Children's home run by Oxfordshire County Council

Assurance visit report: SC033896 1 SC033896

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Information about this children’s home

This local authority children’s home is registered to accommodate up to six children irrespective of gender. The home is registered to care for children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since April 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection date: 26 November 2019

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Information about this children’s home

Previous inspection judgement: Requires improvement to be good

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Information about this visit

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), Ofsted suspended all routine inspections in March 2020. As part of a phased return to routine inspection, we are undertaking assurance visits to children’s social care services that are inspected under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF).

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Information about this visit

At these visits, inspectors evaluate the extent to which:

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Information about this visit

 children are well cared for  children are safe  leaders and managers are exercising strong leadership.

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Information about this visit

This visit was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000, following the published guidance for assurance visits.

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Information about this visit

Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills is leading Ofsted’s work into how England’s social care system has delivered child-centred practice and care within the context of the restrictions placed on society during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Findings from the visit

We did not identify any serious or widespread concerns in relation to the care or protection of children at this assurance visit. Assurance visit report: SC033896 2

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The care of children

Children enjoy being at this home. They say that staff are available and help them. Children speak positively about their experiences here and several say that it has been the best place that they have been in.

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The care of children

Children are supported by staff to keep in touch with the people who are important to them. Technology has been used to ensure that children can communicate with their families during the COVID-19 restrictions and staff have also enabled face-to- face contact.

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The care of children

Staff promote education well and work effectively in partnership with a local activity centre to ensure that children access learning experiences that help them make progress. All children engage in education and have benefited from the provision of laptops to access online learning.

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The care of children

Staff understand the health needs of the children. They support children to maintain healthy diets and involve them in menu planning and cooking meals. Staff support children to attend health appointments and speak with health professionals to ensure that the specific needs of children can be met.

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The care of children

Staff have created an environment where children feel relaxed and able to give their opinion on the care that they receive. House meetings are popular with the children. This helps ensure that children are able to express their wishes and feelings.

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The care of children

Staff promote involvement in the community and encouraged participation in the weekly clap for carers to show their appreciation for their work during the COVID-19 crisis. Children show a good understanding of COVID-19 and know how to keep healthy during the pandemic. They report that staff discuss this this regularly with them.

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The care of children

Children experience well-planned transitions to and from the home. Children are involved in preparing the home for a new child and help them to feel welcome . A clear and detailed preparation plan was in place for a child who recently moved, and one child said, ‘I could not have been prepared better.’

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The safety of children

Staff understand the behavioural needs of each child. They are an experienced team of care professionals who work intensely with children who have varied and complex needs.

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The safety of children

Staff understand the vulnerabilities of each child and put measures in place to reduce risks. Staff are aware of situations and events that can trigger risk-taking behaviour in children. They intervene promptly to help steer children away from problematic situations. This helps children learn to better manage their emotions and to make safer choices. Assurance visit report: SC033896 3 Staff understand how to respond to keep children safe in the event that children go missing from the home. In practice, the positive and trusting relationships between staff and children mean that they rarely go missing from the home.

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The safety of children

Staff have a good understanding of how to safeguard children. They receive ongoing training in a range of formats and this includes training in safeguarding. A new therapeutic way of working has been introduced and in order to ensure that this is put into practice, bite-sized sessions for staff are included in regular team meetings.

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The safety of children

Children say that they feel safe and that if they are upset or worried about something, they have staff that they can go to for help and support.

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Leaders and managers

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since April 2020 but has worked at the home for nearly two years. He is an experienced manager who receives good support from leaders and a skilled staff team.

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Leaders and managers

Staff receive regular and reflective supervision from the manager and deputy manager. Staff understand the importance of supervision and one staff member reflected that it is vital to supporting them in their role and to help them learn and develop. The manager benefits from formal and informal supervision where his own professional development is also reviewed.

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Leaders and managers

The independent visitor continued to conduct virtual visits throughout the COVID-19 restriction period and plans are in place to resume on-site visits. These visits take into consideration the wishes and feelings of children and the manager is responsive to any recommendations made by the visitor.

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Leaders and managers

The manager attends house meetings and has consultation sessions with individual children to establish their views, wishes and feelings about the care that they receive. Issues raised in these consultations have led to positive changes in practice. For example, children expressed that staff spent too much time in the office away from them. Staff are now more available to children and this has strengthened relationships.

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Leaders and managers

Staffing arrangements have been more settled, and the manager has ensured that vacancies are filled with suitably qualified individuals. The manager is committed to addressing staff shortages with staff already known to the children. This has had a positive impact on the morale of the staff group, which has in turn made a difference to the way that children are cared for.

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Leaders and managers

As a result of improvements in relation to promoting education, providing a range of activities and consulting with children, all recommendations and requirements made at the last inspection are met.

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Leaders and managers

No requirements or recommendations are made following this visit Assurance visit report: SC033896 4

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, New Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX1 1ND

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Inspector

Vevene Muhammad, Social Care Inspector Assurance visit report: SC033896 5 to 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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