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 Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and offers care and accommodation for up to four children and young people. The provider states in its statement of purpose that care is provided for children and young people with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager’s post is vacant. The previous registered manager left in January 2021. The current manager has submitted her application for registration to Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers on 17 March 2020.

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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 2 December 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted website.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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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.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 24 February 2020

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

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

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/02/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/09/2019 Full Good 22/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 03/09/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report children's home: 1241840 3

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improvement to be good

Outcomes for children are mixed. Some children have lived at the home for a long time and are making progress. One child has moved on to foster care in line with their plan. However, the staff have been unable to manage the behaviour of two children who therefore had to be moved from the home.

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improvement to be good

Until recently, the children were not making progress. There was a lack of leadership and routines in the home were not running smoothly. The newly appointed manager is providing leadership, she has restored order and is aspirational for the children. The home now has a calm and relaxed environment in which the children can thrive, feel safe and make progress.

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improvement to be good

The children benefit from being cared for by a staff team that knows them well. Relationships are positive and the children have adults they can talk to and who they trust. The children report that the home is much improved since the new manager arrived and that they like living at the home and are getting on well with each other.

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improvement to be good

The staff understand the healthcare needs of the children. However, healthcare plans lack detail. Children’s dental and optician appointments are not documented and so it is not possible to see if they are up to date. A chronology of each child’s health needs is not available, to understand and ensure that each child’s identified healthcare needs are being met.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from educational placements that are creatively tailored to meet their needs. The staff are aspirational for the children and encourage them to do well at school, in line with their future career plans. Two of the children have completed examinations and are waiting for their results. Both children know which further education college they will be attending after the holidays.

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improvement to be good

The staff support the children effectively to obtain part-time jobs and learn independence skills such as shopping, cooking and travelling independently. These skills will help the children in the future when they move out of the home.

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improvement to be good

The children enjoy seeing their families, with the support of the staff. Placing social workers comment positively about the willingness of the staff to take the children many miles to see their families. They say staff understand the importance and benefit of working to repair relationships between the children and their families.

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improvement to be good

Care plans detail the complex care needs of the children. However, the plans do not always contain creative strategies for the staff to use to maintain clear boundaries and routines. For example, children do not always eat meals with the adults in the dining room and often eat meals alone in their bedrooms. Inspection report children's home: 1241840 4

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

Safeguarding procedures are effective. Incidents are promptly reported to the relevant safeguarding professionals. The manager has a positive working relationship with the police, youth offending team, prevent workers and social workers. This joint working helps to ensure the safety of the children. Professionals comment positively about the helpful information and communication that they receive from the home.

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

All children report that they feel safe living at the home and could name a member of staff that they could speak to if they feel unsafe or worried. Children are aware of how to make a complaint.

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

The staff are vigilant. The effective use of professional curiosity is evidenced in safeguarding records. Incidents of children going missing are reduced at the home and the use of restraint to manage behaviour is rare. If there is an incident, the manager promptly undertakes a comprehensive evaluation of the incident. Any learning is used to further understand the most effective way to support the children.

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

Children benefit from being kept safe, while being allowed to take assessed risks. For example, one child is being allowed to ride their bicycle to the nearest town and use public transport independently to visit his friends. Risk assessments offer the staff comprehensive control measures to manage identified risks.

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good

The new manager has made a positive impact in the short time that she has been in post. She is supported effectively by senior leaders and managers from the new owners of the home. Management oversight is improved. Records are well managed and up to date. The staff and children comment very positively about her management of the home, how they feel supported and how the home is changing for the better.

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good

The home provides the children with a generally homely and well-decorated environment. However, some areas of the home require decoration. Offensive graffiti is not always promptly removed. The empty bedroom of a child who recently moved out of the home has the appearance of a room that was not regularly cleaned and has an unpleasant odour. Plans are in place to refurbish this room and replace the flooring prior to a new child moving in.

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good

The manager is knowledgeable about the strengths of the home and the areas for improvement. However, this information is not yet documented in a development plan for the home.

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good

Leaders and managers have recruited new members of staff and ensure that the same adults work in the home, promoting consistency and stability. Prior to the new Inspection report children's home: 1241840 5 manager arriving, the staff team was inconsistent and there was not a positive staff culture. The staff now report how they appreciate the positive and aspirational culture in the home.

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good

The children are encouraged to offer their views and are included in the day-to-day running of the home. They participate in choosing furnishings and the decoration of the home. Their views are sought formally, in one-to-one meetings and house meetings, and informally, during journeys in the car with an adult from the home or during activities.

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good

The staff working in the home are recruited in line with safe recruitment practice and procedures. However, a further reference check is not always obtained promptly when the original one cannot be obtained, in line with the home’s recruitment policy. Inspection report children's home: 1241840 6

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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 health and well-being standard is that ─

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (1)(b) (2)(a)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to children’s healthcare needs and how these are to be met being documented in each child’s healthcare plan. 22 July 2021

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a) (3)(d)) 22 July 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1241840 7 This particularly refers to ensuring that if it is not possible to obtain a specific reference for a potential member of staff, then an alternative reference is obtained as soon as possible.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home should seek, as far as possible, to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression; in particular that unnecessary signage is removed, obscene graffiti is removed as soon as possible and that children’s bedrooms are kept clean and tidy. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that expectations of standards of behaviour should be high for all staff and children in the home. Positive behaviour and relationships should be reinforced, praised and encouraged. Poor behaviour should be challenged and discussed. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.11) In particular, that children should regularly eat meals with adults at the dining table, not in their bedrooms, and that rules and boundaries are always consistent.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and 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 55, paragraph 10.24, page 55) In particular, the registered person should ensure that the home has a current development plan that documents the strengths of the home and the areas for improvement and how this will be achieved.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, 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 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Wessex College Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton BL1 4AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Choules

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Inspector

Tina Maddison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1241840 9 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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