Children's Home, Residential special school run by Staffordshire County Council in Staffordshire

Inspection report children's home: SC415138 1 SC415138 Registered provider: Staffordshire County Council

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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-managed resource centre provides short-break care on a planned or emergency basis for up to 4 children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). It offers overnight stays and outreach care to children.

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Information about this children's home

The service is currently supporting 33 children and their families. In addition, since the last inspection, the service has also supported 4 emergency admissions.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, one child was receiving overnight support and 3 children were having outreach support. Four children were spoken to and observed as part of this inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The interim manager is suitably experienced and qualified. They have applied to register with Ofsted. The manager was not present at this inspection. This inspection was led by a deputy manager and the responsible individual.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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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: 21 January 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children's home: SC415138 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2025 Full Good 13/02/2024 Full Good 01/02/2023 Full Good 01/12/2021 Full Good Inspection report children's home: SC415138 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good quality, individualised care from an experienced, child focused and nurturing staff team. Staff know the children extremely well, including their likes, dislikes, preferences, communication styles and vulnerabilities. Children have warm, trusting relationships with staff and children said that they like the staff, enjoy their short breaks and feel 'happy' and 'safe.'

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Safe and nurturing relationships with staff help children to have positive experiences. Children make progress in areas, such as communication, socialisation and independence. When on short breaks, staff support children to learn new skills and have opportunities to make friends and try new things. For example, children have learnt to ride a bike or have been to their first football match. Families are extremely positive about the quality-of-care that children receive and how this also helps the wider family. For some children, this has prevented them needing to be supported in long term care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers approach to care planning is highly effective. Managers and staff work closely with parents, schools and other agencies to get to know children and children are encouraged to visit the centre before staying overnight. This helps children to feel comfortable and settle in quickly. When incidents occur between children, staff are quick to respond and take action to keep children safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, there has been an increase in emergency moves into the centre. On occasions, some children have stayed over 17 days, which is outside the conditions of registration. However, managers carefully consider any extensions to ensure that they are in children's best interests. This provides children with stability and reduces the need for several moves. While this has meant some short breaks have been cancelled, managers and staff have worked with families to offer alternative stays or outreach support, to minimise the impact on children and their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children's achievements through positive praise and the centre's own children's university. This allows children to achieve certificates and qualifications for working towards their independence and developing their social skills. This holistic and creative approach supports children's learning, makes them feel valued and promotes their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children's health needs. They work closely with health professionals when there are concerns around a child's health or medication and support children to attend medical appointments, when required. This promotes children to have positive health outcomes. Furthermore, when there are emergency admissions, the team work with health professionals and partner agencies to ensure that children's needs can be met and risks mitigated as much as possible. Inspection report children's home: SC415138 4 The centre's physical environment is lovely and child focused. It is clean, beautifully decorated and adapted to meet children's needs. Children's bedrooms are themed and there is lots of space, sensory equipment and games. This provides children with a comfortable space that they enjoy spending time in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, managers and staff work hard to ensure that children's views are sought, understood and considered. Staff understand children's differing communication styles. They use a variety of systems to ascertain children's wishes and feelings, including gathering regular feedback and through the monthly children's council. As a result, children have opportunities to participate in the decision making about the centre and influence their own care. However, on one occasion, managers and staff failed to identify a concern in one child's feedback. This shortfall was a missed opportunity to ensure that the child felt heard. Managers have now followed this up and taken action.

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

Managers and staff know children well. Managers ensure that staff have up to date, clear guidance on how to meet children's needs and mitigate risk. As a result, staff understand and can manage children's risks and vulnerabilities effectively. Subsequently, incidents in the centre are rare.

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

Staff only use physical restraint as a last resort to keep children and staff safe. Managers have oversight of all incidents. They ensure that children and staff are spoken to. This creates a culture of learning, developing staff practice and helps to keep children safe.

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

Staff complete meaningful, age-appropriate work with children. This helps children to understand their own needs, risks and supports them to keep themselves safe. For example, staff have worked with children to develop their understanding of e-safety.

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

Leaders and managers usually follow safeguarding procedures when there are concerns. They inform appropriate professionals and work collaboratively to safeguard children. However, records of action that has been taken are not always clear. While on this occasion, this has not impacted on children's safety, it does have a potential to do so.

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

Managers ensure that staff are vetted prior to working in the home. These processes are generally well completed. However, managers do not always assess applicants' previous employment history fully. This shortfall has potential to lead to unsafe adults working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, there have been changes in the leadership and management of the home. The previous registered manager had been absent for over 12 months. A deputy manager has covered the management of the centre, in their absence. There has also been a change in the responsible individual. This instability in the management team has at times impacted on the quality and consistency of management oversight. Inspection report children's home: SC415138 5 Management monitoring systems for the home are not always effective. While managers have a good working knowledge of the home and the children, their monitoring does not consistently identify shortfalls in the children's and staff's records, and their oversight is not always clear. However, leaders and managers are reflective. They do have a good understanding of the strengths and are realistic about the development needs of the service. They have ambitions for the service, staff and children to do well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is an extensive training offer in place, to enable staff to have the skills to meet children's individual needs. However, not all staff have training in the home's model of care. This means not all staff have the training to enable them to deliver the model of care as set out in the home's statement of purpose. Furthermore, two staff are out of timescales stipulated in regulation to obtain the appropriate childcare qualification.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers are aware of the need to notify Ofsted of significant events. However, on one occasion managers did not notify Ofsted of a safeguarding concern. As a result, Ofsted were not aware of events and the action being taken to safeguard a child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff are positive about working in the service and the support they receive from managers. Staff receive regular supervision, and annual appraisal. There are also regular reflective team meetings and team development days. These help staff to develop their practice and understand the way that the staff team works together.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers use consultation and feedback from others to develop the service that they offer. For example, following consultation with parents, a service newsletter was developed and is now sent to parents, quarterly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers and staff have built extremely positive relationships with professionals. This ensures effective communication and supports children to receive the care that they need. Feedback received from parents and professionals is consistently good. They are complimentary about the quality of care afforded to children, communication from staff and how the service helps the whole family. One parent said,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

'What staff provide isn't just care; it is peace of mind, joy for our child, and balance for our family. We are deeply grateful for the wonderful team and everything they do.'

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

'Communication is excellent. The service is a god send for families. Would clone if I could. A really good provision, has effectively kept [name of child] out of care.' Inspection report children's home: SC415138 6

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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(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement 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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement 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;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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Requirement Due date

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)(c)(g)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that that there is effective, timely monitoring and oversight of the quality-of- care the child receives and that they take action to address repeated shortfalls and requirements raised.

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Requirement Due date

In addition, leaders and managers must ensure that:

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Requirement Due date

- any safeguarding concerns are notified to Ofsted and that there are clear records of all action taken; 20 April 2026 Inspection report children's home: SC415138 7 - they have oversight of all children's consultations and timely action is taken when there may be concerns; and - staff are provided with training to enable them to have the skills to deliver the model of care outlined in the statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

Part of this requirement was raised at the last inspection and has been restated.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children's home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

(b)in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. 20 April 2026 Inspection report children's home: SC415138 8 The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

does not work, or has not worked, in a care role in a home for a prolonged period; or

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part-time basis. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d) (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) (6)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders and managers ensuring that all staff have full information in relation to schedule 2, including a full employment history. In addition, leaders and managers must ensure that all staff are supported to obtain appropriate qualifications in accordance with timescales stipulated in the regulation.

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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 children's home: SC415138 9

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Children's home details

Provision sub-type: Residential special school

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: 1 Staffordshire Place, Stafford, Staffordshire ST16 2DH

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC415138 10 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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