Children's Home run by Barnardo’s in Oxfordshire

Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 1 SC069128 Registered provider: Barnardo’s Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The service caters for a maximum of seven children at any one time, including one emergency bed. It provides a residential short-break service. The service is provided by a national charity in partnership with a local authority. Most of the children using the service have complex health needs or have an autism spectrum disorder and associated challenging behaviour. The home has not had a registered manager since May 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 requires improvement to be 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/06/2017 Full Good 16/01/2017 Full Good 31/05/2016 Interim Sustained effectiveness 28/10/2015 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 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 fitness of manager standard requires that a person may only manage a children’s home if— the person has the appropriate experience, qualifications and skills. (Regulation 28 (b)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is with specific reference to the need for new managers to be registered with Ofsted and, where the process is delayed, to take the necessary steps to ensure a prompt resolution. 30/06/2019

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard requires the registered person to— ensure that the home has enough staff to provide care for each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(d)) 30/06/2019

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are very happy here and parents spoken to reflected on how relaxed children were when they came to stay. Parents, social workers and other professionals say that the home provides high-quality care for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children show signs of anxiety and distress, staff deal with this warmly and empathetically. A social worker said that staff had ‘a very highly developed understanding of the children in their care’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is evidence of good progress for the children using the service. Each child has a current goal which is monitored and reported on by staff. Staff were able to give positive examples such as encouraging a child to take more responsibility for personal care or helping a child to reduce negative behaviours caused by emotional stress. Staff also reflected on the positive impact that care at the home can have for the child’s family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and spacious. Children have access to lots of toys, games and activities throughout the home. Staff have placed photos around the home of children Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 4 enjoying their visits. This helps to give the home a warm and welcoming feel. The hallways have some lovely tactile sensory wall coverings, which were commissioned from a specialist play service.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children can choose where they want to be in the home from larger open living spaces to smaller, more cosy snug spaces. This is so that every child can be in a room that suits them. Children are also given choices about the activities that they want to engage in during their visits.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has dedicated catering staff and domestic staff. Each child had an individual dietary plan, which is maintained by the cook. She also encourages the children to try new foods wherever possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home shows some signs of wear and tear. It is a very large building so maintenance is an ongoing process. The manager and responsible individual recognise this and have put in place a schedule of works for the coming financial year to improve the interior of the building.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to a rich and engaging variety of activities and stimulating environments, both in and out of the home. There was also strong evidence that these activities were often a direct result of consultation with children.

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

Staff have a very well developed understanding of the risks and vulnerabilities of the children they support. The manager ensures that training is thorough and kept up to date. Staff were able to readily identify the organisation’s own safeguarding processes. They demonstrate a good understanding of the wider safeguarding frameworks in their local authority. The manager is developing positive links with the local police and safeguarding teams.

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

There are currently no children at risk of going missing. Staffing ratios and the physical layout of the building and grounds minimise risks. If staff identify concerns, children are monitored closely during their time at the home.

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

Some children have very complex health needs. Staff showed high levels of competency in this area. Nursing staff are on-site to support children with medical needs. They also provide valuable support and training to the team.

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

Staff are given clear guidance on the correct procedures to ensure the safe administration of medication. They have regular assessments to ensure that they are competent. Storage is very secure, both for prescribed medication and controlled medication. All records are well maintained. There was no evidence of errors having been made.

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

Staff consider carefully the individual needs of the child. They record incidents clearly. Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 5 There is much reflection on why or how behaviours may be changing for a child. Risk management plans are updated to ensure that learning from incidents is fed back into changes in behaviour management techniques. Incidents are infrequent and managed effectively by the staff team.

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

Staff have experienced some major changes to the management at the home since the last inspection. A new manager started in the summer of 2018. She has been working hard to develop her knowledge of the setting. She has forged good working relationships with the staff team, parents and professionals.

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

The manager’s registration with Ofsted is not yet completed. It is nine months since she commenced employment. The responsible individual recognised that they could have done more to support the manager with her registration application.

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

Recruitment issues at the home are having an impact on staff. Several staff members reflected on the increased pressure that shortages in staffing place on everyone. Some staff also felt that children did not always get the full focus that they deserve when staffing levels are low. A social worker stated that when they visited the home they could see how stretched the team was. They had some concerns that it was having an impact on staff well-being.

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

The responsible individual outlined a current initiative to invest in recruitment and to utilise money currently spent on agency staffing to fund this.

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

The leadership in the home has many good elements. The manager and her senior team demonstrate a good understanding of the children’s needs and have high aspirations for the quality of care provided. Leaders have clear ideas about how they wish the home to develop in coming months.

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

Staff reflective positively about the current position. All staff mentioned the challenges that they had faced last year but felt that things were in a better place. Staff stated that morale was high. Staff also praised the quality of leadership, saying that support was readily accessible and of good quality.

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

The manager showed an effective response to complaints. The independent visitor often contacts parents to get their views on the outcomes of complaints. This is positive practice.

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

The manager also has the promotion of the child’s voice as a primary area for development at the home. Staff had some lovely examples of this happening already. A participation folder shows how the child’s voice is listened to and acted upon. One child kept talking about their love of old cars. The team organised a special trip for him to the British Motor Museum. They had a memory book with lots of photos for the child to remember their day. Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 6 Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 7

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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: SC069128 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 13A Silver Fox Way, Cobalt Business Park, Newcastle upon Tyne NE27 0QJ

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Inspector

Peter Jackson: social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC069128 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 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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