Children's Home run by Compass Children‟s Homes Limited in Calderdale

Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 1 SC483220 Registered provider: Compass Children’s 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

The home is run by a private company. It may provide care for up to five children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of the inspection. Three children were spoken with, and one child was observed as part of the inspection process.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024.

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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 good

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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: 6 February 2024

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Outstanding 16/08/2022 Full Good 09/02/2022 Full Good 11/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 3

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outstanding

Children living at the home feel secure and have formed strong, trusting bonds with the staff. By actively listening and engaging with the children, the staff support them in addressing past traumas and encourage open communication about sensitive issues. This proactive approach allows staff to swiftly identify needs and provide crucial support to the children.

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outstanding

Professionals spoke highly of the service in relation to outcomes for children. One professional said, ‘The home is fabulous, and [name of child] has definitely made progress as a result of living there.’

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outstanding

Children are supported by staff and all are receiving education that meets their needs and is in line with their future aspirations. All children are achieving in education because of staff’s close working relationships with education colleagues that allow information about children’s progress to be communicated quickly. Children enjoy their education placements and have excellent attendance. Two children have identified local college courses that they are interested in and able to pursue following the completion of their GCSEs.

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outstanding

Staff adopt a joined-up approach to ensure they understand children’s health needs and work towards positive health outcomes. Children have access to all health services, such as GP, dentist and optician who visit the home. For one child with a serious health concern, staff have encouraged the child to use his love of acting to put his feelings into a video. Staff have watched the video to try and understand the child’s feelings towards his health and direct their approach in supporting the child.

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outstanding

Children benefit from continual emotional support from an assistant psychologist who is an embedded part of the staff team. The assistant psychologist has an in-depth knowledge of the children. Therefore, children speak freely and are open to having their thought processes challenged. One child explained, ‘I cringe at the way I used to think when I first started therapy!’ The assistant psychologist and staff team have worked in a consistent way to challenge discriminatory behaviours without judgement, and the child no longer demonstrates these in their daily presentation.

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outstanding

Children are supported to learn and understand healthy and unhealthy relationship dynamics, both from the therapeutic care delivered by staff and by strong team dynamics modelled in the home. Children attend group as well as individual therapy and have regular reflections on their interactions with others. As a result, children have begun forming peer networks. One child said, ‘One of my favourite things about the home is that they taught me how to manage relationships, and now I am getting better at keeping friendships.’ Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 4 Staff consider the decoration of the home as ongoing and developing and try to grow with the children living within it. Signage is kept to a minimum, and noticeboards used to educate children about cultural days are a collective, fun and vibrant project. Each room is considered for its use, and consideration is also given to the decoration

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outstanding

of rooms and how this will best engage the children and encourage them to use the spaces, such as updating the games room to a modern ‘gaming’ room.

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outstanding

Children have their family time arrangements supported and encouraged. Staff work flexibly with families and loved ones’ circumstances to ensure that arrangements are supported and facilitated wherever possible and safe to do so. Where children do not have family links, the staff team offers to be long-term links for care leavers. Because of the lives they have built in the local area, several of the children expressed that they wish to stay living locally.

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

There are individual risk assessments in place that enable staff to understand the risks children are vulnerable to and how to respond to these. Risk management plans reduce the potential of harm and are regularly reviewed, which has resulted in most risks to children being reduced.

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

Staff respond to incidents in line with risk management plans and notify professionals when needed. Staff understand the safeguarding arrangements in place to keep children safe and do not deviate from these.

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

Children rarely go missing from care. There has been one recent incident when a child left the home unauthorised. Staff responded appropriately and the child quickly returned home safely.

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

Staff always use the least restrictive practice and aim to reduce restrictions for the child wherever they can. Physical intervention is only used as a last resort and when required to keep the child safe from harm.

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

When room searches are conducted, these are proportionate. Although room searches may not be done in the presence of children, this is to respond to risk, and reflective discussions are carried out with children. Staff also have regular educational conversations with children about risks to support them to understand and keep themselves safe.

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

Children are given the skills to keep themselves safe through the SAFE programme and AQA learning to ensure that they understand the risks they are potentially vulnerable to. When children complete safety modules, such as phone safety, they may then gain access to a mobile phone. Internet and phone checks prove effective, and where a child has engaged in unsafe behaviours, staff implement relevant consequences, such as removing the phone. Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 5 Children’s medications are administered in line with their prescriptions and medication policy. However, there was not a process to ensure that medications were stored within temperature ranges, which is needed for certain medications. The manager took immediate action and introduced a thermometer before the end of the inspection.

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

The manager has health and safety checks in place that capture maintenance risks and implements action plans with time frames, agreed on with relevant authorities, to address any safety improvement areas.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The management infrastructure forms the basis of care delivery, with everyone understanding their roles. There is a strong rapport between staff and managers, which showed there was not a sense of hierarchy. The manager’s office is an open door, and children enter freely to talk and make requests, with managers, staff and children demonstrating mutual respect.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has embedded equality in the service both through a diverse staff team, but also through the celebration and respect for peoples’ cultures. Staff challenge discriminatory behaviours, and managers, staff and children demonstrate mutual respect.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children’s feedback is collected in a variety of ways. Children are asked to complete information for their care plan on admission to the home, which captures their voice throughout their care planning. There are child-focused meetings led by key workers, who then feed back to the team. This ensures that staff not only know about the latest picture of children, but also their feelings about how they would like these situations to be managed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager works proactively and positively with other agencies and professionals. These effective working relationships are viewed as constructive by professionals. When the manager challenges a decision, this advocacy has secured outcomes for children, such as a child having their deprivation of liberty safeguards removed, which has enabled him to attend college and spend time with his peers independently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers and staff work hard to identify opportunities for children to integrate them in the local community and have life-affirming experiences to create a sense of permanence. As there are several homes across the company, leaders create experiences such as Christmas and garden parties to promote peer relationships and create memories for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Children’s independence skills start early to prepare children for adulthood. Transition plans are reviewed regularly with children, taking into account their thoughts and feelings. When children move on from the home, this is done in a planned and child-centred way where possible. Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 6 Managers also recognise when staff are unable to continue to meet children’s needs based on presenting risk, despite additional training. Decisions about children moving on in these circumstances are balanced with the need for consistency and stability for all children. For one child, the manager has upskilled the staff team to meet their needs rather than the child having to move. This shows that when possible, staff are able to support children to remain in their home and move forward through challenges.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The managers find new ways to develop staff. Senior staff recently started completing audits, which are then used by key workers to inform children’s plans of care. This additional layer of governance also allows for further opportunities to identify any recording errors. The manager welcomes staff from across the company into the home as a shadowing opportunity in managing complex behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations have been made following this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 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: SC483220 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Compass Community Ltd, 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Bowker

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Inspector

Vikki Thwaites, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC483220 9 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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