Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in Southampton

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged outstanding at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has declined in effectiveness . Young people continue to make good progress. They all have excellent attendance at school and are making positive strides in their education. Staff value young people’s education, and this is reflected in the time they spend with young people encouraging them to read when they return from school and in promoting their learning through play. Staff continue to work closely with their education colleagues to ensure that a collective approach is taken, to maximise young people’s progress. Young people continue to develop their friendships and are becoming more patient and understanding of each other. They share interests and are able to develop their social skills through taking part in activities together. Staff support young people to express their interests and to develop their identities through attending

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

sports clubs and hobbies, such as horse riding. The organisation is dedicated to ensuring that young people are able to try new things and are using staffs’ talents effectively to provide this, as they pass on their interests in reptiles, African drumming and guitar. A culture of promoting young people’s daily living skills and independence is evident. Young people have learnt to cook and, through well-planned programmes, are learning to keep themselves safe and to take age-appropriate risks. One young person is currently working towards free time in the community and learning how to use public transport. An outstanding strength of the home is the support that staff have put in place to enable young people to develop or rebuild their relationships with family members. One young person has recently regained contact with their parents, while another has worked towards overnight stays with relatives. This is a significant

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

achievement, which has supported young people to learn and understand more about their backgrounds, maintain their sense of belonging within their families and benefit from their ongoing support. Staff effectively use the home’s approach of ‘playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy’ to engage young people and to distract them from resorting to negative behaviours. However, recently there has been an increase in two young people’s negative behaviours, which requires physical intervention. Young people have extremely positive relationships with staff; they trust them and feel able to confide in them. As a result, staff understand the reasons behind the increase in their behaviours and the external factors, which are affecting the young people. Staff are working hard to provide the emotional and practical support necessary to relieve young people’s anxieties. Managers and staff take the necessary action to ensure that all safeguarding

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

concerns are reported appropriately and that steps are taken to protect young people while these are investigated. Although the manager is able to articulate the findings of investigations and the outcomes of concerns raised, the home’s safeguarding records do not evidence these. Staff have a good understanding of young people’s specific vulnerabilities. Risk assessments are extremely detailed and advise of the risks and the actions that staff must take to minimise these. However, a young person’s risk assessment did not reflect that he no longer require two members of staff to be present on contact visits and now has unsupervised contact with his family. Although there is no immediate risk presented by this, a recommendation was made at the previous inspection to ensure that risk assessments are current. This has not been met and remains in place. Young people live in a homely and comfortable environment. However, some areas

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

are beginning to show some wear and tear in places. The manager has sought agreement for funding to address the quality of decor around the home. However, improvements are yet to take place. Young people are able to personalise their bedrooms to reflect their personalities, which gives them a sense of identity and belonging in the home. The current registered manager was not present during this inspection. The management arrangements for the home have recently changed, and there is a new manager in place taking day-to-day responsibility for the home. The manager is in the process of completing his application to register in order to submit this to Ofsted. The manager has a good knowledge of the home and the young people. A new assistant manager supports him, and both have begun addressing shortfalls in the service. This includes ensuring that all staff have regular supervision, because this has not been occurring recently. However, managers have only addressed one

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

recommendation made at the previous inspection. They have ensured that preventative strategies are recorded in young people’s files to reduce the likelihood of a young person going missing. However, two recommendations in regards to obtaining consultation to inform the home’s development plan, and to ensuring that risk assessments are current have not been met. Two further recommendations have been made as a result of this this inspection. For these reasons, the home is judged to have declined in effectiveness from its previously ‘outstanding’ position.

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Information about this children's home

This children's home accommodates a maximum of three children who have complex emotional, behavioural and educational difficulties. The home is privately owned and includes a local education establishment that resident children attend. Children also have access to the organisation’s therapeutic services.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

05/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further, the service should take account of the following recommendations:  The registered persons must demonstrate how staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 42, paragraph 9.5). In particular, they must ensure that children's risk assessments are updated to reflect current risks.  The registered persons must actively seek independent scrutiny of the home, including through feedback on the experiences of children, in order to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided as outlined in regulation 13 of the Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015. (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 51, paragraph 10.24)  The registered persons should ensure that the children’s home provides a

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Recommendations

homely, domestic environment (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, April 2015, page 15, paragraph 3.9). In particular, they must ensure that all parts of the home are maintained and decorated to a good standard.  The registered persons must ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording (‘Guide to the children's homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). In particular, they must ensure that safeguarding records evidence managers’ decision-making and the outcomes of investigations.

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection, we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the ‘Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection’.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference that adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service 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’. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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