Children's Home, Residential special school run by MacIntyre Academies in Oxfordshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 1 SC489212 Registered provider: MacIntyre Academies Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This children’s home is run by a private organisation in partnership with the local authority. The home provides placements for children with disabilities and with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. The home provides residential care and short breaks arrangements.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 4 August 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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Enforcement action since last inspection:

A variation was imposed to reduce the number of short breaks placements following the last inspection to three. This has now been lifted. Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/05/2022 Full Inadequate 21/09/2021 Full Good 05/11/2019 Full Good 13/09/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good-quality individualised care from a skilled and caring staff team. Children make recognisable progress from their individual starting points and staff capture all the milestones using photos and producing written reports.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of individual and complex health needs and are clear about the impacts of changes in medication and what to observe. Since the last inspection, there have been new procedures introduced to ensure that the safe administration of medication is effective.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support from an occupational therapist. As well as carrying out specific work with children around sensory perception, the occupational therapist also provides staff with direction on how to ensure that children’s physical development is supported as much as possible.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Information-sharing with professionals and stakeholders has improved. As a result, any concerns or questions regarding the children are documented and shared effectively.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views about their care are well sought. There has been an introduction of new children’s surveys that are designed based on the specific communication needs of the child to ensure that everyone has a say. The introduction of a new ‘our lives, our choices’ photo board further demonstrates this and helps children to see the impact of their choices.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to an advocate who visits the home monthly. The advocate ensures that they get to speak to the children so that their views are captured and shared.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a variety of leisure opportunities that are based on their individual choices. There are clear plans for the summer holiday so that all children have a different activity each day. This ranges from trips to the park, beach and theme parks.

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

Staff are skilled in understanding risks to children. They have access to clear guidance on recognising risks and how to manage children’s behaviour. These records are kept up to date to ensure that staff work with the most current information.

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

Children do not go missing from the home. Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 4 Temporary staff are now subject to robust recruitment and induction. There are now good handovers and shift plans to help all staff to work seamlessly together.

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

Improvements have been made to increase the staff’s understanding of the role of the local authority designated officer. The designated officer allocated to the home reports a good working relationship with both the manager and the team, and they have been able to come to the home to offer training. This has provided an extra layer of safeguarding to the children and increased staff knowledge.

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good

The manager has a clear vision for the home and what she is hoping to achieve. Since the last inspection, there has been an increased presence of senior leaders. This has resulted in good action planning and swift decision-making to overcome some of the previously identified deficiencies.

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good

While there has been significant progress in relation to previous requirements, there are some aspects of practice that are not yet fully embedded. For example, staff supervision is not taking place regularly. This means staff are not provided with sufficient guidance, direction and support regarding their work. For staff who have just passed their probation, the lack of supervision means that they are not receiving adequate support at one of the most crucial times in their career. This lack of supervision also extends to the manager.

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good

The system in place to record restraints is not consistently followed. There is a lack of detail in some reports and, on occasions when children have voiced being unhappy, there is no evidence of follow up. Management oversight is made more difficult by the current recording system, as the manager must check several folders before being able to assure herself that appropriate action has been taken.

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good

A new monitoring system is in place for both the manager and senior leaders. This is well structured and ensures that the manager is reporting on concerning issues and that, where appropriate, they are being effectively challenged by senior leaders. This process is a significant improvement on what was in place previously. This, combined with a new, more rigorous independent visitor, provides the home with a much-needed critical friend. Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 5

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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 (2)(h)) 10 October 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)) 10 October 2022

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so ("the authorised person")—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (b)(i)(ii)(c)) 10 October 2022 Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 6

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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: SC489212 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: MacIntyre Academies

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: MacIntyre Care, 602 South Seventh Street, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire MK9 2JA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Michaela Soporova

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Inspectors

Mark Newington, Social Care Inspector Jill Sephton-Wright, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC489212 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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