Behind the Inspection Rating: Staff ensure quality short breaks

It was an emergency. The mother of a boy with very challenging behaviour had died suddenly. With his family still reeling from the shock, the boy was taken in by the Ade Adepitan Short Break Centre while alternative arrangements for him were made.

Having worked with the boy before, the centre knew the situation would be a challenge. "He had severe challenging behaviour and found it very difficult to communicate his needs," says Nedra Saparamadu, manager of the centre.

Saparamadu assembled a team of staff who already knew the boy or felt confident they could support him. As well as helping the boy settle and develop trust, staff had to ensure he understood his mother had died.

"He kept saying 'mummy, mummy, mummy' all the time. We had to make sure he knew that mum had passed away," says Saparamadu. "We helped him say his goodbyes. It was hard, but we had to have a structured plan to communicate that to him and use PECS (picture exchange communication system) symbols to explain things."

As the days passed, the centre, working closely with the boy's family and other services, gained the boy's trust. "We tried to do the things he liked and getting him more settled," says Saparamadu. "At the beginning he was not mixing with the other children but, gradually, he started interacting with them."

By the time a permanent placement had been found, the boy was taking part in various activities, including trips to the zoo. "When I saw the photographs of him doing these activities I couldn't believe his progress," remembers Saparamadu.

The key to success in this situation, she says, was having a consistent and structured approach coupled with staff who feel confident in their abilities. While this situation might be the exception rather than the norm, it's a clear demonstration of why the centre recently landed an "outstanding" Ofsted judgment.

Saparamadu says a big part of the centre's rating rise is due to the way the centre prepared for the new Ofsted quality standards for short break centres that were introduced in April 2015. Even before the standards were published, the team primed itself on the draft version and staff members were made "champions" for different parts of the new standards to help embed them in everyday practice.

The centre also introduced parents to the new standards through its regular coffee mornings, which it uses as a way to gather feedback from families. "Because of this they now know why we are doing certain things," says Saparamadu.

Ofsted's inspector also praised how the centre embraces the social model of disability. "We make sure that the young people have access to the community so they don't feel excluded," says Saparamadu.

One example of this was when a group of volunteers helped out at the centre. "One young man cried on seeing a young person in a wheelchair - he couldn't handle it - but once they were doing activities he could not believe how the young people were able to take part in activities and express themselves through eye contact and gesturing," says Saparamadu. "These were young people who would not have had much knowledge of disability so I think we did a really good piece of work there."

FACT FILE

• Name: Ade Adepitan Short Break Centre
• Location: Brent, London
• Description: Named after the Paralympian, Ade Adepitan, the centre offers short breaks for young people, from around 10 to 18 years old who have physical disabilities, learning disabilities and/or sensory impairments. It is run by Brent Council and based in a purpose-built facility that opened in 2013. Facilities and activities at the centre include sensory rooms, sports areas and art, music and drama sessions.
• Number of children: The centre has eight beds and works with around 50 to 60 children and young people
• Ofsted reference number: SC457780
  
  

HELPFUL HINTS

Track outcomes. The Ade Adepitan Short Break Centre developed a "target tracker" tool to monitor how its work is helping children achieve the outcomes in their placement plan. "For instance if we are teaching them to butter the bread that would be the target, the end result, and we then break it down into small steps that we track," says manager Nedra Saparamadu.

Allow private time. As Ofsted notes in its inspection report: "Staff acknowledge that some young people are sexually aware and they appropriately support young people's 'private time' for young people to explore their own bodies in private as they are accustomed to at home. In doing so, staff promote privacy, dignity and choice."

Be consistent. "We have got a very structured handover book for consistency," says Saparamadu. "Everything that the handover staff need is passed on and when they are planning their shift they take into account the child's placement plan so there is consistency in our work."

Apply Signs of Safety widely. The centre says the strengths-based approach of the Signs of Safety model of working has uses beyond safeguarding too. "The framework can be used for anything, we use it for staff supervision as well," says Saparamadu.