Children's Home run by Calcot Services for Children Limited in Oxfordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 1 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

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to seven children with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, complex needs and behavioural difficulties, and who are unable to live with their families.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in November 2019.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 31 January 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2022 Full Outstanding 10/12/2019 Full Good 27/02/2019 Full Good 13/02/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, five children were living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff genuinely care about children and take pride in children’s achievements. As a result, all children are making good progress in all areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff want children to have positive experiences to enable them to reach their full potential. All children can share their wishes and feelings through a variety of communication tools, speech and gestures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making good progress at school. Staff are proud of the children’s achievements and support their educational progress, including working closely with teachers and social workers to ensure that children’s educational needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have ample opportunities to engage in purposeful and enjoyable activities, both within the home and in the local community. For example, children have access to a trampoline and a swing, and they enjoy using the home’s sensory room. Children are supported to visit local shops and to use their communication books to make decisions on items they want to purchase. A child’s birthday party was excitedly planned by staff, who had bought a range of games and accessories that they knew the child would love to have to celebrate their special day.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend health appointments, and they encourage children to maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Staff are knowledgeable about children’s health needs and have received specific training to support children’s medical conditions. Links with the school nurse are strong and this enables staff to receive ongoing support in managing conditions such as epilepsy.

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

Staff are aware of each child’s vulnerabilities and recognise when children need additional support and reassurance. Staff are clear on when to report any concerns about a child’s welfare, including how to escalate concerns in the organisation and to external agencies. There has been one allegation made against a staff member since the last inspection. This has been managed well and reported appropriately.

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

Staff are attuned to children’s presentation and recognise changes in their behaviour as a means of communication. Staff are trained in the organisation’s prescribed behaviour management approach, although the use of physical intervention is low. Staff rely on their positive relationships with children to help them through any periods of anxiety.

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

In the main, risk assessments are detailed, clear and effective. Nevertheless, a child was able to ingest a prescribed cream. Although the child’s risk assessment was Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 4 updated, the child ingested other items, including paper. Despite the significance of this being able to happen for a second time, there was no further review of the risk assessment. This means that staff do not have a comprehensive insight into the risks that can impact on this child’s health.

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

A practice of carrying out routine body maps takes place when children receive personal care, and they are aimed at helping staff to identify any bruises or marks. However, once the form is completed, it is stored in a folder, with little evidence of any follow up. Managers have not reviewed this practice to ensure that it is achieving the right balance between safeguarding children and ensuring children’s dignity.

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good

The manager and staff are passionate about the care and experiences children receive. Staff receive training to support them to care for children. Staff benefit from regular supervision that enables them to reflect on their practice and to review children’s progress.

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good

Support for individual children mainly aligns with their required one-to-one staffing. However, there are occasions when the rota indicates that staffing has not been sustained at this level due to absence or sickness. The manager has put in place a process to manage shifts when staff shortages occur. These measures help to ensure that children’s care is not compromised.

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good

The responsible individual visits the home at least monthly and staff are also forming professional relationships with the recently appointed operations manager, who is regularly in the home.

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good

There are areas of practice that require improvement. There are some inconsistencies across children’s plans. For instance, new or agency members of staff must initially rely on grab sheets to familiarise themselves with children’s needs. Although the sheets contain some informative information, these are not kept up to date with other records. For example, in one child’s risk assessment, it indicates that staff should be shoulder to shoulder with the child due to high risk of the child wondering off. However, in the grab sheet, this risk is considered low. Consequently, Children’s individual needs and risks are not accurately reflected across all records.

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good

When agency staff are used to cover staff shortages, there is no assessment of qualifications in residential childcare and no structured induction. As a result, there is a risk of having staff working in the home without the skills of residential childcare and being unfamiliar with the home’s procedures and how to care for children.

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good

Support and advice have not been quickly secured from an occupational therapist for the change in use of a child’s walking harness and for use of a bed side. This means that there is no professional oversight to determine the suitability of these measures for the individual children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 5 Managers and staff do not always check that children are safe from avoidable hazards. For example, no one had picked up that the fixed electrical wiring check was overdue. Although this was remedied once identified, this demonstrates a shortfall in health and safety monitoring.

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good

Although most staff have attained the Level 3 diploma for residential childcare or have an equivalent qualification, one part-time member of staff has not completed the required qualification. This failure to meet regulation has the potential to leave children being cared for by staff who do not have the required qualifications relevant to residential childcare. Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 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.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this specifically relates to ensuring that relevant professionals are consulted with regards to any devices used to support children’s physical welfare. 12 August 2022

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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—

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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;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 12 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person; and

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(vii)

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that risk assessments provide up-to-date assessments on risks to children, including updates when children ingest items.

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that there is consistent information in all children’s plans and records. 12 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, 12 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 8 if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2.

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) ("the Level 3 Diploma"); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may defer the relevant date if the individual—

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Requirement Due date

works, or has worked, in a care role in a home on a part- time basis.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d) (4)(a)(b) (6)(b))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, staff who are employed part-time may have the date deferred by when they need to have complete a suitable qualification, but must still undertake the qualification.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that the employment of any person on a temporary basis at the children’s home does not prevent children from receiving such continuity of care as is reasonable to meet their needs.

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that any temporary member of staff from within the organisation 12 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 9 and/or an agency is provided with comprehensive information about each child’s needs, receives an induction into the home and has the required skills and qualifications for working in residential childcare.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that children’s homes comply with relevant health and safety legislations, including checking electrical wiring within required time frames. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, and paragraph 3.9)  The registered person must ensure that the homes policies and procedures around the protection of children should reflect any requirements of other relevant legislation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 44, and paragraph 9.22) This specifically relates to the use of body maps.

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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: 1236532 10

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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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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Emeline Evans, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1236532 11 regulates and inspects 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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