Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in New Forest

Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 1 SC035593 Registered provider: New Forest Care Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private organisation and can care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 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: 9 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: SC035593 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/10/2018 Full Good 24/10/2017 Full Good 02/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff show a high level of respect and affection towards the children. As a result, children develop positive relationships with staff and make good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s emotional well-being is held central to all practice. Integrated working with therapists and school staff provides children with a consistent approach to their care. Children learn through staff’s role modelling of positive communication, interactions and understanding emotions. This provides a safe space for children to emotionally develop and grow, while recognising the impact they have on each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have high aspirations for the children and sensitively support each child to thrive physically, emotionally, educationally and socially.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend the in-house school. They benefit from integrated planning by the home and school staff to support a positive experience of learning. Partnership working with school staff and parents provides a consistent approach to children’s learning, as well as emotional and social development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The progress children make is measured in a range of ways. Staff make sure they notice achievements which may seem small, but which show real progress for children. As a result, children experience nurturing care. This gives them the confidence to work hard to achieve goals which are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are actively encouraged to pursue their interests. One child is supported to attend his football club. On one occasion, staff attended a match that took place in the school holidays. Children are supported to engage in a range of activities within the local community. Staff promote and celebrate significant events and share these with families. These experiences provide opportunities for children to develop and broaden their social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from a well presented and spacious home that is warm, welcoming and provides space for them to live comfortably. Children can personalise their bedrooms.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to enable children to stay in touch with people who are important to them. This positive support is instrumental in enabling children to maintain significant relationships. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 4

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

Children’s risks and vulnerabilities are well understood and clearly communicated within the staff team.

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

Managers ensure that any allegations against staff are communicated to the relevant external safeguarding agencies. However, on one occasion, staff did not follow the organisation’s reporting process, because the child had retracted the allegation. This omission means that there was a potential for children to be at risk of harm.

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

Staff help children to become increasingly safe. For example, one child has engaged in an online programme of E-Safety. Staff work with local police, who have visited the home to support children to understand the risks of online and social media activity.

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

Physical intervention is seldom used in this home. This is because the staff are well informed on each child’s needs and use their skills and experience to provide a calming atmosphere and approach.

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good

Leaders and managers have addressed many of the shortfalls from the last inspection. However, the responsible individual has not provided the regular supervision and support for the registered manager that was identified through a personal improvement plan. This has resulted in the manager not completing tasks within set timescales.

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good

The registered manager has not developed an effective monitoring and review system. This was identified at the last inspection. This has led to poor oversight of children’s records. As a result, the registered manager did not identify that staff had not followed the reporting of a potential safeguarding concern. This led to a delay in seeking professional advice. Furthermore, the registered manager does not have sufficient oversight of the care of medicines, including incidents when medication keys have not been safely stored and picking up on out-of-date medication.

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good

Staff feel supported by the registered manager. They describe supervision as regular, reflective and inclusive of learning opportunities. This is supported by regular team meetings and support from the therapy team. This gives staff continuing opportunities to grow and develop their practice.

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good

Staff receive a range of training. This includes specific training to meet the individual needs of children. Staff comment that the training is supportive of their work and is always encouraged by the registered manager. Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 5 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 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 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

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. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 31 August 2022

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them. (Regulation 23 (1) (2)(a))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that keys are kept securely and out-of-date medication is disposed of safely. 31 August 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)) 31 August 2022 Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 7 This specifically relates to the responsible individual ensuring that the registered manager receives regular supervision and support.

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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: SC035593 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: New Forest Care Ltd, West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton, Hampshire SO45 6AA

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Inspector

Rebecca Fisher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC035593 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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