Children's home run by Wessex College Limited in Dorset

Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 1 SC043245 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

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

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since August 2020.

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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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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 requires improvement to be 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/05/2021 Full Inadequate 21/11/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 17/07/2018 Full Good 19/07/2017 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 3

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improvement to be good

The manager and the staff are working effectively to improve the quality of care and support offered to the children living at the home. Since the previous inspection, one child has moved out of the home as the mix of children was not positive. The staff were unable to manage the child’s behaviour and keep her safe.

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improvement to be good

The home is now settled and calm. Routines are consistently implemented by the staff and are running smoothly. The children are responding positively and are being given a sense of safety and security as a result of the effective rules and boundaries in the home.

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improvement to be good

Children are eating healthy meals with the adults in the home, at the dining-room table. The regular eating of snacks and cereals is being discouraged through creative strategies to support the children to eat and benefit from a healthy diet. Children are no longer regularly eating meals in their bedrooms. Therapeutic assessments are now informing the children’s healthcare plans.

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improvement to be good

Children are being supported by the staff to attend school. One child has moved schools and is regularly attending. He is proud of his new school uniform and is making friends. Daily logs evidence that the children are now getting up in the morning to go to school because of the clear behaviour-management strategies consistently put in place by the staff.

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improvement to be good

The home’s appearance is improved and now offers the children a homely and well- decorated environment. New carpets have been fitted. Photographs and pictures of the children and their families are displayed throughout the home and the children are now being supported to regularly clean and tidy their bedrooms. Plans are in place to replace two bathrooms, which will further improve the appearance of the home.

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improvement to be good

Placement plans give the staff creative strategies and direction around how best to support the children. However, these plans do not contain the aims of the placement and how these will be achieved within timescales to inform planning and the monitoring of the progress of the children.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour-management risk assessments are individualised, clear and reviewed regularly. Positive use of rewards helps promote good behaviour and healthy lifestyles. The children report that they feel safe living at the home and could name a member of staff they would speak to if they felt worried or unhappy. Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 4 The home has positive strategies in place to manage the risks when children go missing from home. Incidents of missing from home are reduced. The staff are vigilant and look for children if they are missing; they call and text the child every 10 minutes and offer to collect them. Return home interviews always take place. There is evidence of management oversight and evaluation of incidents of missing from home, which helps to develop safe plans for each child.

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improvement to be good

The use of physical intervention is minimal and is only used to protect a child and those around them. The staff use effective de-escalation techniques to manage conflict. All incidents are comprehensively recorded and are appropriately reported to the designated officer. However, there is no evidence of comprehensive management oversight and evaluation to inform learning. Children are being kept safe, but opportunities to reduce physical interventions further are being missed.

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good

Leaders and managers are working hard and are successfully addressing the shortfalls found at the previous inspection. The requirements and the two compliance notices issued following the previous inspection are met.

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good

A comprehensive improvement plan has been written, documenting how the planned improvements for the home will be undertaken. The manager is supported by the registered individual and two managers from other homes in the group to embed the improvement plan.

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good

Professionals report that communication from the home is improved. Leaders and managers have taken action to improve relationships with professionals. For example, positive joint-working with education professionals by the manager enabled one child to move schools to one nearer the home that can meet his education needs.

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good

It has been agreed by senior leaders in the group that, until the development plan has been completed, there will be no further admissions of children to the home. This gives the staff time to embed their learning, the remaining two children time to settle and make progress, and the manager time to fully embed the improvements in the home.

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good

Leaders and managers understand the importance of achieving the right mix of children in the home. Learning and evaluation arising from their experiences of children who have recently been given notice to leave the home, are being undertaken. This will inform staff training and inform future impact risk assessments for children who may come to live at the home.

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good

Management oversight of records and documents is generally improved. However, some records and documents would benefit from further management oversight and evaluation to inform staff learning and supervision. Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 5 The staff report that they are benefiting from improved management communication and clear guidance. Supervision records evidence that the staff benefit from regular formal and informal supervision. However, there is a lack of reflective supervision, where staff can reflect on any incidents to understand whether they could have done things differently and what they have learned from the incident. Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 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 registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure. (Regulation 35 (1)(b) (3)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

This refers specifically to the manager ensuring that they have reviewed the incident and evaluated the effectiveness of the behaviour management measures taken by the staff. 30 July 2021

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the workforce development plan includes details of the process and timescales for supervision of practice and keep appropriate records for staff in the home. This should include evidence of reflective supervision. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

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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: SC043245 7

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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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Inspectors

Tina Maddison, Social Care Inspector Penelope Kutz, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC043245 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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