Children's home run by South West Childcare Services

Inspection report for children’s home: 2567039 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

This home is owned by a private provider and offers care for up to three children. Care is provided for children who may experience social, emotional or behavioural difficulties. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a suitably qualified manager who registered with Ofsted on 10 January 2020.

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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: 28 September 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: 2567039 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2567039 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children have made good progress from their starting points in all areas of their lives. Staff have a strong desire for children to achieve their full potential. Staff liaise with educational providers and the local authority effectively to ensure that children have the best opportunity to do well and experience positive outcomes. A child’s placing social worker commented that their child has made fantastic progress since arriving at the home, and it is lovely to see them so happy and settled.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are proactively supported to have a voice, participate and share their feelings. All staff have undertaken specialised training in Makaton to support children with communication difficulties. This enables all children to express themselves and make important decisions about their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are being supported to improve their health and well-being. One child wished to stop taking their prescribed medicine. Staff helped the child to liaise with medical professionals and reduce their dosage over a set period of time until they were safely able to cease taking it. The child’s health and well-being have significantly improved following this decision. A nurse who visits the home commented that they feel that staff are excellent at meeting the healthcare needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff place children at the centre of everything they do. They support children to gain confidence and learn new skills. Children enjoy a varied range of recreational and social activities in the community to help them build their self-esteem. Activities include attending a basketball club, a football club and a trampoline park.

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

Staff set clear boundaries to keep children safe. Staff understand the different support that each child needs. When incidents occur in the home, staff respond promptly and effectively to help children manage their behaviour safely. Staff use incident records to develop a better understanding of the children. For example, staff identified that one child, who was involved in a high number of incidents, did not understand why other children in the home behaved in the manner they did. Staff had important conversations with the child to help them understand. As a result, the number of incidents the child was involved in significantly reduced.

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

Staff know the individual vulnerabilities of each child and understand the risks associated with them. Risk assessments are regularly reviewed and contain up-to- date information that clearly sets out what staff need to do to address the risks and keep children safe.

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

Restraint has been used once since the last inspection. This was used to protect the child and those around them. The incident was well recorded by staff, and the Inspection report for children’s home: 2567039 4 children involved were spoken with to ensure that they were safe, and their views were heard and understood.

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

Child protection concerns are immediately responded to by staff, and the safety of children is of paramount importance. Staff liaise effectively with all professionals involved and take appropriate action following the outcome of the concern raised. This helps to protect children from any further harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced, caring and compassionate manager. The home is fully staffed by a permanent, consistent staff team that knows the children well and meets their needs effectively.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works proactively with professionals to help ensure that children are cared for and experience positive outcomes. One child’s placing social worker commented that c ommunication from the home is fantastic, that staff send them reports reliably each week and that management will always call or email if there are any concerns.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with training in line with children’s individual needs. They receive regular, formal supervision and good support from leaders and managers. Staff also have access to an in-house team of mental health practitioners to aid their development and enhance their own mental well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children contribute to the care they receive and how they are supported. Each child’s voice is well documented throughout their records. Records detail the progress children have made, highlight their achievements and evidence the positive impact that living at the home has had on the children. However, management oversight and evaluation of records need to be more robust and contain information that ensures lessons are learned to inform and improve future practice. Inspection report for children’s home: 2567039 5

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children’s records are clearly recorded and effectively evaluated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2567039 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

Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2567039 7 regulates and inspects 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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