Children's home run by Oaktree Childcare Limited

Inspection report children’s home: 1253975 1 Registered provider: Oaktree Childcare Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This private company has two children’s home. They provide care for up to two young people who need short-, medium- or long-term care.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager was registered with Ofsted on 23 June 2017 and holds the relevant qualification.

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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 outstanding

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1253975 2

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that when a child needs additional health or well-being support, staff work with the child’s local authority and other agencies to enable proper and immediate access to any specialist service and that specialist advice is used to inform practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.14). In addition, that health needs are regularly monitored and reviewed.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). Specifically, that records reflect the voice of the child and that the language used is positive and empowering.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff continually and actively assess the risks to each child and make sure that the plans in place to manage these risks are clear. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5). In particular, that all safeguarding assessments reflect the potential risks to children and that the plans in place reflect this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress living here. When children arrive, they settle well. They live in a caring and nurturing environment. Children quickly establish trusting relationships with staff. Children say that they are happy living here and describe the atmosphere as ‘chilled’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work very well together. They are consistent in their approach and respect each child’s individuality. Staff have an empowering approach. They support children to take responsibility for their behaviours and choices. As a result, they learn to self-regulate their emotions and incidents reduce. Children say that this makes them feel good about themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and young people’s records are to a good standard. They are child focused and provide the reader with a good insight into the child’s journey. However, in some instances they do not reflect the child’s voice. Furthermore, they are descriptive and do not mirror the ethos of the home. Inspection report children’s home: 1253975 3 Children receive support to establish and maintain positive friendships with their friends and family. Children meet new friends and staff support them to take age-appropriate risks, which enables children to explore risks in a safe way. This increases their confidence and they learn to make good independent decisions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children arrive, they are not engaged in education. Staff are proactive and ensure that children access educational provision that meets their needs. Children have a good educational routine and start to enjoy learning again. As a result, children gain recognised qualifications and are proud of their achievements.

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

Staff provide the children with a safe place to live. Children benefit from having focused and empowering key-working sessions. These sessions help children to understand their behaviours and how to reduce risks to themselves and others.

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

Staff are clear about their roles and responsibilities. Staffing levels are very good. Children have access to good levels of support, which is in line with their individual assessments and plans.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and risks. However, not all safeguarding assessments and plans are clear enough. This is particularly evident when staff assess how to safeguard children from one another.

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

Children receive the help that they need to address their health needs. Staff support children to recognise and celebrate their achievements. However, in some instances specialist healthcare support is not always considered and accessed in a timely way.

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

When children smoke tobacco, staff do not have a clear assessment and plan in place to reduce this risk-taking behaviour. Staff take some steps to manage this behaviour, but this is not robust enough.

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

Staff manage safeguarding concerns effectively. Staff record incidents to a good standard. Staff explore incidents thoroughly, and they identify clear actions. As a result, staff learn from the incidents and safeguarding practice is further enhanced.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager is seamless in her approach. Her engagement skills are excellent, and she treats everyone with respect. She leads by example and demonstrates good leadership and management knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The quality of practice is to an excellent standard. Managers and staff strive to promote positive outcomes for children. They recognise that each child is different, and they support them to achieve their goals, however small. Inspection report children’s home: 1253975 4 Managers and staff empower children to believe in themselves. As a result, children grow in confidence and make excellent progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive regular supervision and report that day-to-day support is good. Staff receive effective training that enhances their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Professionals are very complimentary of the home. Managers and staff recognise the value in working in a multi-agency way. They will seek out support and guidance from others to ensure that children achieve the very best outcomes.

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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: 1253975 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oaktree Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Oaktree Childcare Limited, Ground Floor, Seneca House, Links Point, Amy Johnson Way, Blackpool, Lancashire FY4 2FF

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Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1253975 6 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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