Children's home run by Island Choices Ltd

Inspection report for children's home: 1241939 1 Registered provider: Island Choices Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of two homes operated by a private company, commissioned by the local authority for where the home is based. It is registered to provide care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2021.

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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 23 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 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: 11 December 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: 1241939 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2019 Full Good 22/01/2019 Full Good 08/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 25/04/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1241939 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress while living in the home. The children bond with staff due to their warm and nurturing parenting style. Children are recognised as individuals sharing a home and the home is run as such. Children’s views are essential to the running of the home and children say that they feel listened to. Social workers are positive about the progress made, in particular with regards to children’s increased self-esteem and education attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children attend education as planned. This is a real achievement, as many have been out of education for a significant period of time before coming to the home. Close working with social workers and the virtual school has led to significant support for children to overcome their barriers to learning. High levels of planning, and emotional and physical support have meant that children have gone from being too scared to enter the school gates to now sitting in a few lessons a week.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s daily planners reflect their planned education activity and additional life skills. This learning counts towards recognised qualifications. Children do not always engage in these opportunities or the other social activities on offer. However, children are fully supported to spend time with independent visitors, which helps to increase their confidence and access to the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are sensitively supported to explore who they are through a consistent approach from staff. The atmosphere in the home is open, with children not being afraid to talk about what could be deemed as embarrassing or challenging subjects. The varied backgrounds and life experiences of staff help children to reflect on their views of culture, identity and difference. Children spoke openly about upcoming LGBTQ+ groups and events and supporting their friends at these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children learn healthy lifestyles and what this means for them. Children are encouraged to adopt healthy eating, to exercise and to attain positive emotional well-being. Children’s emotional resilience and confidence improves as a result, for example, engaging in activities away from their rooms. Access to child and adolescent mental health services means that children have the help and treatment they require. Staff advocacy helps children to share how they are feeling with health professionals. The nurse for children who are looked after is a regular presence in the home. Children are comfortable with her, which further supports their access to physical and emotional well-being help.

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

Children show they feel safe in their home as they are relaxed and confident in their surroundings, including when approaching staff with their worries or concerns. Staff are attuned to children’s needs, understanding their vulnerabilities, such as the impact of their low self-esteem. Staff respond swiftly to concerning events and child Inspection report for children's home: 1241939 4 protection and safeguarding concerns are shared effectively with relevant partner agencies.

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

Staff are vigilant to who children are socialising with and the friends who come to the home with them. Staff engage well with children’s friends, greeting them at the door and getting to know their names and where they live. In response to a safeguarding concern of a child encouraging an unauthorised peer to enter the home, a video doorbell has been installed to improve security.

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

Staff responses to children going missing are well managed. Regularly updated plans and protocols ensure that staff know where they are likely to find the children. Joint working with police and social workers helps to identify where children have been and the suitability of the people they are with. Staff liaise well with social workers to devise agreements for who children can stay with. Positive relationships with staff mean that children are honest about where they have been and who with. Plans and agreements around free time are clear, but do not demonstrate effectively the level of thought and joint working that has led to these decisions, especially when children may be traveling to meet friends.

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

Proactive responses to children who have committed potential offences, such as theft of money from the home, ensure that they learn from their mistakes rather than face criminalisation. Local police community support officers meet with children to explain the risks of continued criminal activity and highlight safety in the community. This has led to children having a greater understanding of the impact of their actions.

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

Children are protected from harm through regular safety checks of the home and fire safety equipment. The building is well maintained and decorated. Recruitment and vetting before staff starting work at the home are thorough. This ensures that only staff who are of suitable character are permitted to work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is highly aspirational for the children in her care. She is constantly seeking to improve practice and children’s outcomes. Staff are highly complimentary of her management style, enthusiasm and care for children and staff. This leads to a positive atmosphere where children flourish. There is a clear focus on promoting children’s emotional well-being and enabling them to be active members of the community. Staff are confident in their skills and understand the children’s needs well. This means that children enjoy being part of a stable and well-matched group.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff work well as a team and complement each other’s skills. They find regular supervisions useful in honing their skills, alongside regular training from a variety of sources. The registered manager makes good use of her supervision with an external person to reflect on the service provided and consult about developing her skills and practice. Inspection report for children's home: 1241939 5 The management team in the home has an excellent understanding of children’s progress, through their oversight of children’s plans. Staff produce detailed monthly updates that highlight children’s progress towards their goals. Successes are celebrated and children increase in confidence as a result of the acknowledgement of what may be a small step.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager actively seeks feedback from children, staff and other stakeholders to constantly improve the service provided. She welcomes any ideas and is thoughtful in her responses should ideas not be suitable. The management team reflects on the monthly feedback from the independent visitor, using this towards improving and evaluating the quality of the home. The continued review of the home’s development and staff training plan ensures that it is a genuine tool for improvement. Inspection report for children's home: 1241939 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 that staff—

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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. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, record the process of how risk management decisions have been made. 28 April 2022

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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: 1241939 7

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Stanbridge

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Bernadette Stanbridge

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1241939 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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