Children's Home run by London Borough of Hounslow in Hounslow

Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 1 SC032600 Registered provider: London Borough of Hounslow

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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 local authority home provides a short-break service for up to six children. The home provides care to children with learning disabilities, physical disabilities or a sensory impairment.

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Information about this children’s home

The home registered with Ofsted on 1 August 2003 and the manager registered with Ofsted in June 2017 and is suitably qualified.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, a total of eight children were using the service over the two days.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Outstanding 28/02/2023 Full Outstanding 01/12/2021 Full Outstanding 13/08/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Currently, 26 children access the service on a rotational basis. Children have a diverse range of physical and learning needs, with some requiring daily medication due to medical conditions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make exceptional progress when they stay at the home. They receive extremely well-planned and holistic care from highly skilled staff, who are deeply committed to improving children’s experiences and life chances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The induction of children to the home is extremely sensitive, thoughtful and effective. Staff work well with families, schools and the placing authority to understand the needs of new children holistically. They make sure that children receive encouragement and praise for their excellent work and constructive behaviours. This helps children to settle in the home and develop confidence and self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The registered manager and staff have high aspirations for the children who use the service. They are focused on promoting children’s development and helping them to achieve their goals. Consequently, all children are making exceptional progress with their social skills and overall development. Activities and key-work sessions are carefully planned to ensure that they support children to achieve the goals that are important to them. Parents speak with pride about their children’s achievements including cooking, completing their own personal care, socialising with others and being able to make friends. Staff celebrate children’s successes and achievements with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are looked after by a nurturing staff team that knows them extremely well. Staff work well with others to make sure that children are safe and happy when they come to stay. Parents and professionals speak positively about children’s time in the home. The home environment is lively and fun, and children access a range of opportunities to help them thrive both in the home and in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s voices are central to the home. Staff use visual aids and social stories to help children to share their views and choices, alongside increasing their level of understanding. Children’s views and wishes are listened to on all aspects of their lives. Children are actively encouraged to take part in preparing their care plans and setting their goals and targets.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support children to enjoy a range of activities that reflect their interests and widen their community involvement. The home is fully equipped with exceptional facilities, including a soft playroom, a sensory room, a computer room and an adapted kitchen that children can use. Children consistently enjoy outings and trips to new places such as the seaside, theme parks and museums. Children have structured time when they stay at the home and opportunities to engage in new experiences in the community. For some children, this is their first experience. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 4 Children live in a warm and homely environment. Each child personalises their bedroom. Bedrooms are themed with the child’s favourite movie character to reflect their personality. Staff clearly value the importance of an environment that is respectful and kept to an extremely high standard, with the children at its heart.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

There are good health and safety arrangements in place at the home to keep children safe. Leaders and managers have a plan to build a new home for the service to replace the current old building.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Parents speak very highly of the staff and the positive difference the home makes for their children. They say that children settle well and make impressive progress in relation to their independence. Staff work exceptionally well with parents to ensure that children have consistency and help parents to understand their children’s needs. The registered manager visits some families, in their homes, who need more support to help them develop skills to meet their children’s needs. The manager provides flexibility in children’s stays, including responding to family emergencies by providing responsive arrangements so that children can have additional stays.

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

Safeguarding practice is both exceptional and creative. Staff receive training on a wide range of safeguarding topics and have a good understanding of children’s vulnerabilities. Staff show excellent understanding of children’s communication needs and respond effectively when children are unwell. All staff have completed Makaton training. Staff work well with parents and professional to understand children’s needs. This understanding, alongside staff’s strong relationships with children, enables staff to provide effective, individualised care in response to any safeguarding issues raised.

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

Children are safeguarded effectively. The stable and consistent home environment, together with the warmth and confidence of the staff, makes the children feel safe and secure. Proactive steps are taken swiftly to minimise the risks and ensure that children have a positive experience when they stay. The registered manager completes regular behaviour and thought-mapping exercises with staff for individual children and shares their learning with relevant people. Communication methods, behaviour strategies and visual supports used at schools are also implemented at the home to provide consistency for the children. Parents and social workers say that children feel safe and that the staff protect them.

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

Children receive help from high staffing levels and there are clear behaviour support plans to support children’s needs. Risks to children are well understood by managers and staff. Risk assessments are clear and detailed. The children’s professional network and parents inform assessments to ensure that staff take the appropriate action when needed. There is a strong emphasis on implementing preventative strategies and consulting closely with schools and families to provide consistent care and support to children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 5 Staff support children to understand boundaries and routines. This is done in a child- friendly way, using the child’s preferred method of communication. Incidents are well managed by staff and always reviewed by the registered manager. Challenging situations are discussed in team meetings, to review if there are any lessons to be learned to

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

improve future practice. Staff see all behaviour as communication and help children to understand their feelings and communicate their concerns.

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

Staff help children to understand risks and know how to keep themselves safe. They talk to children about important topics such as body changes, privacy, online safety and respect of others. Children interact well with staff and can move freely in the home. Staff help children to understand how to raise concerns and who to contact. Children spoken to say that they feel safe when they stay at the home.

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

Social workers speak highly about the prompt and good level of communication they have with staff when issues arise that may have an impact on a child’s well-being or safety. Records show that external agencies are promptly informed of any incidents to ensure that children are safeguarded during their stay.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is dedicated, passionate and advocates endlessly to ensure that children lead positive and fulfilling lives, despite their complex needs. The registered manager has excellent oversight of the home and understands the children’s day-to-day experiences and the quality of care that they receive. The monitoring, scrutiny and evaluation of the children’s care is highly effective and allows the manager to address any shortfalls promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is determined in her efforts to advocate for and champion the rights of disabled children. She ensures that any decisions made in respect of children are planned, well thought out and in the children’s best interests. This has led to her challenging the placing authority when plans do not meet children’s individual needs. The registered manager values professional discussions and uses these discussions to generate innovative ideas to further enhance the quality of the care provided to children. Professionals and parents speak highly of the manager and staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff morale is high. They speak highly of the management team. They feel well supported, valued and equipped to fulfil their roles. The staff team is very stable, and many of the staff have worked in the home for several years. Staff receive regular, child- focused supervision sessions. Supervision guides staff with a strong focus on their development. This helps to keep staff and enables them to provide excellent care to the children in the home. The registered manager has a plan to ensure that all staff receive their annual appraisals in the required timescales.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

New members of staff benefit from a detailed induction that helps them to understand their roles and responsibilities. Staff say that training is effective and helpful. Staff value Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 6 and commit to team meetings and are encouraged to share learning. The registered manager champions a culture of learning and open communication between the staff. She completes regular reflection activities on important topics such as safeguarding to check staff understanding. Staff say that they find the feedback beneficial and strive for continuous improvement. The exceptional training offer ensures that knowledgeable and well-informed staff look after children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager keeps abreast of current research and best practice and makes sure that staff have up-to-date relevant knowledge. For example, they have researched the impact of unplanned endings on children and worked with one child who had experienced an abrupt ending. To help the child support a positive ending, staff completed a life-story book with important memories and visited the child in the new provision and spent quality time together. Children who leave the home are helped to keep their friendship with other children in the home. Staff arrange activities for the children to meet, and invite them and their families to attend regular events and celebrations in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Feedback from professionals is incredibly positive. They describe the quality of care provided to children as ‘exceptional’ and say that the support staff provide is non- judgemental and supportive to children and their families. Professionals say that staff go above and beyond to provide children with good-quality care and support. Excellent joint working between the registered manager and the professionals, and robust processes for sharing information, ensure that all staff have up-to-date information about children’s current needs and how to support them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Parents say that communication from managers and staff is ‘excellent’. They receive frequent updates about children’s progress through regular visits, telephone calls and daily logs that children take home with them. Staff know parents very well and advocate for them when concerns are raised about access to suitable support for their children in the community. Staff support children to attend school when they stay at the home to help parents who may struggle without support. Parents who were initially anxious about their children attending the home, now want to increase their children’s days due to the progress their children are making. One social worker commented that, ‘Staff provide not only exceptional direct support to children but also extend vital assistance to families, offering guidance and reassurance.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations were raised at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 7

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Information about this inspection

Inspector has 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: SC032600 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: London Borough of Hounslow

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: London Borough of Hounslow, Hounslow House, 7 Bath Road, Hounslow TW3 3EB

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Inspector

Dorothy Thompstone, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC032600 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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