Children's Home run by Wessex College Limited in Bath and North East Somerset

Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 1 Registered provider: Wessex College

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

 The home can provide care for up to four children aged over 11 years who may have experienced trauma, abuse and attachment difficulties.  The home is one of six homes operated by a private organisation. The organisation also owns a school and care farm which children from this home may attend.  The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted within the last month.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: declined in effectiveness

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/03/2018 Interim Declined in effectiveness 29/11/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/03/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 3

p.2

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.

p.3

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.3

Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm;

p.3

Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard

p.3

Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

p.3

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare.

p.3

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.3

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

p.3

Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

p.3

Recommendations

Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 4  Improve records to ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. 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)

p.4

improvement to be good

A weakness in how well children are helped and protected has a negative impact on the overall experiences and progress of one child. Despite this shortfall, children make good progress.

p.4

improvement to be good

Since the previous inspection, the same staff now work more regularly in the home. This provides children with stability. Staff build positive relationships with children. These positive relationships enable children to share their views and experiences with staff.

p.4

improvement to be good

Children start to attend school quickly after moving in. Some children help at the farm which is operated by the company. These positive experiences contribute to children’s educational achievements.

p.4

improvement to be good

The support that staff provide to children enables them to successfully move on from the home. Staff keep in touch with children that have moved out and continue to provide them with support. This approach benefits children.

p.4

improvement to be good

Staff help children to explore their interests and experience new opportunities. A lot of activities are available to children. Children go on holidays and enjoy days out.

p.4

improvement to be good

The quality of the home’s environment has improved significantly since the previous inspection. More photographs of children and staff are on display. Children’s bedrooms have improved in quality and the bathroom has been refurbished.

p.4

improvement to be good

Shortfalls in how well children and young people are helped and protected relate to the weak management of allegations that one child has made about staff.

p.4

improvement to be good

The process for reporting and managing allegations made by one child is not robust. While leaders and managers report these allegations to the child’s social worker, they do not always report them to the designated officer as required. Leaders’ and managers’ monitoring of the allegations is not effective. The outcomes and actions arising from the allegations and strategies about how staff are to support the child in the future are not Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 5 clear.

p.4

improvement to be good

When staff report child protection concerns to the safeguarding lead for the company, actions taken are thorough and the outcomes are recorded in detail.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff use reward systems effectively to encourage positive behaviour. Restraint of children is not widely used. However, when restraint does occur it is proportionate to the risk of harm to children and other people and used appropriately.

p.5

improvement to be good

Staff have a good understanding about the risks posed to children when they go missing. Extensive communication with other agencies takes place to ensure that children are located quickly and return safely to the home. Over time, some children stop going missing from the home. Other children are also starting to become safer as they keep in contact with staff more often when they are missing from home.

p.5

improvement to be good

Children and staff talk to one another about risks and how to keep safe. This is a strength of the work undertaken by staff.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers mostly understand the strengths and weaknesses of the home. An effective development plan is in place to address the weaknesses they identify. The director of the company has become the responsible individual in order to implement the improvements.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The quality of monitoring conducted by leaders and managers is not yet consistently good. Some good learning takes place to improve the quality of care. However, on some occasions leaders and managers do not recognise areas for improvement.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers listen to children on a day-to-day basis. However, there is little evidence about how this level of consultation contributes to the development of children’s care plans. In some records, the language staff use to describe children is not helpful to the child and could be viewed as opinion rather than factual information.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager has successfully provided children with a regular team of staff. This has had a positive impact on children. Leaders and managers provide staff with a supportive environment in which to work.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers are strong advocates for children. The registered manager builds good relationships with other professionals and confidently challenges decisions when appropriate.

p.5

Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 6 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.

p.5

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: 1241840 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Wessex College Limited, 4 Cedar Park, Cobham Road, Ferndown Industrial Estate, Wimborne BH21 7SF

p.7

Inspector

Nicola Lownds, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1241840 8 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, 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 http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

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

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: http://www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8