Children's Home run by Oakfields Children’s Care Limited in Tameside

Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 1 SC069176 Registered provider: Oakfields Children’s Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private company. The provider states in their statement of purpose that they provide care for up to five children who may have EBD (social and emotional difficulties).

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Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home was registered with Ofsted in November 2008.

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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: 23 February 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

23/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 21/08/2019 Full Good 20/06/2018 Full Good 05/10/2017 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. This child has settled in well and has been made to feel welcome by staff. Another child has recently left the home and successfully moved on to independent living.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

An assessment was completed by the registered manager to ensure that a child placed at the home was suitably matched with the other children. The child’s social worker said that the child was ‘welcomed so warmly and settled in very quickly’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from well-planned, highly personalised care that promotes their needs effectively and supports change and improvement in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are engaged in education. School leavers are encouraged to further their learning to achieve their career aspirations and educational goals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Some children require updated care plans, and an eligible care leaver requires a pathway plan to promote their readiness for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are positive role models for children. They provide children with continuity of care, consistency and stability in their lives. Children enjoy strong relationships with staff and sustain their positive attachments. A child said, ‘Staff look after you well. Staff are really caring and supportive.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are registered with the health services they need to be healthy. Staff support children to attend their routine health and medical appointments. Medical consents are in place for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to be healthy. They recently involved a dietitian when a child needed additional support. Staff worked with health professionals and the child’s school to support a healthy eating programme for the child. The nurse for children looked after said: ‘It’s one of the homes that really know the children well. From a health perspective, I have no concerns.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy positive activities with staff. Children are encouraged to pursue their interests and hobbies, such as horse riding, dance and drama. Children are supported to spend time with their families and friends. Staff are supportive of the children’s family relationships and work well with their families to establish positive partnerships with them.

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

Children know how to make a complaint. However, no complaints have been made since the last inspection. Additionally, children did not raise any complaints with the inspector during this visit. One child said, ‘I really do enjoy living here.’ Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 4 The use of relevant plans and safe working practices promote the safety of the children. Children become increasingly safer because of the actions that staff take to protect them.

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

The frequency of missing-from-home episodes in relation to children’s starting points is reducing. When children are missing from the home, there is an effective and well-coordinated response to promote their safe return. Episodes of children going missing from home are evaluated by the registered manager. A police officer said: ‘I can’t talk about the home highly enough. It’s fantastic. I can’t fault the home’s practice.’

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

Children’s behaviours are managed safely by staff. Sanctions used by staff are fair and effective. The need to physically hold children is rare, and this is only ever used to protect children from actual harm. No holds have occurred since the last inspection.

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

Plans to manage children’s behaviours are reviewed following incidents. This ensures that they reflect the children’s emerging behaviours. Room searches are only ever undertaken to promote the safety of the children and records of room searches are maintained. However, these do not provide sufficient detail in terms of who was present, what was found and how items were disposed of.

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

Welfare concerns are reported to the appropriate authorities to promote the safety and well-being of the children. This ensures that children are protected from harm. A social worker reported, ‘This is the best placement I have worked with. They are good at managing risk.’

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

The home provides children with a homely living environment. Health and safety matters are addressed effectively to ensure a safe environment for children. However, doors to communal living areas have locks on, although these are not used. Their use would, however, restrict children’s freedom of movement unnecessarily.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This home is run and managed by an experienced and qualified registered manager. The manager leads staff by example and channels their efforts effectively. The registered manager is an inspirational leader and staff confirm that the manager is supportive of their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have undertaken a wide variety of training, including self-harm, safeguarding, autism and ligature training. This ensures that staff are knowledgeable and skilled to meet the specific needs of the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular practice-related supervision to help them reflect on their practice and review the experiences and progress of the children. Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 5 The manager and staff aspire to make a positive difference to children’s lives. They maintain effective partnerships with all professionals to ensure that children’s needs are met consistently and they benefit from the best possible help and all-round support. A social worker reported, ‘The relationships they have with the young people are wonderful.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home meets the aims and objectives as set out in its statement of purpose. The home delivers a good-quality service for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been some improvements. A new staff member has been recruited and staff have achieved appropriate qualifications. These are not yet reflected or included in the statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager demonstrates strong and effective leadership of the day-to- day operations of the home. The manager completes a quality of care review every six months. The next review is due at the end of July 2022. Once completed, the report should be submitted to Ofsted. The registered manager makes good use of the home’s monitoring activities to secure the home’s improvement. Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 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 privacy of children is appropriately protected;

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is intended to safeguard each child accommodated in the home;

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised; and

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Requirement Due date

allows children as much freedom as is possible when balanced against the need to protect them and keep them safe. (Regulation 21 (a)(b)(c)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the removal of locks to communal living areas and the kitchen. 26 July 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person much compile in relation to the children’s home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1.

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 26 July 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 7 This relates specifically to the statement of purpose being updated to include staff’s existing qualifications and the details of new staff.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that up-to-date care plans and pathway plans are in place for children who require them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.1, page 14)  The registered person should ensure that records of room searches include who was present, what was found and how items were disposed of. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, paragraph 3.20, page 16)

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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: SC069176 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oakfields Children’s Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Library Chambers, 48 Union Street, Hyde, Cheshire SK14 1ND

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Inspector

Anthony Kyem, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC069176 9 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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