly, they are well attended, and they are used as an opportunity for the team to refresh safeguarding knowledge and to discuss current research related to supporting vulnerable children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and staff place a high importance on multi-agency working. They work collaboratively with other professionals, and they confidently challenge others to ensure that children’s plans are met. This has led to two children receiving additional support in school and one child’s additional needs being formally assessed. Other professionals hold the manager and staff in high regard. One professional said, ‘They really understand [Name of child’s] needs and how to respond. I have learnt a lot from them, it has definitely improved my practice.’ Another professional said, ‘The manager and staff are fantastic, I wish all of our children could live in a home like this and receive such amazing care.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff are skilled and experienced in supporting and safeguarding vulnerable children because of the rigorous induction and wide range of training that they receive. The organisation’s clinical lead delivers a wide range of training to staff which helps to provide them with the knowledge and skills to be able to deliver the home’s model of care for supporting children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children are provided with a safe and secure home that is warm and welcoming. This is very much the children’s home in that they are involved in decorating and personalising their bedrooms, and their individual personalities are reflected throughout the home. Children have a real sense of belonging and they are proud of their home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 6 The manager regularly consults with children, families, staff and stakeholders about the home and the quality of care provided to children. There is clear evidence that feedback from others is considered and informs reflective practice. The manager and staff demonstrate learning from compliments, complaints and feedback received and they use this feedback to improve practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 7

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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: 2736840 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Trauma in Mind Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Park House, 37 Clarence Street, Leicester LE1 3RW

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Inspector

Rachel Webster, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2736840 9 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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