Children's Home run by South West Childcare Services in Plymouth

Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 1 Registered provider: South West Childcare Services Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is operated by a national provider of children’s homes. It is registered to provide care and accommodation for two children who need emotional and/or emotional support.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since July 2020.

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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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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.

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good

Date of last inspection: 16 October 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 for children’s home: 1235576 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2019 Full Good 25/09/2018 Full Good 09/11/2017 Full Good 07/02/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children in this home receive consistent and nurturing care that is supporting them effectively to make progress. They also benefit from clear and consistent boundaries and from routines that run smoothly. This helps them to feel safe and secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves in and out of the home are well managed and children quickly settle in. The manager and staff keep in touch with the children that have moved out of the home to show to them that they still care about them. There is a positive mix of children, they get on well and there are no incidents of bullying.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff understand the importance of children regularly attending school and making progress with their education. One child is being supported to achieve good attendance at a mainstream school and is making friends. They previously found this very hard to achieve before arriving at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff strongly advocate for the children. One child is due to leave the home and move to their own accommodation in accordance with their plan. The staff are supporting the child to bid on suitable accommodation, and challenging professionals to ensure that the child moves on to appropriate housing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff are knowledgeable about the needs of the children and how they will meet their needs. However, placement plans do not always document the aims of a child’s placement at the home and how this will be achieved within stated timescales.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are supported effectively to channel their energy positively. For example, the staff support the children to attend football clubs and matches, visit the cinema, and to regularly visit their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff respond to the emotional and physical health needs of the children promptly and obtain the necessary professional support. One child is being supported to learn to manage his own medication prior to moving to independent living. Healthy eating is encouraged. Menus evidence that nutritious meals are planned. However, one child’s records do not evidence that they regularly eat a balanced diet that includes fruit and vegetables.

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

The children report that they feel safe living in the home. The staff build trusting relationships with the children, who report that they can always speak to all members of staff if they feel unsafe or worried. The staff are vigilant and know the children well, so that if a child’s behaviour is different from their usual behaviour the staff will always try to find out the reason for the change and refer the child to safeguarding professionals if necessary. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 4 Identified risks are well managed and incidents are reduced. Risk assessment documents offer the staff clear guidance about how best to safely manage any incidents. The staff support the children effectively to take risks that promote their learning and independence, while keeping them safe.

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

A strength of the home is how the staff support the children to improve their behaviour. The staff encourage positive behaviour through rewards and helping the children learn from their mistakes. The staff remain calm during incidents and help the children to learn how to communicate their feelings positively.

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

Comprehensive recruitment procedures are in place to ensure that only suitable people are employed at the home. Extensive checks and documents are obtained prior to a new member of staff coming to work at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager provides strong and supportive leadership to the staff. He has high aspirations for the children and high expectations of the staff. The staff and placing social workers comment positively about the quality of his leadership, his regular communication with them and commitment to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is child focused and succeeds in creating a homely environment for children. The home’s environment benefits from its recent refurbishment, including a new bathroom and kitchen. The children personalise their bedrooms, keep small pets and there are photographs of the children and staff displayed on the walls. This helps the children to gain a sense of belonging.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team has experienced some changes recently. However, the manager has supported the new staff to quickly and successfully settle in the home so that there is minimal disruption to the children. The staff receive good-quality supervision and benefit from an extensive training programme that equips them with the skills they need to care effectively for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Quality monitoring is undertaken by the company through regular audits and monthly visits from an independent person, who sets actions for the manager to complete. Information from the audits and monthly visits informs the comprehensive development plan for the home. The plan identifies the home’s strengths and areas of development and how the manager and the staff will build on the strengths and plan improvements. Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child’s day-to-day health and well- being needs are met. This particularly refers to ensuring that children regularly eat a healthy diet that includes fruit and vegetables. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that effective care plans are in place that contain the aims of a child’s placement and how these will be achieved at the home. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.2)

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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: 1235576 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspectors

Tina Maddison, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1235576 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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