Meadowpark Children’s Home statement of purpose
Contents
Introduction
Meadowpark Children’s Home is managed by Devon County Council:
Devon County Council Children’s Services
County Hall
Topsham Road
Exeter
EX2 4QD
This statement of purpose has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 16 and schedule 1 of the Children’s Homes (England) regulations 2015.
Meadowpark is maintained as part of a range of provisions that enable Devon County Council to support families with children who have complex health, physical or behavioural needs and who may have other additional needs.
Our mission
To provide a happy, safe and caring home. For all children to be supported in a loving, encouraging and respectful way and have their views, wishes and feelings heard and responded to, thereby helping children to overcome their challenges to fulfil their potential and achieve best possible outcomes.
Our vision
We strive for excellence, by being innovative and creative aiming for continued development with a passion for bettering ourselves and our services to ensure the best possible outcomes for the children we support.
We aim to develop the next generation of leaders through the implementation of a productive, learning environment along with a strong positive culture and value base with the children always at the heart of the decisions we make and actions we take.
The home and surroundings
Short breaks and longer stays up to 52-week placements are provided for young people with complex health needs, learning disabilities and multi-sensory needs.
The home is a four bedded facility, with ceiling hoists within some of the bedrooms, lounge, bathroom and shower room. The young people are encouraged to choose the decoration in the home and in their bedrooms. Each child is also encouraged to bring in personal items from home and to choose their own bedding design and to personalise their rooms with any pictures, toys or soft furnishings of their choice. There is a bathroom with a height adjustable bath and a wet room, we have the use of shower trolleys and bath or shower seats and modesty screens where required.
The lounge area is large and includes an activity area where various art and craft activities take place. We have photographs displayed and these evidence the homes trips, excursions and activities, the current topic being explored and themed nights which are often celebrated and greatly enjoyed.
Short breaks and longer stays up to 52-week placements are provided for young people with complex health needs, learning disabilities and multi-sensory needs.
The home is a four bedded facility, with ceiling hoists within some of the bedrooms, lounge, bathroom and shower room. The young people are encouraged to choose the decoration in the home and in their bedrooms.
Each child is also encouraged to bring in personal items from home and to choose their own bedding design and to personalise their rooms with any pictures, toys or soft furnishings of their choice. There is a bathroom with a height adjustable bath and a wet room, we have the use of shower trolleys and bath or shower seats and modesty screens where required.
The lounge area is large and includes an activity area where various art and craft activities take place. We have photographs displayed and these evidence the homes trips, excursions and activities, the current topic being explored and themed nights which are often celebrated and greatly enjoyed.
The kitchen is adaptable to enable use by wheelchair users and we support the young people to devise and choose from a healthy and varied menu. We encourage fun activities in the kitchen such as baking and cooking with produce grown in our garden.
There is a large garden which has two separate areas, one area has a sensory garden where the young people can grow produce in the accessible raised beds. We a wheelchair trampoline, wind chimes, ‘talking flowers and a vertical musical metallophone.
There are paths suitable for skate boarding, cycling and scootering, an area for ball games and quieter areas that offer shade for relaxation and picnics. Our playground houses an enclosed trampoline and plenty of space to kick a ball, play with outdoor toys, to produce floor art with chalk and to accommodate several paddling pools in finer weather.
Our home is set in the village of Shillingford Abbott on the outskirts of Exeter, in a setting of beautiful natural countryside. A short drive away there is a horse-riding centre, multiple sandy beaches, supermarkets and the city centre.
There are also some outdoor and indoor activity areas within a short driving distance and adventure parks and ice cream parlours. The local hospital is within 5 miles of Meadowpark, incorporating an A&E department and an option of open access to the children’s ward.
A location risk assessment has been completed and this is updated annually or more frequently when necessary.
At Meadowpark we support children from birth to 18 years. We undertake comprehensive assessments of all young person’s needs and introduce children to the home in a way that is right for them, and which considers current group dynamics and possible impact on current children accessing the home. Children are encouraged to visit the home (parents are welcome) and to come for mealtime visits if preferred prior to their short break.
The support is provided within a framework that is agreed through the children’s annual review and care planning process including their ECHP. We provide short breaks and accommodate for longer allocation, if requested, to support a family and the child.
Emergency placements will be considered on an individual basis, and we may provide permanent placements for a period based on individual need and upon the completion of relevant assessments and documentation. A risk assessment will be carried out, assessing the impact on the children already accessing the home and the suitability of the home for each child. We are currently supporting a young person on a 52-week placement basis.
We can be commissioned to implement assessments and treatment plans for individual children as appropriate in liaison with other relevant persons, ensuring a multi-agency approach that values the children and puts their welfare at the centre of all decision-making processes.
Quality and purpose of care
The staff team at Meadowpark are skilled in adapting their approach to suit the particular needs of the young people they support. Regular staff training is provided to develop and maintain individual’s skills.
Our aims are to provide a home from home enjoyable stay that will expand the opportunities and experiences available for young people, whilst also supporting them to learn skills appropriate to their age, ability and understanding by encouraging natural progression within a home environment whilst promoting independence.
We do this by working closely with the children, families, professionals involved, schools and others that are key to the children, to provide consistency and support in ways that are in the best interest of everyone.
Each child will have an individual support and outcome plan that is regularly reviewed and updated.
The ethos of the home is to provide a home from home environment where children can grow and develop through a nurturing process that caters to their individuality. We are committed to providing a caring environment where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.
We provide activities and opportunities such as visits to Pennywell Farm, Plymouth Aquarium, the moors and bowling, to enhance the young people’s experiences and outcomes.
Caring for young people
The team at Meadowpark values the feedback we receive about the service. This is sought from a variety of sources and any learning is embedded into our practice.
Young people are supported to offer feedback, this enables them to be involved in the shaping of the care they receive and the development of the service. We actively encourage feedback from carers and families professionals involved and the young people.
We are committed to gathering feedback in ways that suit the individual’s preferred communication methods which may include verbal, written, pictorial, behavioural and using the augmentative and alternative communication approach.
Young people are given the opportunity to express their views in a way appropriate to their individual communication abilities. They are encouraged to participate in the review and development of services, both in general and in relation to themselves.
We work in a child person-focused manner, to provide a safe environment where young people are supported, offered a variety of stimulation and benefit from life experiences and opportunities and access to a variety of in house and community-based activities.
Our staff support and respect individual beliefs and wishes. We treat each child as an individual and, in so doing, we recognise that religious and cultural beliefs may influence every area of a children’s life, diet, preparation of food and choice of clothing. These beliefs and wishes will be incorporated into an individual’s care plan and will shape the support and care they receive whilst at Meadowpark.
The young people come in for each stay with their own clothes, personal belongings, equipment and medication. Young people and families often leave some personal belongings to allow us to prepare their room with their own things. Young people are supported to choose items when out in the community to enable them to add personal touches for their stay.
At Meadowpark we provide outings and in-house activities. Young people do not come to the home with pocket money, but we do encourage money skills and safe handling of money when they go shopping and these can be reflected in the children’s outcomes and the encouragement of independence.
Safeguarding young people
It is the aim of the home to ensure that every child always feels supported and safe. Any safeguarding disclosures will be treated sensitively, as per Devon County Council and Devon Children’s and Families Partnership policies and procedures. All disclosures will be treated seriously and reported as appropriate by a team of staff who are trained to be aware of all the signs and processes involved, will act upon these and will always put the wellbeing of the young person first.
All those involved with the provision of services for the children’s home settings must be alert to the possibility of abuse by other young people, visitors and members of staff. Staff attend relevant training in line with Devon County Council policies. We also have level 3 and 6 safeguarding supervisions which are updated 3 yearly. The staff team working at Meadowpark always have access to the management team on-call for advice and guidance as well as regular supervision or safeguarding supervision in which they can discuss any concerns they may have.
Staff from the Devon County Council Children’s Homes team are involved in local safeguarding forums which enables us to keep up to date with the most recent developments and practice and can cascade information throughout the teams.
All compliments, concerns and complaints are taken seriously. Young people are encouraged to share compliments, concerns and complaints with their parents and carers, staff, managers or the Service Manager for Countywide Services. Meadowpark adheres to Devon County Council complaints policies and procedures. These are reviewed monthly by the manager.
Young people, parents or carers, members of the public, agencies or professionals can all raise compliments or concerns. These can be raised directly with the staff team or by going directly to MASH, LADO, Disabled Children’s Service, or Ofsted.
Requests to see the homes policies and procedures can be made to Meadowpark or Devon County Council Children’s Homes.
Compliments, concerns and complaints can be made to any of the three options below:
Glenn Lobb – Head of Service, Internal Provisions
One Capital Court
Bittern Road
Exeter
EX2 7FW
Telephone: 01392 383000
Email: glenn.lobb@devon.gov.uk
Devon County Council Customer Relations
Freepost DCC Customer Relations
Telephone: 0800 212783
Email: customer.relations@devon.gov.uk
Ofsted
Piccadily Gate
Store Street
Manchester
M1 2WD
Telephone: 0300 123 1231
Email:enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk
Children’s Commissioner for England
Telephone: 0800 528 0731
Email:help.team@children’scommissioner.gov.uk
The home promotes an environment in which bullying is not acceptable. If bullying is found to occur, effective strategies will be implemented to manage the situation safely and promptly. We support young people to actively come forward with their concerns in any area.
Staff at Meadowpark are aware that the young people need privacy. However, this must be balanced with issues of protection and safety, and this is assessed through their support and outcomes plan. The privacy and dignity of the young people are always respected. There may be times audio or visual monitoring is required due to individual medical needs of the young people or for health and safety reasons.
All monitoring is taken to the good practice committee and the least restrictive from of monitoring is always used and in a proportionate manner and is always regularly reviewed and approved by the good practice committee. The need for visual checks and the use of audio or visual monitors during the night is assessed on an individual basis. Night-time monitoring will only take place where there is an identified need, which will be detailed in the individuals care plan and consented to by the parent or their placing authority.
Access into and out of the building is restricted by keypads; these doors always remain locked. If a child wishes to leave the building, they would be supported to do so with a staff member. Our outside area is supported by perimeter fencing and our carpark is secured with a large gate. The carpark area has CCTV in operation
At Meadowpark we support multi-disciplinary working with professionals and are happy to facilitate visits from known education, health, and social care professionals. There are procedures in place to ensure the individuals identity is known and recorded and visitors are required to produce identification and sign and out. Any visits to the home will be organised by the parents or carer or lead professional, except in an emergency.
In the event of a child going missing from the home (or during outings away from the home), immediate action will be taken, and local policies will be followed. The member of staff supporting the child will carry an emergency card, which holds emergency contact details and a photograph. We will inform the police and contact families and lead professionals, as appropriate. Full risk assessments are put in place for young people who have behaviours that increase the likelihood of them going missing from care – we will link with the local police where necessary.
Young people’s behaviour
At Meadowpark we promote positive behaviour and relationships. Young people have staff members supporting them that they are familiar with. Wherever possible the child will be supported by their link staff member.
We are aware that, at times, young people may present behaviours of concern, we support young all people with behaviours of concern using the Positive Behaviour Management ethos and consult with other professionals involved in the child’s care to always offer a consistent approach and the best support. The use of de-escalation and distraction techniques would supersede any amount of physical intervention, the minimal amount of physical intervention is used only when proportionate to the risk involved.
The reporting of all events which have involved the use of such techniques is documented appropriately and in line with guidelines. The positive behaviour support plans will be documented alongside and in conjunction with the support and outcome plan for those children who require it. The use of physical intervention is regularly reviewed to always ensure the best practice. All staff members are trained in, and when necessary, use the Team Teach approach and methods.
We value the individual rights, opinions and wishes of all young people and working in partnership with them and their families and any wider support network is seen as paramount.
Education
At Meadowpark we support young people to make progress towards achieving their educational potential. EHCPs are incorporated into the outcome and support plan and outcomes set within the home are to compliment those within their most recent EHCP review. We provide suitable facilities and support to enable young people to complete homework tasks where needed.
The staff team at Meadowpark have close working relationships with the schools. We are able, by arrangement with school and home, to visit the young people and see them in their school environment. Staff liaise with the other professionals and participate in regular meetings with other services to provide continuity of care with regard to any educational and behaviour plans.
Meadowpark staff members consult with the speech and language team to provide the necessary resources to aid communication – such as Makaton, sign language, PECS (Picture Exchange Communication Systems) books and symbols and electronic aids to assist where appropriate.
A representative from Meadowpark will attend and participate the annual EHCP review and provide feedback as required.
As part of each young person’s individual support and outcome plan at the home, every child has an identified ‘ambitious outcome’ with detailed steps on how to achieve the outcome, these are regularly reviewed to reflect progress made and to identify any areas of adjustment required to meet the outcome. Alongside outcomes are the recording of ‘positive moments’ which are created to celebrate moments of positivity for the children as they come along.
Each young person is involved in creating a regular ‘my story’ to show in a pictorial or photographic form highlighting their experiences and achievements at the home. They reflect on progress made towards outcomes and are a lovely way to share experiences with families and carers and other professional involved in their care. Children are also encouraged to make choices and express opinions and desire by using ‘my wishes’, these are documented and reviewed to ensure each child’s wish is met.
Health
The health needs of all the children are determined in consultation with the children, their parents or carers and professionals, prior to admission and throughout their time at Meadowpark.
Where the child has long term health conditions, staff are trained in the clinical skills necessary to deliver the care safely. The Children’s Home has responsibility for ensuring correct and appropriate training of staff. Where it is necessary to utilise the skills of other individuals, their credentials and identity will be checked thoroughly. Devon County Council follow the ‘safer recruitment’ guidance and any agency or bank staff used are those that that are known to the home and familiar with the needs of the young person
Some of the children require specialised equipment and follow specialist physiotherapy programmes. Staff members liaise with the relevant professionals to provide these services – consulting with parents, carers and the specialist school, often accessing these environments to provide continuity of care during their stay. This is then incorporated into the children’s outcome and support plan.
Some of the children have specific dietary requirements. Regular discussions with the parents or carers and the dietician, Paediatrician and GP are necessary in order to meet the health needs of individuals, whilst also taking into consideration the children’s wishes and preferences.
Where required, families will retain responsibility for taking their child to health appointments and staff from the home can support as required. Families should inform the home of these so a record can be kept. Where a child is a child in care, we recognise our increased responsibility and will provide support for individuals and their families, where required.
If any concerns arise about the health of a child during their stay, parents or carers are informed and in situations where immediate advice or healthcare is required if we will act accordingly and, if necessary, request immediate emergency assistance.
If the young person is required at attend the local Accident and Emergency department or needs Hospital admission, parents and carers will be required to meet and support the child at the hospital unless specific arrangements have been agreed prior to the child’s stay. Consent forms regarding individual young people receiving medical treatments are completed prior to them accessing the home.
Parents and carers are required to supply the correct dosage of medication and for the duration of the stay, in accurately detailed pharmacy labelled containers. These are required to contain all the personal details and administration directions to enable accurate administration. Any prescribed medication should be documented on the Medication Authorisation Sheet and is required to be completed, signed and dated by the parents or carers and is required to be accompanied by a clinician letter detailing all medications prescribed.
When the child has change in prescribed medication, the same documentation is required, and parents and carers are required to complete Medication Authorisation Sheet prior to their child’s stay at the home. At times, medication is changed on a regular basis and a prescription label that states the new dose may be delayed: for example, if the medication is changed by the paediatrician the same day as the visit. In these circumstances, we will seek, where possible, confirmation from the paediatrician or GP over the phone or preferably in writing.
Meadowpark adheres to Devon County Council policies regarding food hygiene; follows the Food Standard’s Agency Registration and compliance, and follows the local authority’s ‘better standards, safer food’ policies. The home supports the staff in accessing basic food hygiene training and relevant training in areas such as health and safety and infection control. The meals prepared consider the individual needs of the young people coming to the home and their preferences. Children are encouraged to menu plan, shop and to prepare and cook meals. There is a level 3 food hygiene trained member of staff within the team.
At Meadowpark the staff team support with cooking a variety of meals with the young people. These include a range of culturally themed evenings in which the young people can enjoy food, music, and cultural interests from different countries.
Meadowpark provides an environment where healthy living is promoted. We aim to provide a varied healthy diet, opportunities for physical activities and promote good personal hygiene and cleanliness and a positive sense of wellbeing.
Meadowpark is a non-smoking site. Smoking is not permitted anywhere on the site by the young people, staff or visitors.
Staff team and recruitment
Meadowpark staff are recruited according to Devon County Council safer recruitment policies and procedures as recommended in the Warner report: choosing with care (1992). All our staff meet the requirements of the Children’s Home Regulations 2015.
All our staff have a satisfactory enhanced disclosure and barring service and meet the Schedule 2 requirements set out in the Children’s Home Regulations 2015.
Appropriate levels of staff are reviewed based upon the needs of the young people at any given time and when planning the rota and allocations the children are always ensured to be supported by a team of relevant skills and competencies.
The Registered Home Manager attends regular meetings with managers from across the service and with the Responsible Individual and meets monthly with the RI for supervision. All staff have supervision monthly lead by their line manager and 6 monthly appraisals. All staff members employed at Meadowpark complete mandatory and professional training in line with policies, procedures and personal appraisals to ensure the needs of the young people are always met.
Bank and agency staff are available to support staffing levels during holidays and to cover staff absence, if required. Currently, the staff at Meadowpark are female and it is acknowledged that there is an imbalance of gender role models.
However, as this is a children’s home providing a short breaks service, we recognise that the young people will have opportunities to access appropriate gender role models in their own homes, schools and social lives. Our recruitment process is designed to encourage a diverse workforce.
Mandatory training includes areas such as induction, basic life support, epilepsy awareness, conflict resolution, medicines management, safeguarding levels 1- 6, equality and diversity, gastrostomy training, manual handling, basic food hygiene, infection control, and information governance. All staff attend the required annual fire safety updates. Fire drills will occur at intervals throughout the year with the details recorded ad will involve the participation of young people and staff.
The Registered Manager will hold or be completing a diploma level 5 qualification in leadership and management for residential childcare. All other staff will hold or be working towards a minimum of a diploma level 3.
The home complies with Devon County Council Human Resources policies and procedures. Devon County Council has union reps who are widely available to staff at any time for advice and support. Devon County Council also provides occupational health support for all staff, and this is a confidential process where required. Meadowpark Children’s Home is committed to the ongoing professional development of our workforce and providing tangible opportunities for all team members to reach their full potential.
Meadowpark is committed to the ongoing professional development of our workforce and providing tangible opportunities for all team members to reach their full potential.
With excellent learning and development resources and opportunities, we offer and support the completion of a comprehensive mandatory training schedule to every new team member as part of the induction to the home This includes a range of generic mandatory training as well as training linked to specific needs of the children that use the home.
By having good links with other teams of professionals and being creative we can use different forms of research to develop the team’s knowledge and skills enabling development of practice and ability to meet the changing needs.
At Meadowpark we strongly believe in continued Learning and Development and in providing our teams the opportunity to develop existing skills as well as to gain new ones. We regularly review opportunities for succession planning for the team members giving them support to develop their knowledge and skilling leading to their development into different roles in the homes or services.
Opportunities to discuss, review and plan for development and learning is discussed regularly with the team in individual supervision sessions that occur monthly, annual appraisals and with the team in the team meeting to ensure we continue to meet the development needs or our workforce and the needs of the children that use the home. We use a robust recording and monitoring system both organisationally and locally to monitor and ensure compliance with required training and development activities.
| Name | Role | Qualifications | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenn Lobb | Responsible Individual | MBA, ILM 5, Diploma, foundation degree, city and guilds level 4- children, city and guilds level 4 – adults, city and guilds level 3 – children | 20 years in children’s residential services and community servies, senior leader, worked in local authority, NHS private and voluntary sector for children’s and adult services |
| Heidi Rowlinson Jones | Registered home manager | First diploma, social care, national diploma health studies, NVQ 3 children and young people, working towards diploma level 5 leadership and management children’s residential services | 19 years working in children’s residential service, previously team leader role and deputy manager role at Meadowpark, worked for the NHS with adults |
| Rebecca Jones | Deputy Manager | BA Youth and community studies, diploma for residential childcare | 5 years working in education, children’s residential services and supporting families |
| Shirley Hartshorne | Clinical team leader | RCN | 23 years’ experience |
| Claire Tidball | Team leader | Diploma in health and social care, bed primary science (hons) NVQ 3 children and young people in residential care | 12 years working in children’s residential services, 6 years experience working as a primary teacher, worked for the NHS |
| Natasha Milum | Team leader | NVQ 3, level 1 and 2 APT | 2 years experience in working in children’s residential services |
| Zara Grattan | Residential support worker | Degree in primary school teaching, NVQ 3 children and young people in residential care | 7 years’ experience in working in children’s residential services |
| Tanya Stancheva | Residential support worker | NVQ 3 children and young people, master’s degree in agriculture and chemistry, qualified Teacher | 18 years’ experience in educational setting with young people, 15 years in children’s services in residential and in the community |
| Lucy Douglas | Residential support worker | In year 3 of degree children and psychology | 2.5 years working in children’s residential services, has experience of working with visually impaired children in educational setting |
| Kim McGauley | Residential support worker | Working towards diploma level 3 | 2 years experience of working in children’s residential services |
| Ann Marie Harris | Residential support worker | Diploma level 5, NVQ 3 | 25 years’ experience in working in children’s residential services |
| Matthew Shapcott | Residential Support Worker | Working towards diploma 3 | New to children services |
| Weanne Calunod | Residential Support Worker | BSc in Psychology f | SEMH/SEN Teaching Assistant age 4-11 years |
| Charlotte Cooper | Residential Support Worker bank | Degree | Four years’ experience of supporting family and care of young people |
| Emily Lowe | Clinical team leader bank | Degree in nursing children | 3 years’ experience of working in children’s home |