Children's home run by Blackford Education (schools) Ltd in Somerset

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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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

This home was judged good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has improved effectiveness .

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The home continues to provide high-quality care for children and young people. There have been no admissions to the home since the previous inspection. The home is operated jointly with the cottage next door, which is included in the same registration.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Children who are currently resident have been living at the home for some time. One child has an excellent relationship with the interim manager and other staff. He continues to thrive in the home and says that it is ‘brilliant’. He was keen to talk about his recent two-week holiday to Tenerife with his school, which he thoroughly enjoyed. This was an excellent achievement for him. High levels of staffing and meticulous preparation ensured that the holiday was well managed and fun for all the children.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

This child enjoys a wide range of activities, including horse riding and other sports. Indoor pastimes include playing guitar, keyboards and writing songs. He also loves computer games, although time spent on these is managed sensibly in order to encourage physical activities. During the inspection, between musical interludes, the child was constructing a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle. One piece was missing, but he dealt with this unexpected disappointment in a mature manner, which was very impressive.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The child has tried a number of clubs and other activities that involve groups of young people, including climbing and attending a youth club. He is now interested in joining a football team, so the staff are helping him to explore this possibility.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Children in this home receive a very varied and healthy diet. One child is keen to try new foods, such as ostrich steak. Every Saturday night, he enjoys cooking the evening meal for the home. The record of meals taken shows that the quality of food is exceptionally imaginative, well balanced and comforting.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The staff work well with the placing authorities to adjust family contact to a level that children can manage. Consequently, children are now much more settled and there has only been one incident in the home since the previous inspection. This did not result in a restraint, because the staff handled the situation calmly to avoid further escalation.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

Children have made very good progress in their school work. This is linked to the marked reduction in the number of serious incidents and restraints in school. The three restraints which have taken place were all appropriate and well recorded.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The children’s behaviour is supported by a simple incentive scheme. For example, access to the Xbox is dependent on completion of homework. Children can earn extra Xbox time by completing their morning routines appropriately. These measures are effective because they are intelligently chosen and easily understood.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The staff and manager keep in close contact with the school every day to ensure a smooth handover of information. They also ensure that children see relevant medical professionals when they need to do so.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The registered manager resigned on 1 October 2016 in order to take up another post within the company. There is currently no registered manager in post. The inspector was told that the head of care is likely to apply to manage the service, but the recent whole-school holiday to Tenerife has prevented her from submitting the application.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The inspector advised that the application should be submitted as soon as possible, because in just over a month’s time, the home will have been without a registered manager for 26 weeks. If there is still no registered manager at the next full inspection, this may affect the judgement for leadership and management.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

In spite of the lack of a registered manager, there has been no obvious negative impact on the outcomes for the child in the home. This is because the interim manager is managing the home competently. She does not yet have sufficient years of experience in childcare or staff supervision to meet the requirements for registration. The company has acknowledged this and is providing a programme of mentoring and support.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The interim manager ensures that the home’s health and safety checks are completed at the appropriate intervals and she has a good system in place for recording these checks. She has also responded positively to the requirement and three recommendations made at the previous inspection.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The requirement concerned the need to notify significant events to Ofsted within the required timescale. There have been no notifiable events since the previous inspection, so this has not been tested, but the home’s managers are clear about matters that must be notified.

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The effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of

The first recommendation concerned the need to record fire safety checks at the recommended intervals. The second recommendation related to the need for the home to have copies of the signed medical consent forms, in case a medical emergency arises in residential time. Copies are now on file, so that staff can access these easily in an emergency. The third recommendation concerned complaints recording and the need to log any discussions with the local authority’s designated officer for child protection. This situation has not arisen since the previous inspection, but the manager understands what needs to be done in such circumstances.

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Information about this children's home

The provider operates an independent special needs day school, registered for 22 pupils, who may attend on a daily or residential basis. Residential pupils receive care and accommodation in a number of small children’s homes in the locality. These services are all situated in a national park in the south west of England.

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Information about this children's home

This service comprises two conjoined terraced cottages in a quiet village. Each cottage can accommodate one young person of either gender, making two in total. The children and young people may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties and/or learning disabilities. The cottages are operated as one home and consequently, share a staff team and a manager.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement 09/12/2016 Full Good 01/02/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 09/12/2015 Full Outstanding 02/03/2015 Interim Improved effectiveness

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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 who 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

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

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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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