Children's home run by Sportfit Support Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 1 Registered provider: Sportfit Support Services Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home provides care for children who present with social and emotional difficulties and are aged between 11 and 18 years.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home is registered for up to four children.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in July 2022

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: not previously inspected

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 2

p.1

Recent inspection history

Not previously inspected Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 3

p.2

improvement to be good

Children generally have positive experiences at the home. Staff help children to make choices and decisions. Staff explain the impact of choices and give considered advice to help children make informed decisions. The staff help children to express their individuality, for example through clothing and hair styling. The staff celebrate festivals, for example by decorating the home for Halloween. Children have opportunities to go out socially, to youth club events, clothes shopping and arcades.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff encourage and support children to have family time. Staff have good relationships with parents. Staff transport children to enable them to spend time with their family if they cannot get there by themselves.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff have good relationships with the children. The staff know the children well, and high staffing levels enable staff to spend quality time with children. Key-working sessions and reflective discussions are positive and provide the opportunity to address issues. The staff are child-focused and sensitive to the children, as well as being clear about boundaries. As a result, children are developing appropriate independence skills.

p.3

improvement to be good

Care plans are not always updated to reflect children’s needs. For example, a child’s ‘free time’ was reduced, and this has not been updated in their plans of care. The care plan regarding the management of asthma symptoms for one child has not been updated as required for staff to follow.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff help children to understand the risks associated with the internet and social media. They also help the children to understand safe relationships. Staff use Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre courses and key-work sessions effectively in their work with children. There are internet safety measures in place and internet agreements that require the children to give their phones in and allow for checks to take place.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff follow missing-from-home procedures well. They make attempts to keep children safe when they go missing from the home by calling, searching for and following them. The manager regularly notifies Ofsted and other agencies when there are concerns about children.

p.3

improvement to be good

Risk assessments are not always individualised and updated. For example, all children’s risk assessments include references to ligatures, even if this is not a risk. Despite using resources well to work with children about keeping safe online, staff have not reported incidents to the police when children have been sent indecent Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 4 images on social media. Additionally, the risk assessment was not updated. As a result, one staff member was not aware that this had occurred.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff do not know how to raise concerns about the manager. The management structure is not well defined for staff. The safeguarding procedure is not specific to the home.

p.4

improvement to be good

Agency staff are not inducted well. On one occasion, an agency member of staff was not inducted to the home. The agency staff member worked alone at night when a child was missing from home. The agency staff member had not checked on a child during the night, and the child let another child into the home unnoticed. The manager does not know if the agency staff member has had safeguarding training. This incident was not reported to the local authority designated officer. This was a missed opportunity to share safeguarding information with other agencies.

p.4

improvement to be good

The training provided to staff is not specific to children’s needs regarding self-harm. The manager has identified this as an issue and has requested the requisite training.

p.4

good

The manager and deputy manager are visible in the home and work well as a team. The staff team is new, and some members of staff are inexperienced. The manager has added more experienced staff to the team to help develop the team’s skills and experience. Supervision takes place and staff say that they find this helpful. Managers use supervision to address poor practice and outline improvements.

p.4

good

The manager has a clear development plan for the home. The plan includes views from the children about the changes they would like to make to the home. However, one child said that receiving a response or outcome to their requests is slow.

p.4

good

Leaders and managers oversight of incidents and events is lacking. There is a lack of evidence for the auditing and quality-assurance processes, particularly regarding the scrutiny of incidents. The manager has not reviewed staff practice or identified when this has been poor. For example, a child had taken substances, but no medical attention was sought by staff as per the child’s plan. These are missed opportunities for the manager to use these examples to promote learning and improve practice.

p.4

good

The manager did not assess whether the staff could meet a new child’s needs. This resulted in high-risk situations arising that were beyond the skill and experience of the staff team. The staff could not keep the child safe. The manager has learned from this and ensured that staff can meet the needs of new children moving into the home. New children who have subsequently moved into the home live together successfully.

p.4

good

The garden environment is overlooked and does not offer privacy to the children. This has not been considered as part of the review of premises and environmental risk assessment. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 5

p.4

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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.5

Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

p.5

Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that all agency staff are trained in safeguarding children and are familiar with the local policy for the home.

p.5

Requirement Due date

All staff should be trained in meeting the specific needs of children, particularly around ligature risks.

p.5

Requirement Due date

All children should have individualised risk assessments, specific to their own needs, to ensure that staff are able to identify those at risk of harm. 13 December

p.5

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—

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.5

Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each 13 December Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 6 child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(b) (2)(f))

p.5

Requirement Due date

In particular, there should be quality assurance processes in place to identify when staff practice has not promoted the welfare of children and to identify learning to improve practice.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

p.6

Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

p.6

Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(b)(ii))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, review care plans for children to ensure that they are up to date and provide staff with information to provide effective care. This includes the plans of care around responding to children’s health needs and for time away from the home. 13 December

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the review of premises identifies any risks related to privacy in the garden area. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1)  The registered person should ensure that children are able to see the results of their views being listened to and acted on. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)  The registered person should ensure there is a clear procedure for who a staff member should contact if they have a concern about the registered manager. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.15)  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’,

p.6

Recommendations

page 56, paragraph 11.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 7

p.6

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: 2682524 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Sportfit Support Services Ltd

p.8

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Portman House, 53 Millbrook Road East, Southampton, Hampshire SO15 1HN

p.8

Inspectors

Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Suzy Lemmy, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2682524 9 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.

p.8

Inspectors

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspectors

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9