Children's Home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report children's home: SC059717 1 SC059717 Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited 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 private organisation. Its statement of purpose states that it provides care and accommodation for up to six girls who need support to overcome difficulties linked with adverse childhood experiences and trauma .

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since 14 September 2017. At the time of the inspection, they were taking maternity leave. The assistant manager has made an application to Ofsted to be registered during this period.

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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

We last visited this setting on 7 September 2020 to carry out an assurance visit. The report is published on the Ofsted 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 outstanding

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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 children's home: SC059717 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/10/2019 Full Good 24/10/2018 Full Good 27/09/2017 Full Outstanding 07/03/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC059717 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is beautifully presented and is warm and homely. Children have individual bedrooms that are personalised and provide comfortable spaces for them to relax. Carers ensure that standards within the home are maintained, and they support children to keep their spaces clean and tidy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend school regularly and punctually. Leaders and managers work well with schools to ensure that children achieve their potential. Carers know children’s educational strengths and vulnerabilities and support them at home with their learning and social development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers make good, wholesome food for children. However, one child prefers unhealthy choices and eats very little fruit and vegetables. The child’s daily diet is recorded accurately and can be scrutinised should there be any deterioration in their health. Strategies to introduce more healthy choices are being explored by the team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home supports children’s moves into and out of the home. Leaders and managers fully assess the child’s individual needs before coming to the home. The impact of a new child moving in, on children living at the home, is well considered. Two children have moved to foster care since the last inspection. Leaders and managers gave notice on one child’s placement as it was in the child’s best interests. Despite having little notice, the home ensured that the child was prepared, and the move was successful.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers create wonderful memory books for children. These include photographs and narratives of their lives in the home. Carers recognise that it is important for children to be able to explore events in their childhood to help them make sense of their journeys.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Leaders and managers develop thorough and detailed plans for children. These help carers to respond to children’s needs in the most appropriate way and manage risk effectively. Recordings reflect the daily lives of children and assist in showing how they are progressing. However, one record was not helpful in promoting a child’s sense of individualism and self-esteem.

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outstanding

Carers have an excellent understanding of the risks children may face, both online and in person. They use direct work with children to help them develop healthy relationships. The use of the internet is carefully managed, in line with the age and understanding of each child. Carers have frank and sensitive discussions with children to explore issues. This helps children to trust that if they share information with carers, they will make fair decisions in their best interest. Inspection report children's home: SC059717 4 The registered manager has created a no-tolerance approach to bullying within the home. Furthermore, when children experience bullying outside of the home, it is dealt with effectively through good liaison with schools and the local authority.

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outstanding

Carers are knowledgeable in safeguarding practices and act swiftly when a child may be at risk of harm. The home applies this approach to both children in the home and their friends. This is underpinned by good relationships with all appropriate professionals. This helps children to understand that carers can be trusted and will act appropriately if children need safeguarding.

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outstanding

Restraint is used within the home when it prevents a child from hurting themselves or others. Nurture holds are used. The recording of incidents is detailed and there is good use of reflection and learning. This helps staff develop their de-escalation techniques and reduce the use of restraint.

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outstanding

Children know how to complain and are encouraged to do so. Staff have helped children to raise complaints about external agencies when it is appropriate to do so. Staff advocate for the children to ensure there is a positive resolution to complaints.

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outstanding

The home has outstanding practices in place for when children go missing from home. Risks are well understood, and carers act immediately to locate and keep children safe. The home has good links with other agencies and uses these when children are not located quickly. Carers continue to search for children until they are found. They make every effort to return children home as soon as possible.

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outstanding

Carers support children to take age-appropriate risks. The team acts like a nurturing and protective parent, creating a strong foundation from which children can test out their environment. This is reinforced with consistent and fair guidance and boundaries. Children develop confidence and self-esteem by challenging themselves with the reassurance of adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a very strong and effective management team. There is good oversight of children’s plans and risk assessments. Leaders and managers know the children well and support carers to meet children’s needs consistently.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager knows the strengths and vulnerabilities of the home well. Development plans are detailed and are used to drive continued improvements. There is an ethos of high expectations for children. Leaders and managers know when children require more specialist support and when the home is no longer able to meet their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers learn from successes and incidents of concern. This creates an open culture in the home, where improvement is constantly driven. Carers told the inspector how discussions take place and lessons are learned after incidents and events. Inspection report children's home: SC059717 5 Carers report that they feel well supported by leaders and managers. One carer told the inspector, ‘I love my job. I love working here. I feel very privileged.’ Another said, ‘We have four different managers. They all have different strengths and work well to support the team.’ However, carers have not received regular supervision since August 2021. Leaders and managers are aware of this issue and plan to ensure protected time for supervision.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers provide good-quality training that ensures that the team is skilled in meeting the changing needs of children. Despite Covid-19 restrictions, all carers have continued to have access to appropriate training.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has had a significant turnover of staff since the last inspection. This has had an adverse impact on staff morale at times. It has also meant that the children have experienced avoidable change and have had to build relationships with new adults. However, there has been a stable core team that has provided consistency and security. Leaders and managers have reflected on how better matching will be part of future recruitment. Inspection report children's home: SC059717 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)) 01/03/2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 01/03/2022

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all records of children’s care are written in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: SC059717 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3UT

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Christopher Newman

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Inspector

Penelope Kutz, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC059717 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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