Children's Home run by Buckinghamshire Council in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report children's home: 1277453 1 Registered provider: Buckinghamshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a local authority and provides residential care for up to five children who have social, emotional and/or mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 15 April 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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Information about this children’s home

We last visited this setting on 10 December 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on Ofsted’s website.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

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good

Date of last inspection: 5 November 2019

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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: 1277453 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/11/2019 Full Good 19/03/2019 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1277453 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy trusting and positive relationships with staff. They are confident that staff will understand the underlying message when they express painful emotions through their behaviour. They can tell their key workers the things that are worrying them, knowing that staff will take immediate action to try and help them. A social worker said, ‘[name of child] has good relationships with staff and has opened up to talk to them.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide a range of positive first-time experiences for the children. Children are looking forward to a planned holiday to Centre Parcs. These life-enriching opportunities broaden children’s experiences and instil childhood memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Most of the children are attending school and are making good progress. The registered manager works collaboratively with virtual school heads and social workers, to find alternative academic studies when mainstream schools have been unable to provide the right level of support for children. The staff listen to children and help them to follow their interests, dreams and career choices. As a result, the children are engaged in their learning and are making significant progress. When children do well in school or receive a certificate, the staff recognise, reward and celebrate this achievement with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are not in school, the management team works determinedly with social care and education professionals to try and resolve this as a matter of urgency. The registered manager has challenged educational providers to continue to support the children’s educational places. He has offered practical solutions and additional staff support to enable the children to continue to attend. This has not always been successful but demonstrates the home’s stance and unwavering commitment to ensuring children can access education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to actively participate in decisions about their lives and futures. In one example, a child expressed a wish to live with a foster family. The staff team have wholeheartedly supported this and are now in the process of preparing the child, with multi-agency guidance, for this move.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children’s friendships and help children to have overnight stays with friends at their parents’ houses. A social worker said, ‘The staff are proactive in the plans for the children. They listen to them and respond safely to their requests and desires.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have good access to local health services and specialists. The staff refer children to specialist services appropriately when needed. As a result of engaging with this support, behaviours that may lead to a risk of harm have reduced. Inspection report children's home: 1277453 4

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improvement to be good

Staff focus attention on building positive relationships so that any issues or challenges for children can be explored and addressed. Conflict is managed well through talking to children and using restorative discussions to avoid the use of sanctions. This approach encourages respect and tolerance between children.

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improvement to be good

Children benefit from being cared for by staff who have a very good understanding of their vulnerabilities and emotional well-being. There is clear and prompt communication with external agencies, including social workers and police. Children’s safety plans, devised with in-house children’s and mental health services, respond well to children’s needs and help to reduce harm. Additional staffing and increased monitoring of children’s well-being help them to feel safe and protected. All staff have recently completed training in suicide prevention, mental health and self-harm, to ensure they can fully meet and support the needs of children living in the home.

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improvement to be good

The team’s focus on providing good standards of care means that children can start to make progress in changing their negative behaviours. Individual risk assessments provide clear and sensible strategies to reduce risks of harm. However, not all risks are fully explored with children. For example, the dangers of carrying a knife. This is a missed opportunity to help children fully understand the dangers. As a result, not all risks are being reduced for children.

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improvement to be good

Unhealthy food options and takeaways are regularly eaten by the children. There is a culture in the home whereby takeaways are used as incentives. This approach encourages and reinforces unhealthy eating habits. The registered manager has recently discussed this with the team. His expectation is that healthier dietary choices should be provided. These unhealthy options do not promote a nutritious lifestyle or help the children learn how to cook and prepare healthy food.

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improvement to be good

The home is decorated nicely, and staff create a family atmosphere. The children make drinks and snacks in the kitchen and are supported to care for their pet animals. Children expressed concern to the inspector about the upstairs corridor feeling bare and the use of locked doors downstairs. Although the use of door alarms was initially used to safeguard children, this policy has not been reviewed since. As a result, children have not had the opportunity to demonstrate that they have made progress in their understanding of how to keep themselves safe.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager could not locate all the safer recruitment checks for new or long-standing staff. The inspector found shortfalls including missing interview notes, references, verification of references and unexplored gaps in some staff’s employment history. One member of staff has moved from another children’s home within the same organisation. However, not all their safer recruitment checks moved with them. Although this omission has not had a negative impact on the quality of care for the children, it does present unnecessary risk. Inspection report children's home: 1277453 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The culture of the staff team is characterised by high expectations and aspirations for all the children. Staff ensure that the ethos and objectives of the home are demonstrated in their practice by ensuring children are at the centre of all decisions.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have been successful in retaining an experienced and qualified staff team which helps to provide consistency for children. Staff morale is high. The staff team are very well supported through regular supervision, coaching, and learning and development. The support and challenge provided by the registered manager ensure that staff are able to meet the needs of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This is a well-established group of staff who understand the needs and vulnerabilities of the children in their care. All members of staff are trained and knowledgeable in how to provide the support that children need for them to be kept safe and make progress. They prioritise education and new experiences for children, helping to prepare them for their future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has met all the previous requirements and recommendations from the last inspection. He has begun work on further improving the workforce development plan to include coaching and development targets for individual staff, looking specifically at their strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Social workers are positive about how staff communicate with them. They are kept up to date on a regular basis, as well as being immediately informed of any significant incidents. They are impressed with how staff work together in a child- centred way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The independent visitor scrutinises the quality of care regularly, picking up on pertinent issues and providing a report to Ofsted. The registered manager responds promptly to any matters that have been identified, ensuring that children’s needs are met, and any learning is shared to promote staff development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On occasion, the staff have not updated children’s parents in a timely way after a serious or significant event. When parents have been notified, records and reports do not always fully explain what actions the staff have taken, or how the staff are helping the child. This approach means written reports are not explicitly clear and can lead to misunderstandings. This leads to complaints and does not help promote good relationships with families. Inspection report children's home: 1277453 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)) 3 September 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; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, 3 September 2021 Inspection report children's home: 1277453 7 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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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)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are provided with nutritious meals suitable for each child’s needs. Where appropriate, children should be involved in choosing and preparing meals and opportunities to sit together and eat should be promoted. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.8)  For children’s homes to be nurturing and supportive environments that meet the needs of their children, they will, in most cases, be homely, domestic environments. Children’s homes must comply with relevant health and safety legislations (alarms, food hygiene etc.); however, in doing so, homes should seek as far as possible to maintain a domestic rather than ‘institutional’ impression. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  Registered persons have a key role in seeking to develop the home’s effective

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Recommendations

working relationships with each child’s placing authority and with other relevant persons which may include services, individuals (including parents), agencies, organisations and establishments that work with children in the local community, e.g., police, schools, health, and youth offending teams. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion, and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: 1277453 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: 1277453 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Buckinghamshire County Council, County Hall, Walton Street Offices, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP20 1UA

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Inspectors:

Kelly Monniot, Social Care Inspector Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1277453 10 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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