Children's home run by Inspire Children’s Services Limited in St. Helens

Inspection report for children's home: SC422481 1 SC422481 Registered provider: Inspire Childrens Services 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 privately operated. It provides care for up to 2 children, who may experience social or emotional difficulties and/or have a learning disability.

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Information about this children's home

The Manager registered with Ofsted in November 2024.

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Information about this children's home

There is currently one child living in the home and they were seen and spoken with during the inspection.

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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 outstanding

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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: 22 October 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 for children's home: SC422481 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Outstanding 14/09/2022 Full Good 08/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC422481 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has developed trusting relationships with the staff. Staff understand the child's needs well and use their knowledge of the child to positively distract them from unwanted behaviours. Staff have helped the child to make progress, such as waiting in a queue at a theme park and overcoming their fear of water so they can go swimming. This progress has resulted in the child having a broader range of enjoyable experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is homely and provides a sense of security for the child. The home is set up to meet the child's needs. The child's bedroom reflects their interests, and they have a separate toy room and sensory room, that helps them to manage their emotions with a variety of activities. Staff celebrate the child's achievements, and their trophies and certificates are in proudly displayed in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff work with a range of professionals to ensure that the child's move to adult services is as smooth as possible. The child has an independent advocate to help them navigate the changes and ensure that they get the support that they need. The manager shares their knowledge of the child with the wider network of professionals to inform the child's move on plan. The manager is keen for the staff from the home to remain part of the child's support network when they move out. Staff are well prepared for this and are committed to providing the child with the support they need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has access to a wide variety of communication aids that help them to make decisions and share how they are feeling. Staff's reciprocal communication with the child has helped the child to develop their language skills. Boards and signs placed throughout the home enable the child to communicate with staff and to understand plans for the day. Furthermore, staff have adapted written information into the child's preferred communication system. The child can now communicate independently with their advocate.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work creatively with the child to help them make sense of their emotional and sensory needs and the world around them. The staff have identified that the child responds better to requests when they are sung and that dancing helps them to manage their emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child's attends college regularly. It is recognised that the child is not in the right college placement to meet their needs. There has been limited progress in identifying an alternative option. The child's care team are making plans to transfer the child to a more suitable community placement alongside their move to adult social care, but plans are slow. Inspection report for children's home: SC422481 4

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

Staff understand the child's risks well and follow agreed strategies that help the child to be safe in the community and in the home. Incidents in the home are infrequent as staff support the child to express their emotions safely. Unsafe behaviours in the home have reduced as have incidents when travelling.

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

Staff work in accordance with the child's court-imposed deprivation of liberty order that enables them to prevent the child leaving the home for the child's own safety. The effect of these restrictions are managed well so the child does not feel overwhelmed by the limitations.

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

Staff manage behavioural incidents effectively and help the child to understand what has happened. Staff communicate with the child after any incident to help them name their feelings in relation to the emotion displayed. Staff complete post incident learning reviews to identify what has worked well. When staff have had extended incidents involving restraint holds, the manager has identified where and why staff have not followed recommended strategies. This has led to additional learning and training and remains an area for improvement.

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

The initial discussions with the child after restraint incidents are completed by staff and are followed up by the manager to ensure that the child's voice was heard. On one occasion the initial discussion with the child was completed by a member of staff involved in the incident. This may prevent the child from communicating freely if they have worries.

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

The staff rarely use negative consequences as most of the child's behaviours are viewed through the lens of their diagnoses. When they do occur, consequences are immediate and clearly related to the incident to help the child connect this with their actions. Staff give positive consequences frequently for the child completing tasks independently and coping well when plans change. Staff record consequences in a handwritten log and the manager has oversight. A new recording system is being introduced to improve clarify of recordings.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is inspirational and has influenced positive change for child. She has high aspirations for the child and for staff to provide the child with excellent care. The manager supports the staff to use research-based practice and provides extensive training opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. This includes staff visiting other homes to gain experience in working with children with different needs to the child they care for.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager advocates strongly for the child and works with the child's independent advocate to promote their wishes and feelings with all relevant professionals. Furthermore, the manager has challenged poor practice at the child's college effectively Inspection report for children's home: SC422481 5 and has ensured that a new social worker was allocated quickly for the child when their previous worker left.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Looking forward the manager wants to provide the staff with the right support and training to grow and excel in their roles. The manager has a clear vision and a plan to achieve it. Her excellent leadership has enriched the staff's enthusiasm and commitment to do all they can to make a difference to children's lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff feel valued by their managers and speak highly about the support they have for their wellbeing and personal life outside of work. Staff have regular supportive and well- structured supervision sessions. Staff reflect on their practice and the child's progress. Positive praise is given in recognition of their progress and achievements. This helps to maintain a postive team culture focused on making a difference to the child's life.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager ensures that new staff have a comprehensive, well supported induction, utilising both face-to-face and online training sessions. Staff's skills are developed throughout their probationary period to prepare them to take on their roles with confidence. Training for all staff is frequent. They can identify areas they wish to develop their knowledge and skills in and access training or complete work at other homes in the group to develop their skills. Staff say they love working at the home and value the support from leaders and managers. Inspection report for children's home: SC422481 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the behaviour management strategy is understood and always applied by staff. Staff should not use holds or other methods of restraint that are not in the child's plan. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 46 paragraph 9.34)  The registered person should ensure that, any child who has been restrained should be given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint to a member of staff or external professional, who was not involved in the incident as soon as is practicable, ideally within 24 hours of the incident. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards,' page 50 paragraph 9.60)

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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: SC422481 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Inspire Childrens Services Ltd

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Inspire Childrens Services, Unit 3, Craig Court, Standish Street, St. Helens, Merseyside WA10 1GJ

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Michael Bradshaw

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Inspector

Kirstie Sutherland, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC422481 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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