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

Inspection report children's home: SC417250 1 SC417250 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 children’s home provides care and accommodation for up to five children who have complex difficulties. It is owned by a private organisation.

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Information about this children’s home

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

We last visited this setting on 10 February 2021 to carry out a monitoring 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 good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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good

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

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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: SC417250 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/05/2019 Full Good 22/08/2018 Full Good 29/11/2017 Full Good 08/02/2017 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report children's home: SC417250 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience good and individualised care. The children’s starting points are well understood, and their placement plans demonstrate clear aims for the children to work towards. Quarterly review reports clearly state the progress that has been made, and these are shared with children to enable them to celebrate their achievements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make significant progress, specifically in relation to educational progress and reducing the frequency of occasions that they go missing from the home. Children who have previously not engaged with education speak with pride about being accepted into college. They acknowledged that this would not have happened without support from their key workers.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel valued and listened to. There are regular one-to-one sessions that enable children to explore issues that are personal to them. Through these sessions, children are offered support, guidance and education to ensure that they understand the impact of their life choices. Children also have access to less formal ways of raising concerns, such as letter boxes and ‘grumble’ emails. This has led to significant improvements in the home environment and facilities for children. This has also had a positive impact on their own individual care arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities on a day-to-day basis to learn, meet friends and have fun. Staff demonstrate a very good understanding of each of the children’s likes and dislikes. Detailed daily handovers ensure that time is well planned with a range of beneficial activities for children to enjoy.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have created a safe and welcoming home that provides children with space to grow and develop. Staff have paid careful attention to furnishings and design, and they have consulted with the children to create spaces for group and individual activities. Each child’s room is a personalised space that reflects their individuality. Children take great pride in their rooms. However, there are electronic door monitoring sounds in the middle of the home, alerting staff and children to all movements. This is not in place due to risk. Therefore, it is an institutional feature of the home that does not need to be active during the day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to develop age-appropriate independence skills. All the children in the home have begun to cook meals. For children who are approaching adulthood, there is a plan in place to support them to experience what it will be like to live on a fixed weekly budget.

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

Staff demonstrate a genuine concern when children are missing from home. Clear protocols are in place that are understood and followed by staff. When children have Inspection report children's home: SC417250 4 put themselves at significant risk, appropriate action has been taken to keep them safe. As a result of this, children have reduced the number of times that they go missing.

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

There is a good working relationship with the local police. This allows good information-sharing about both the children in the home and the risks that they may present. This also ensures that staff stay up to date with risks in the local area and where the nearby ‘hot spots’ may be. Children have been able to build positive relationships with the local police, which further enhances the safety of children.

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

Staff provide the children with a safe place to live. Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and follow well-written and clear risk assessments that support children’s safety inside and outside of the home.

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

Staff manage incidents well. Reports describe skilled responses by staff to de- escalate situations in line with the home’s model of care. Incidents of physical intervention are rare. When incidents of physical intervention do occur, reports are consistently reviewed by managers to ensure that safe and effective care has been delivered. However, the reports do not make clear the methods used and refer simply to the name of the restraint. This lack of clarity means that there is potential for inaccurate reporting and insufficient scrutiny of incidents.

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

All staff are safely recruited, and there are always sufficient staff on duty to provide good levels of supervision and support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers have ensured that the impact on children of COVID-19 has been minimal. Managers were creative in setting activities that the children could engage in, and staff were supported to get to work by avoiding public transport. This ensured that there was continuity of care throughout.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers show an ambitious vision and have high expectations for what all children can achieve. The registered manager works diligently to ensure that children are not disadvantaged because of being in care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is thorough monitoring and auditing of the majority of records and care plans, which ensures that they are updated and remain relevant. Managers ensure that any change in behaviour is recorded effectively, and this has contributed to the reduction of both incidents and missing-from-home episodes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff, including the registered manager, receive frequent and effective supervision and appraisals. Supervision is supplemented with monthly meetings, at which the registered manager recognises individual good practice. Staff feel supported, valued and appropriately challenged.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Succession planning is a clear strength. Potential changes are planned for in advance, and identified staff are given upskilling training to ensure that when the Inspection report children's home: SC417250 5 time is right, they are ready to move into the next role. This has had a positive impact for team leaders and deputy managers. ‘By promoting staff from within the team, staff that are known to the children are able to provide consistency. This means that changes in staff roles do not have a negative effect on the children.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Admissions to the home are carefully planned. Managers are clear about expectations from professionals in terms of information that is needed before decisions are made. Staff skills are analysed to ensure that they can meet children’s needs, and any gaps in training are addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

A social worker spoke highly of the registered manager’s communication. The manager ensures that professionals are well informed about children’s needs and progress. The manager has developed effective working relationships with the other professionals who are involved with each child. One social worker commented that she ‘could not ask for any more’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Complaints are responded to quickly and immediate action taken. A recent complaint from a neighbour prompted swift action, but there was no follow-up with the neighbour to discuss this. This is a missed opportunity for staff to be able to build effective relationships with the local community. Inspection report children's home: SC417250 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

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(iv)) 28 February 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they, and the staff team, develop effective working relationships with all relevant persons. Specifically, ensure that good relationships are built and maintained with the local community. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.3)  The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is a homely and domestic environment. 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. In particular, leaders need to review the use of door monitors to ensure that they are only used when necessary and have regard to the child’s need for privacy. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC417250 7

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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: Advantage, 87 Castle Street, Reading, Berkshire RG1 7SN

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Aleksandra Komorowska

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Inspector

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: SC417250 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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