Children's Home run by Solent Child Care Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 1 SC1247384 Registered provider: Solent Child Care 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 home provides care for up to two children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It is located in a rural location within easy reach of local community services. The manager was registered in April 2018.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/03/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 31/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 3

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Recommendations

 All children must have access to appropriate advocacy support. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 4.16) This particularly relates to ensuring that children who make allegations have an independent person to talk to.  Records of restraint should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59) This particularly relates to ensuring that records of restraint are all kept in one place and clearly stored away from other records.  The registered person should make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 54, paragraph 10.23)

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Recommendations

This particularly relates to ensuring that if numbers of restraints increase, the monitoring of them becomes more detailed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive highly individualised care from staff who are totally focused on what is best for each child. Children demonstrate, by their affectionate and close interactions, their absolute trust in the staff who care for them. This sense of security and predictability enables them to explore new experiences and make excellent progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

A social worker commented, ‘The staff have 100% commitment to the children and provide a very nurturing and safe environment.’ Children enjoy helping to choose their activities and their meals, and they particularly benefit from staff who demonstrate that they enjoy being with them and want them to thrive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Educational attendance and progress are a huge strength in this home. Unless they are unwell, children attend education every day, and a teacher remarked about one child, ‘[Name of child] has made amazing progress.’ Another teacher said of the staff, ‘They are so willing to work with us. They are absolutely brilliant. We have the most positive relationship with them of any children’s home.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have very well-supported access to a range of opportunities such as football, horse-riding and mindfulness classes. They take part in local community activities, for example Messy Church, Brownies and youth clubs, and go on exciting trips out with Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 4 staff. They also clearly benefit from the warm and nurturing atmosphere when staying at home, playing board games or watching films with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children are encouraged to develop both social and educational skills by, for example, participating in informal spelling competitions and/or assisting in preparing the evening meal. Staff are also able to award nationally recognised skills certificates to children if they master certain tasks such as cleaning their own teeth or grooming a staff member’s dog. This emphasis on developing and rewarding new skills helps bolster these children’s fragile self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s emotional health is clearly improving because of the consistent and positive care they receive. This is demonstrated in a reduction in the frequency of serious incidents and a growing ability to control their own emotions. This positive emotional development is matched by their healthy growth in height and weight, and their overall health is carefully monitored both in the home and by the appropriate health professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Transitions, for example into new schools, are very well managed. A teacher said, ‘It was a great transition. Within four weeks [name of child] was in class and was then there at breaks and lunchtimes.’ Future transitions are also being planned for, in that each child has a daily memory book to stick pictures and important objects in, and which will leave with them when they move on.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Home staff are carefully trained in a reputable model of care that is attachment focused. This training is helpfully supplemented by regular group-based clinical supervision. This greatly helps in supporting staff to be highly reflective, very nurturing and appropriately protective about the children they care for.

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

Social workers are confident in the ability of staff to safeguard children and do not have any safeguarding concerns about the home. Staff are appropriately trained in protecting children from harm and this is strongly supported by the open and sharing culture in the home, and staff members’ feelings of protectiveness towards these particular children. Relationships with the local authority designated officer are good and this valuable resource is appropriately well used by staff.

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

Restraint practice is good in that it is used appropriately and as sparingly as possible, and restraint events are thoroughly recorded and monitored. However, not all restraint paperwork is available in one place. Although there is monitoring of restraint, this is not sufficiently responsive to, for example, sharp increases in the number of restraints. These minor shortfalls have not adversely affected the well-being of children in the home.

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

The risks to children’s well-being and safety are decreasing. They are much less likely to be involved in physical altercations and their ability to manage their strong emotions is improving. Children do not go missing from this home, and they are usually Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 5 accompanied by staff when out in the community. However, staff are wisely and carefully allowing some children to take appropriate risks such as going to a club on their own.

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

Thoughtful and creative behaviour management is a particular strength of this home. Staff are skilled at looking beyond the behaviour to consider what is being communicated, and then putting in place effective strategies to meet the need that is being expressed. For example, bedtimes were a trigger for dangerous behaviour from a child, but a highly effective relaxing routine has reduced the incidence of such events.

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

A social worker commented, ‘The staff have strong boundaries and don’t shy away from setting them. But, they also have lots of fun with [name of child].’ This approach means that children become very aware of what behaviour is acceptable, and what is not, and they also reap the natural rewards of behaving well, such as having fun.

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

Staff recruitment practice is thorough and careful, and therefore contributes to children being kept safe. Action if children make allegations is sound, and appropriate external professionals are involved. However, children do not have access to an independent advocate, which would offer a further safeguard.

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

The physical environment in the home is warm, peaceful and comfortable. A social worker said, ‘It’s like a family home, not a residential home.’ However, staff are scrupulous about minimising environmental risk, and important health and safety checks are routinely carried out.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is well managed by a very effective registered manager. She is highly ambitious for excellent outcomes for the children and has inspired the staff group to act similarly. The home is now fully staffed, with a strong and highly motivated team of staff who have high morale and really enjoy working with the children and with their colleagues.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

This is a very reflective team, and one staff member said, ‘We never stop communicating with each other.’ The team members are tenacious about finding what makes the children tick, and proactive in coming up with imaginative ideas. They work very well with other agencies, for example the local authority. A teacher said, ‘Their ability to communicate and reflect is brilliant, and they are so consistent.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Each child has a detailed placement plan that reflects their individual needs on both a daily and a longer-term basis. This translates into flexible daily and weekly planners covering activities, targets, routines and daily one-to-one meetings. This mix of structure and flexibility gives children both a sense of security and of being listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Monitoring is generally a strength in this home. Every written interaction is monitored at varying intervals, and the registered manager’s comments and interventions are highly visible in practice. This local monitoring is well supported by the thorough and timely Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 6 independent visitor reports and by the organisation’s directors, who also complete useful quality assurance tasks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Supervision arrangements are strong, and regularity is adjusted dependent on how long a staff member has been in post. Team meetings are very child focused and are an opportunity to explore children’s complex needs in more detail and come up with working strategies. Staff appreciate the high level of support they receive. One said, ‘We all come together with the children at the centre, and I have never worked anywhere where I have felt so supported.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager knows the children very well and is clearly an important figure in their daily lives. When appropriate, she will take the lead role in driving their progress with external agencies and is comfortable with challenging other organisations, for example when they do not pursue investigations quickly enough. The registered manager runs a home that is characterised by high expectations for children and this is making a significant, positive difference to their lives.

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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: 1247384 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Solent Child Care Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 9 St Georges Yard, Farnham GU9 7LW

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Charlotte Tanner

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Inspector(s)

Bridget Goddard, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 1247384 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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Inspector(s)

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