Children's Home run by Potensial Limited in Dorset

Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 1 SC489820 Registered provider: Potensial Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by an independent national company. The home provides care for up to four children who may have learning disabilities. There are currently two children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/08/2021 Full Good 15/01/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 25/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 09/01/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from living in a home with staff who know them well. Children are comfortable living here and are settled. Staff use children’s interests to personalise their bedrooms, and children choose the colour of paint on the walls. Staff speak positively and enthusiastically about the children. Staff enjoy spending time with children. They play hide and seek, have water games and play board games. Away from the home, staff take children to the beach, fruit-picking and to the park. Photo albums and photo books capture memories of days out and in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support helps children to make progress. Staff encourage children to undertake age-appropriate tasks to help in the home. This helps children to develop the skills they will need for the future. Staff support children to attend education that meets their needs. Leaders and managers have worked closely with professionals to facilitate a return to education for one child. Creativity and tenacity have resulted in the child being able to return to a school setting. Staff understand children’s health needs. Positive working relationships with health professionals help to ensure that children’s needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support to understand changes in the home, such as when other children leave or move in. Staff help to prepare children for change, recognising the potential impact of the new circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Where possible, staff integrate children’s families with life at the home. Staff welcome families for visits to spend time with their children, or support children to visit those who are important to them. The manager works closely with parents, recognising the importance of continued relationships. Families value the support their children receive in the home.

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

Staff understand and manage risks to children. Children’s needs inform relevant risk assessments. One child is encouraged to develop their own understanding and awareness of risk in the community. This helps staff to understand the child’s experiences of the world and to identify areas for further support.

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

Staff know children well. They provide children with the support and reassurance they need to be safe. Behaviour is well managed. Staff support children effectively to help them to stay calm when they feel anxious. Incidents of physical restraint are minimal. Debriefs undertaken with children ensure that staff ask children how they felt about the intervention. The manager tracks all incidents to identify potential patterns. This informs discussions with the organisation’s behaviour lead and ensures that children’s plans are up to date and helpful for staff. Records of incidents capture what has happened but the point at which a decision is made to physically intervene is not always clear. This impacts on the manager’s review of the incident. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 4 A detailed investigation was undertaken following an allegation made against a member of staff. Appropriate action was taken, including consultation with

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

safeguarding authorities. The incident illustrated staff’s awareness of whistle-blowing policies.

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

Recruitment of permanent staff follows safer recruitment guidance. However, the records do not always show the manager which checks have been undertaken. The manager ensures that full checks of temporary staff are undertaken before they work in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by an enthusiastic and committed manager. Staff feel supported by the manager, and enjoy the relationships they build with the children. The manager maintains good oversight of the home through effective tracking and monitoring processes. These are then evaluated through the review of the quality of care. Leaders and managers have taken action to ensure that reports by an independent person provide sufficient scrutiny to support development in the home. These improvements are in the early stages.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings ensure that staff have the opportunity to talk about the care of children. The manager encourages staff to share ideas they might have for the improvement of the home. Safeguarding is a standing agenda item, helping staff to maintain awareness.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive the training they need to do their job. Supervision is reflective, supporting and developing staff in their role. Practice observations supplement supervision. This provides direct oversight of the quality of care. However, not all staff have received supervision regularly. Tracking of supervision of casual workers is underdeveloped. As such, there are gaps in the support and guidance these workers receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that clear records and plans for children are maintained. Staff use language that is clear and jargon-free, which means there is a shared understanding of children’s care and support needs. However, monthly key-worker reviews are not up to date. Consequently, learning from these documents is not incorporated into care planning in a timely or structured way.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals spoke positively about the care and support provided by the home. They identified that staff know the children well, which helps children remain settled. Professionals identified that the manager maintains frequent communication, and is responsive to any issues that arise. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 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 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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive supervision regularly in line with the organisation’s policies. Also ensure that systems are in place to monitor and deliver supervision to temporary and casual staff according to need. 7 October 2022

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of restraint contain clear information about the decision to use a restraint, which will in turn support the manager’s evaluation of proportionality. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that employment records are maintained in such a way that they can satisfy themselves of the employment checks carried out in line with the regulations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that reports by the independent person provide sufficient challenge and scrutiny of the home to support development. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)  The registered person should ensure that there is timely review of information

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Recommendations

that contributes to children’s plans and targets. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.5)

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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) Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 6 Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Potens, 68 Grange Road West, Birkenhead CH41 4DB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Bettina Jeppesen

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC489820 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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