Children's home run by South West Childcare Services

Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 1 Registered provider: South West Childcare Services 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 provider and registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

A qualified registered manager has been in post since February 2021.

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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: 29 November 2021

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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: 1248071 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/11/2021 Full Good 03/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/07/2019 Full Good 28/01/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The quality of the care and support provided to the children enables them to trust those caring for them and build meaningful relationships. Children make progress in many aspects of their lives and are continually being prepared for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Work in partnership with other agencies ensures that children get the help and specialist support they need. Challenge to other professional agencies whose response has not been as expected, and the persistent approach to securing resources have been effective in children attending and achieving in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Activities are provided to support the children’s needs and interests. When a child’s interests have narrowed through long-term use of games consoles, the home has successfully addressed this issue. One child has particularly enjoyed trips to London to attend concerts.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Attention to children’s health and well-being is a priority and a focus for the help, support and guidance provided by specialist professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences of moving into and on from the home are exceptional. A Child who has just moved on considers the staff here to be his family. He was well equipped with the things he needed to make a success of being more independent. A warm welcome awaits when he visits the home. He told the inspector that the staff have a genuine interest in his welfare and achievements and if he needed support this is where he would come.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children feel listened to and they are encouraged to make choices and be involved in decisions that affect their lives. Children trust the staff to act in their best interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with those important to them, encouraged and supported by the home’s staff. Parents and siblings visit the home. Achievements and milestones are celebrated and children have memorabilia and photos as a record of their time in the home.

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

Children feel safe in this home. Risk-taking is understood by the staff, recorded accurately and responded to effectively. Children’s safety has improved, and some risk-taking behaviour has reduced as a result.

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

The organisation’s clinical psychologist and other professionals support the safety of children. In response to presenting risk, the home has successfully involved a wealth of specialist workers, including drug workers, the youth offending prevention team, Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 4 sexual health experts and the police. The staff are dedicated to improving children’s understanding of appropriate behaviour.

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

Behaviour management plans detail appropriate responses to children dealing with trauma or anxiety. Clear boundaries and expectations are upheld, helped by the quality of relationships between the children and their adult carers. Incidents of children going missing from this home or needing any form of restraint or physical intervention are rare.

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

Arrangements for the safe storage, recording and administration of medication are in place. Additional weekly audits and daily checks add to the safety of this system.

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

The recruitment of staff follows good practice guidelines to avoid those who seek to harm children from working in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home provides services and support as described in the statement of purpose. A suitably qualified manager, who has the trust of staff and children, is in charge. The home is supported by being part of a large organisation which provides specialist professionals and a wealth of resources to benefit children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The strengths and weaknesses of the home are known to managers and staff. A development plan is in place to promote improvements. Independent monitoring of the home, audits in the wider organisation and the manager’s regular checks promote additional safeguards for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is stable and providing consistency to children. Staff enjoy working in the home. The team includes a good range of people who bring additional skills to supporting children; several have experience of working with children in other disciplines such as education and youth work. A varied range of both mandatory and specialist training supports the staff to do their job effectively and develop in their roles. Supervision is provided on a regular basis, however, this is not always reflective to provide for further understanding and learning opportunities for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records are clear and reviewed frequently to support understanding of children’s changing needs. They are also used to demonstrate progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The environment is homely, well maintained and personalised by the children who live there. Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the staff receive comprehensive supervision that supports their training needs and development, and that sessions include reflective supervision. (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)

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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: 1248071 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Second Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Janice Hawtin, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 7 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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