Children's Home run by Calcot Services for Children Limited in Wokingham

Inspection report children's home: SC054468 1 SC054468 Registered provider: Calcot Services for Children Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned by a company which operates several children’s homes in the area. The home cares for a maximum of three children who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 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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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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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

Date of last inspection: 29 January 2020

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: SC054468 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/01/2020 Full Outstanding 19/03/2019 Full Outstanding 06/03/2018 Full Good 22/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC054468 3

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outstanding

Staff engage in meticulous and thoughtful care planning. Children’s lives have been transformed because of living in the home. Progress for all children from very complex starting points is exceptional. A child who initially refused to engage with the world around him has been supported to thrive in all elements of his life. He is now in full-time education, enjoying a positive network of friends both in school and in the community and is starting to rebuild positive relationships with his family.

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outstanding

Staff, professionals and parents gave plentiful evidence of positive changes for children. Whether social, educational, personal or emotional, children continually grow and develop, enabling outstanding outcomes. Staff demonstrate a deep and therapeutically informed knowledge of children. A child who had previously been making little progress in a setting for children with learning disabilities has hugely benefited from the transition to this home. While affected by the challenges of global developmental delay, he has made huge progress with his social interactions and independence skills. Since arriving, professionals say he has defied all expectations and exceeded all targets that were set for him at the start of his placement.

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outstanding

Staff have a passion for developing their own skills and competencies. Staff’s drive for continuous professional development further enhances their ability to deliver high-quality support and meet the individual needs of children. Staff regularly research innovations in childcare practice. They have developed their own library of learning resources, which support them to disseminate their learning and share good practice through provider forums and other professional networks.

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outstanding

Children’s progress is tracked using highly effective tracking tools. This approach means that individual children are supported to meet their personal targets. For example, with the dedicated support of staff working in close partnership with education, one child has successfully achieved a place at college this year, when the prediction was that the child would have to repeat a whole year at school.

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outstanding

Children benefit from effective consultation, which takes a range of forms to suit each child’s communication preferences. Children feel valued and listened to. This has led to children getting involved in wider national conversations about issues relating to looked after children through councils and forums. Children are very outward facing, involving themselves in charitable fundraising and local community activities.

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outstanding

As children in the home approach transition points, staff place a strong focus on preparation for independence. Children are fully involved in planning for their own futures and enjoy learning new skills to maximise their chances of successful moves into adulthood. Inspection report children's home: SC054468 4

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outstanding

Staff engage in some excellent partnership working, which has improved children’s life chances and enhanced their safety.

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outstanding

Recent work with a highly vulnerable child, at risk of exploitation, led to some innovative work with the police. This consultation, and subsequent learning, contributed to new protocols being set up, not only for this home, but for all children’s homes in the area. This has directly improved the experience of children who go missing from care.

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outstanding

An additional outcome of this joint working protocol was the responsible individual for the home being the first private provider to be invited to join the local safeguarding partnership, representing this children’s home and the other homes the provider has in the area. She has a role in disseminating new intelligence about risk in the local community and strategic planning. This work has led to an improved understanding for the police of the safeguarding obligations of children’s homes and helped officers to know what they should be expecting as good practice from the children’s homes they work alongside. This close working with external partners improves the safety and security of children in the home.

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outstanding

The quality of risk management and staff understanding of risk is superb. Staff are confident about what constitutes safe practice. They recognise the risks and vulnerabilities of children in their care and benefit from effective risk management plans to support children to keep themselves safe.

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outstanding

Staff have well-developed behaviour management skills that reflect the principles of their therapeutic model of care.

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outstanding

When incidents occur, there is clear oversight from managers. They encourage reflective learning from each incident. Debriefing after incidents with children and staff is thorough, sensitive and constructive. This ensures that all incidents result in reflective learning and improvements in staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff hold the registered manager at the home in high regard. They describe high- quality personal and professional support that inspires them to continually develop their practice. Staff benefit from regular supervision that supports them to reflect and ensures that their well-being is prioritised.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders have a clear vision for the ongoing improvement of the home, which prioritises the growth and development of children. The ambition that the registered manager demonstrates to her team inspires and motivates them to want to excel.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Record-keeping by staff is detailed and comprehensive while staying relevant and Inspection report children's home: SC054468 5 child focused. Reports and plans show that staff have a highly reflective capacity. Staff share a well-developed therapeutic ethos and philosophy that extends into every area of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has created exemplary systems of monitoring and review. This has given her a deep understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the home. She uses this knowledge to create ambitious development plans for children and staff. She also ensures that goals are subject to regular review, so that they remain relevant and progress against targets is captured.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders ensure that staff have access to a full programme of high-quality training and professional development opportunities. Staff spoke enthusiastically about bespoke training that they were able to access and they are encouraged to follow their specific interests and specialisms.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

New staff spoke of excellent recruitment experiences and positive induction into the organisation. They spoke about the quality of support from the leadership team and their colleagues in the home that enabled them to settle into their new roles quickly and make good progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders encourage staff to promote inclusivity and equality of access. Children benefit from sensitive support around gender, identity and sexuality. This enables children to express themselves confidently in a safe and supportive environment. Inspection report children's home: SC054468 6

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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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Calcot Services for Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 8 Brewery Court, Theale, Reading, Berkshire RG7 5AJ

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Patrycja Soroczynska

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Inspector

Peter Jackson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC054468 7 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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