Children's home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 1 SC411208 Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care 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

This children’s home is operated by a national private organisation. Care and accommodation is provided for up to three children. The manager has been registered since April 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/06/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/01/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness 13/07/2016 Full Good 05/01/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 2

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Recommendations

 Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10) In particular, review the use of bedroom door alarms and window restrictions for each child.  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, review the format of risk assessments and ensure that they are updated for each child.  As set out in regulations 31–33, the registered person is responsible for

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Recommendations

maintaining good employment practice. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1) In particular, when scoring applicants during interview for employment, ensure that this recruitment system is consistently applied.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality care. The manager and the staff team are very nurturing and responsive in their approach to individual needs. Children develop warm and trusting relationships with the staff team. This enables them to experience safety, comfort and some stability in their lives. The family-style house is welcoming, with pleasant decor. There is an absence of signage and equipment that would lead to an institutional impression. Children are fully engaged in the development of the home, from painted pebbles at the front door to the decoration and colour scheme of their bedrooms, where they have assisted with hanging wallpaper and painting walls. Children receive a warm welcome to this home; where possible, this includes visits before moving in. Significant events such as moving here, as well as each subsequent day, are captured in a memory book for each child. The staff are creative and caring in

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

their approach to developing these records. Children like these books and benefit from the praise and affection displayed by staff, both in writing and in person. Children are supported to keep in touch with family and friends, where it is in their best interests. Through respect, children are helped to maintain their sense of identity and cultural background. A family member is very positive about the good quality of care provided and how the staff team includes them in their child’s care. They describe this Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 3 home as ‘like a really lovely family place’. Children benefit from the collaboration of professionals to meet their needs. The manager and staff advocate strongly to ensure that children receive appropriate education, healthcare and access to activities. Current and future needs are considered as children are supported with part-time employment, managing money and cooking

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

Children are cared for by a staff team that is trained in all aspects of safeguarding. Staff are knowledgeable about the known risks, and records confirm that they take appropriate action to reduce these risks and promote children’s safety. The manager ensures that safeguarding concerns are escalated with social workers in order that they can be discussed in a multi-agency forum. At times, this has involved challenging other professionals, and being persistent to ensure that protective action is taken when children have been missing. There have been some significant concerns when children have been missing, leading to close working with the police and other agencies. These incidents have now reduced; however, the management team continues to liaise with other agencies to ensure that risks of exploitation are monitored and reduced. Behaviour management is underpinned by the strength of relationships between children

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

and the staff team. As a result of positive interactions, incidents of behaviour where children are annoyed and upset are diffused without the need for physical restraint. Children respond well to praise and rewards and engage well with working towards improving some aspect of their behaviour. For example, the reluctance to regularly clean teeth was challenged with working towards an electric toothbrush. This effective measure led to improved dental hygiene, a sense of achievement and raised self- esteem. Overall, staff have a good understanding of risk management and adapt their practice to meet changing needs. However, the risk assessment document requires improvement to be relevant to, and consistent with, other documents used within the organisation. In addition, the routine use of bedroom door alarms and window restrictors requires review to ensure that there are no unnecessary restrictions for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager was on leave at the time of this inspection. Staff report very positively about his leadership and support. A competent deputy and two experienced senior staff support the manager well, forming an effective leadership team. Senior staff welcome this group and report that communication is strong among their leadership team, including through regular emails when they are not present together at the home. Staff morale is good, with a shared vision to make this home a positive experience for children. The team has a good understanding of the children’s needs and is highly motivated to improve outcomes for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A small turnover of staff has been addressed, with vacancies filled quickly. When there Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 4 are staff absences, the team works additional hours to provide consistent care for the children, negating the need for agency staff. New staff report very positively about their introduction to this home. The level of training and support is valued by all staff members, and reflective supervision is provided. The intense five-day training on behaviour management is reported by one member of staff as ‘the best training I have ever done’. Overall, records are clear and detailed, reflecting the work undertaken with children. The provider is committed to a review of the format used for records to ensure that they are fit for purpose and consistently applied across the organisation. For example, when inspecting recruitment records it was identified that the scoring system available for

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

interviews is not routinely applied. This inconsistency has no negative impact on children as the approach to safer recruitment is good. Suitability checks are undertaken on new staff before the decision is made to appoint them.

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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: SC411208 5

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Five Rivers Childcare, 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury SP1 3UT

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Inspector

Clare Davies, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC411208 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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