Children's home run by Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited in West Suffolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 1 SC443009 Registered provider: Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is part of a small organisation. The home is registered to care for up to six children with moderate to severe learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since 1 May 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: SC443009 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/06/2021 Full Good 12/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 05/02/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are settled and make good progress across all areas of their development. Staff have a good understanding of children’s abilities and the individual goals children are working toward. All children attend education full time. Staff read with children daily and provide additional learning opportunities at the home. Staff are proud of children’s achievements and celebrate these with praise and rewards.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to be as independent as they can be. They find creative ways of helping children learn new skills. These include role modelling social skills or designing board games for children to learn about money. One child has built up their physical strength with the support of staff. This means they are now able to move from one space to another more independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s plans are clear and accessible. They equip staff with the information they need to respond to children effectively. This includes how to recognise non-verbal cues and communication. As a result, children enjoy predictable daily routines and a sense of stability.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff meet children’s cultural and religious needs and are sensitive to the lack of diversity in the local area. However, these needs are not fully detailed in children’s plans and do not consider how staff can best meet them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and children have fun together. Staff make sure that children take part in a range of activities at home and in the community. Activities are based on the children’s preferences and include swimming, trampolining and soft play. One child plays for a local football team. Staff organise group activities, such as the recent Halloween party and pumpkin picking. These memories are captured and presented in scrap books for children to keep.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is spacious and comfortable with access to a large garden for children to play and relax in. Adaptations have been made to the home to enable the use of a wheelchair. However, further adaptations are needed to ensure children with physical limitations have access to all the kitchen and laundry utilities they need to build their independence skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff lock the kitchen at night times. The need for this restriction has not been assessed to ensure it is necessary and proportionate.

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

Staff keep children safe. There have been no safeguarding incidents at the home. All staff have attended training in the safeguarding of children. Staff are familiar with the whistle-blowing policy and who to alert if they have concerns. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 4 Children have up-to-date risk assessments that identify presenting risks and clear actions for staff to follow to reduce risks.

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

Behaviour management plans for children are individual and clear. All staff have attended training in behaviour management. When restraint is used, it is proportionate and used as a last resort to keep children safe. Most interventions are used to stop children from hurting themselves.

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

Staff support children to understand their emotions. As a result, children can name their feelings and ask staff for help. Staff provide children with the resources they need as alternatives to self-harming behaviours and to better manage their feelings.

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

Staff help children learn about road safety and personal space. These sessions are carefully planned and designed for each child’s ability. Staff support children to protect their privacy and dignity and to understand their sexual feelings.

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

Staff respond to accidents and injuries appropriately. They seek advice from health professionals when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a qualified and well-experienced manager who is dedicated to her role. The manager has a detailed understanding of the children’s needs and plans and maintains effective oversight of all incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of staff is the main challenge for the home. Senior managers have responded proactively by increasing pay and other incentives to attract more candidates and to improve retention. Agency staff have been used more recently to alleviate staff shortages. The manager ensures that agency staff are deployed to work alongside permanent staff members who know the children well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children are cared for by staff who are committed and dedicated to their roles. Staff feel well supported by the manager, who works on shift and covers sleep-in shifts if needed. This offers children consistency of care from adults who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff undertake training that is relevant to the children they care for. The organisation is training its own assessor to deliver the required level 3 qualification to minimise delay in staff achieving the diploma.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager regularly gathers feedback from children, professionals and parents. However, this feedback is not used to inform the review of the service or to help prioritise actions to improve the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has formed positive working relationships with parents and professionals. One child’s social worker said the manager ‘goes above and beyond’ and is a ‘good advocate’ for the child. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 5

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Recommendations

 The registered provider should ensure that the care provided meets each child’s needs taking into account the child’s religion and cultural. In particular, children’s plans should provide information about children’s identity and guidance for staff in meeting children’s cultural and religious needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)  The registered person should ensure that, just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. This

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Recommendations

specifically relates to locking the kitchen door at night. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered provider should ensure that the design of the home includes any necessary adaptations to meet the needs of children with disabilities or specific health issues. This specifically relates to ensuring that each child has access to the kitchen and laundry utilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.24)  The registered provider should carry out a review of the service every six months. The review should identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery in the home and how those actions will be addressed. The whole review process and the resulting

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Recommendations

report should be used as a tool for continuous improvement in the home. This specifically relates to ensuring that the review is informed by feedback from children and is used to establish a clear and achievable action plan. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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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: SC443009 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Greenwood House, Greenwood Court, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP32 7GY

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Inspector

Paula Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 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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