Children's Home run by Calcot Services for Children Limited in Oxfordshire

Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 1 Registered provider: Calcot Services For Children Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned by an established company. The home is registered to accommodate a maximum of five young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Inspection dates: 13 to 14 February 2018

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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 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: 11 January 2017

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Key findings from this inspection

 Children settle quickly and develop a sense of belonging.  Staff are skilled at helping children develop good relationships with them. Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 2  Children are listened to and are involved in their care planning.  Children talk to and confide in staff.  Staff are ambitious for children and support them well in their education and learning.  Clear routines and boundaries help children to learn that there are consequences to their behaviour. Children develop more appropriate coping strategies and their behaviour, including risk-taking behaviour, improves.  Good support given to children moving on helps them to settle well in their new placement.  The manager and staff are committed to the children that they work with and provide them with a consistently good quality of care.

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Key findings from this inspection

The children‟s home‟s areas for development:

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Key findings from this inspection

 The manager‟s monitoring reports do not include the views of stakeholders.  One significant event had not been notified to Ofsted.  The admission risk assessments do not consider if staff have the right skills, training and experience to manage the needs of every child.  When other agencies carry out risk assessments, the registered person is not always ensuring that internal risk assessments are reviewed.  The registered person is not making sure that the results of overseas checks for students carried out by a university are known and used to inform their decision-making about accepting the student.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/01/2017 Full Good Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 3

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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, 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 registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months. (2) In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— (a) the feedback and opinions of children about the children‟s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and (5) The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45(1)(2)(a) and (5)) 23/04/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI of all significant events in the home as defined in the corresponding regulation. (Regulation 40(1)(3) and (4)) 23/04/2018

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Recommendations

 The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child‟s assessed needs as recorded in the child‟s relevant plans. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations, including the quality standards‟, page 56, paragraph 11.4) In particular, give consideration to whether staff have the right skills, training and experience needed to manage the needs of the children individually and collectively.  Staff should 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‟, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, ensure that the internal risk assessments are reviewed as and when other agencies or professionals have carried out an assessment of a child‟s level of risk in a specific area. Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 4

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Recommendations

 Ensure that recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations, including the quality standards‟, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, ensure that when students are from or have lived overseas, the registered person has all the necessary information about any police checks that the university has carried out to base their own assessment of the person‟s suitability to work in their home.  Ensure that staff have the skills to respond to each child‟s individual behaviour. Where necessary, they should manage conflict, maintain constructive dialogues and react appropriately if challenged by a child in their care. („Guide to the children‟s homes regulations, including the quality standards‟, page 39, paragraph 8.14) In particular, ensure that conversations with, or the records of conversations with, children have not placed any responsibility on them for the emotional well-

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well placed with each other because there is care taken to consider whether their needs are compatible. For some children, such as those who are highly vulnerable to exploitation, the manager works closely with other professionals to develop a multi- agency approach to managing risks prior to their admission. Consideration is not, however, routinely given during admission planning about whether staff will be likely to be able to meet the needs of the children collectively and individually. Children moving in are given a very warm welcome by the staff and other children. This enables them to quickly settle in. Children build strong and trusting relationships with the staff caring for them and develop a strong sense of belonging. One child said of her experience of the home, „It‟s the best.‟ Children build some positive relationships with each other and spend time together. At times, relationships between the children are strained. Staff are quick to intervene in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

disagreements and disputes. Staff challenge any unkind or discriminatory behaviour and help children to begin to repair their relationships. A professional said, „Staff are good at managing the dynamics between the children.‟ Children are listened to and are fully involved in the planning and decision-making about their care. Children confide in staff about issues that they find difficult. Children who find it hard to talk about their feelings are supported well to find ways that they feel comfortable with in order to open up to staff. Children know that their wishes and views are valued and listened to. Some children who have left the home since the last inspection were unable to make use of the support provided to them to attend and engage in their education. Children currently living in the home are making good use of this support, which includes bespoke education packages. Staff show an active interest in children‟s learning and provide high

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 5 levels of encouragement and praise for children‟s attainments, however small. All children are currently attending their respective education placements. As children achieve in their learning, their self-esteem and confidence in their abilities improves. Children have begun to develop aspirations for their futures and are supported by staff to follow these through. For example, one child who wants to be a police officer is studying policing at college. To give her some practical experience, the home arranged for her to do routine rounds around the village with the local community officer. Clear and consistent routines are implemented by staff, who have high expectations that children will be busy and productive throughout their day. There are high levels of success in getting children engaged in both fun and educational activities. Children learn new and interesting things, develop skills, have fun and find a purpose to their lives. For

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

example, activities range from taking part in the popular music production classes to learning rifle shooting. Staff encourage children, usually successfully, to attend routine and more pressing health appointments. Children are supported to think about, and take responsibility for, their health needs, for example through healthy eating, thinking about smoking cessation, and attending appointments to make sure that they are sexually healthy. When specialist support is required in regards to a child‟s mental health, the organisation commissions therapeutic input. The manager takes great care to explore, with the child, the type of therapeutic input the child would benefit from most. Children are also supported well to attend and work with the children and adolescent health services. Great care is given to ensuring that children are provided with an environment that supports their needs. For example, additional living accommodation was provided to a

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

young person who, due to her psychological needs, required options about her sleeping arrangements. The vast majority of work undertaken with children is carried out sensitively and to a high quality. However, one example was noted that showed there may have been a lack of sensitivity from the worker in discussing a situation with a child. The record made showed that the child might have inadvertently been given a level of responsibility for the emotional well-being of staff. Children progress well in developing skills that they will need as they move into young adulthood. They develop their practical skills and this, combined with the improvements in their emotional well-being, provides them with improved chances to move successfully into independent living. Good thought and support is given to helping children settle in their new geographical area. Before children move out, staff explore the area that they

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

are moving to with them. For example, staff have trial runs with the child at using the local transport systems. This takes away some of the anxiety and fear for the child about their new situation. Where appropriate, children are supported to re-establish or maintain relationships with their family and other people who are important to them. Staff work well with parents, and one parent commented on how staff support her child and also support her. Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 6

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

Children feel safe and are safe living in this home and talk to and trust staff. Staff understand how children‟s experiences have affected their physical and emotional well- being. Risk assessments are developed, some of these in conjunction with other agencies and professionals. Staff are good at helping children to understand and be involved in their risk management plans, and children engage in this well. Staff implement the strategies identified to reduce risks. Regular updates of most risk assessments and care and behaviour management plans take place, and this ensures that overall strategies used are updated when risks increase or decrease. There were, however, two minor shortfalls found in this area. These relate to staff not reconsidering risk levels following other agencies‟ assessments. Children were not at risk due to this because there were already adequate strategies in place to mitigate or manage the risks.

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

Skilful work by staff with children has led to them reducing their risk-taking behaviour. For example, children have reduced the frequency at which they go missing, misuse substances, or behave in an anti-social way. Police are only used when necessary and have not been called to the home for over three months. On the few recent occasions that children have been missing, a well-coordinated approach was taken to find them, bring them home and to explore with them why they had gone missing. Children are helped to develop strategies to manage their feelings more appropriately. Consistent boundaries and conflict resolution are generally effective. Physical interventions are rarely used and the children feel that sanctions are fair and meaningful. Children learn to reflect on their behaviour, take responsibility for their behaviour and to make amends for their wrongdoings. There have been no incidents that have needed to be referred to the local authority

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

safeguarding team. Staff are trained in safeguarding children and aware of how to manage any safeguarding concerns so that children are protected. The location of the home is subject to regular assessment and review to ensure that any risks to children are minimised. The physical environment of the house is maintained to a high standard and provides a comfortable home for the children. Overall, there are sound processes for minimising the risk of unsuitable people working with the children. A minor shortfall was found in this area, as no member of the organisation had viewed an overseas police check carried out by a university for a student working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is permanent, suitably experienced and qualified, and runs the home effectively and efficiently in line with the home‟s statement of purpose. She is passionate about her role and makes sure that the children have every opportunity to make progress while living in the home. The manager knows each child and their needs very well. The manager has good working relationships with other agencies and professionals and Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 7 interagency working is strong. Care planning is of a good quality and plans guide staff in meeting children‟s needs effectively. Where required, the manager challenges services that are not effective. The manager and her staff are good advocates for the children. Overall, monitoring arrangements are effective in ensuring that there is a consistently good quality of care provided to the children. The manager makes sure that any shortfalls identified by the independent visitor to the home or though inspection are

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

addressed. The manager carries out monitoring activities on a regular basis and produces a six-monthly report of these. The report provides a good view about events in the home, provides for some analysis of these events and identifies areas for development. There is little evidence in the report to show that stakeholders‟ views have been used in reaching conclusions about the quality of care, or the areas of strengths and areas for development. The manager makes sure that significant incidents are dealt with effectively so that children are safe and that their well-being is promoted. However, there was one serious complaint about a member of staff that had not been notified to Ofsted. The complaint had, however, been dealt with effectively. A number of staff have left the home since the last inspection. This has been managed effectively so that the impact on children has been minimised. New staff have been

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

appointed, but a number of them have not achieved their level three diploma. The manager has been proactive in ensuring that staff are enrolled and actively studying for the qualification. Staff are passionate about their work and want the best for the children that they work with. Children recognise the dedication of staff and one child said that staff are „brilliant‟. A social worker described the staff team as „sensitive and supportive‟. Staff are well supported through regular supervision, team meetings, and training and development activities. All staff have undertaken mandatory training, and additional training has been provided that focuses on the individual needs of the children living in the home.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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.

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Information about this inspection

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: 1236532 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Calcot Services For Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Brewery Court, Theale, Reading, Berkshire RG7 5AJ

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Inspector:

Rosie Dancer, social care inspector Inspection report children‟s home: 1236532 9 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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