Children's Home run by The Rose Road Association in Southampton

Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 1 SC042446 Registered provider: The Rose Road Association Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The service is for eight children from the age of four to 18. The home’s statement of purpose describes the home as providing care for children who have severe learning difficulties, which may include additional physical disabilities, autism and/or complex health needs. The home is owned by a charitable organisation and provides overnight short breaks on a planned or occasional basis.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2016. The manager is also registered with the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and manages care for adults with similar needs in a separate part of the building. Care staff work across both adult and children’s services. A separate report by the CQC is available for the adult service.

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Information about this children’s home

Due to COVID-19, at the request of the Secretary of State, we suspended all routine inspections of social care providers carried out under the social care common inspection framework (SCCIF) on 17 March 2020. We returned to routine SCCIF inspections on 12 April 2021.

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Information about this children’s home

This home was last inspected on 10 February 2020 and was judged to have improved effectiveness. A monitoring visit was carried out on 17 February 2021 which resulted in no requirements or recommendations being made.

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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 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. Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 2 Date of last inspection: 10 February 2020

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: improved effectiveness

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 3

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 08/08/2019 Full Good 21/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness 20/08/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well. They find every way they can to promote children’s welfare. For example, one child who was struggling with transitions with several separate individual stays now has a condensed extended stay. The staff response has helped this child to feel more settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children build positive relationships with staff. Children enjoy and look forward to their short stays. A school’s deputy head commented that they have had to ask the staff to park the home’s bus away from the school pick-up area. The reason for this was that children who were not going to the setting became upset because they wanted to go.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Close links with schools and families ensure that good communication is maintained. Professionals and families comment on the open communication between themselves and staff. This provides the children with continuity across the home, school and family environments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual targets for each child link to their education, health and care plan. These are set out clearly and are regularly reviewed. This provides the children with continuity in terms of their support and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate children’s achievements. Achievements such as ‘star of the month’ are proudly on display throughout the home. Staff are full of pride regarding children’s successes. Children have made good progress, considering their starting points and physical disabilities, including learning to ride a bike and baking.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Compassionate staff deliver care with dignity and respect. Children are relaxed, and staff are attentive to their needs. Staff engage in an array of day-to-day activities with children. Consequently, the children develop confidence and new skills.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks faced by children in their care. Risk assessments are regularly updated. Managers maintain regular contact with health professionals to update risk assessments for children where necessary. One health professional said that staff are very helpful and engage in additional training to reflect the needs of children in their care.

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

Since the previous inspection, there have been two near-miss medication errors. Due to good medication procedures in place, staff were able to swiftly identify discrepancies, which resulted in no harm to children. As a result, all staff have had additional medication training and entered a project with the NHS to mitigate risk. Learning from errors to improve safeguarding practice for children is a priority in this Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 5 setting. This helps to ensure that children are safe and that their welfare is promoted.

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

Staff have good knowledge and understanding of safeguarding. They are confident about what action to take if they have a concern about a child. Safeguarding is embedded in all staff’s practice, from training, supervision and team meetings to monthly safeguarding themes. As a result, the staff are alert to the extra vulnerabilities and risks to disabled children.

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

Staff respond effectively to children’s behaviours. The one incident of restraint since the last inspection was well recorded, reported and reflected on by staff and managers. There have been no episodes of children going missing. Safeguarding incidents occur infrequently and are responded to appropriately when they do arise. All professionals and parents spoken to as part of the inspection commented positively about safeguarding practice. Children are kept safe in this home.

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

Clear planning and regular reviewing of practice have ensured that there has been a good level of support for children and staff throughout the COVID-19 restrictions. Despite challenges with staffing, leaders and managers have prioritised the safeguarding of children. While this has meant cancellations to some children’s stays, it has enabled the provider to promote safer care to children. The home has remained open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to provide a good and safe service to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced, child-focused and passionate. She has high expectations for children. This sets an aspirational culture within the staff team and their practice. The pandemic has been a very difficult time for staff. However, they are well supported by the manager and morale has improved. Staff members describe leaders and managers as, ‘amazing’, ‘always have smiles on their faces’, and ‘the door is always open’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers link effectively with other agencies and within the local community. Leaders and managers will actively challenge other agencies to advocate on behalf of children in their care. External professionals report good communication with the management of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers promote a culture of respect and tolerance within this setting. Promotion of diversity and dignity for children is prevalent because of good staff practice, age- appropriate literature and access to a range of planned events. This helps children to feel valued, respected and treated with dignity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managerial oversight is good. The manager has a sound grasp of the strengths and weaknesses of the provision. She makes use of regular feedback from parents, children and commissioners to improve practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 6 Timely supervision and annual appraisals provide the staff with opportunities for reflection and development. This ensures that all staff who work in the home receive support and guidance for their specific roles.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s care plans detail the way in which staff should meet the needs of children very well. Daily logs are detailed and reflective of each child’s experiences. However, staff do not include an explicit contribution from children in these plans, despite an evidently close understanding of children’s wishes and preferences. While feedback is received and the child’s voice is heard, it is not explicitly recorded. Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are encouraged by staff to see the home’s records as ‘living documents’ supporting them to view and contribute to the record in a way that reflects their voice on a regular basis. In particular, that the children’s voice and how this has been obtained is explicitly recorded in their records. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 58, paragraph 11.19)

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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 for children’s home: SC042446 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: The Rose Road Association

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Inspector

Skye Frain, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC042446 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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