Wood View

Inspection report for children’s home: SC008274 1 SC008274 Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for one child who has lived through adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

There is an interim manager in post at the home, who took up position in October 2022. She is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted.

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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: SC008274 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/06/2021 Full Good 02/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 08/10/2019 Full Good 20/03/2019 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC008274 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of this inspection, one child was living at the home. Two children who previously lived at the home have moved out. One child has moved back to the care of their parents, and the other child has moved to a different placement because the home was unable to meet their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are registered with primary healthcare services. They have attended all their routine health appointments with encouragement from staff. Consequently, children have access to the services that they need to promote their emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s engagement in education is good. They attend school regularly. When issues arise in school, the staff are proactive in helping children to address these. This swift intervention by staff means that children’s education is not compromised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend time with their families, and they maintain their close relationships with the people who are most important to them. Staff provide children with positive activities to promote their interests and hobbies.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s bedroom door does not open and close properly and there are holes in the shower panel in the bathroom. This shortfall detracts from children having a homely environment to live in and enjoy.

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

Children benefit from effective support, help and protection. Staff have a good understanding of children’s specific needs and vulnerabilities and take appropriate action to address them.

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

Physical intervention techniques are used rarely, and only as a last resort, to safeguard children. Incidents are appropriately recorded, and the manager ensures that children are consulted afterwards. This provides opportunities for children to communicate any concerns that they may have to a senior member of staff.

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

When children go missing, staff follow clear procedures to ensure that children are kept safe. Strategy meetings take place when necessary to consider how children can be best protected. The local police missing-from-care coordinator visits the home to explore the reasons why a child has gone missing.

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

The home provides a safe environment for children to live in. Environmental safety checks are routinely carried out to promote the safety of children in the home. Children and staff take part in regular fire drills to ensure that they know how to safely evacuate the home in case of an emergency. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008274 4 When appointing new members of staff, managers follow safe recruitment practice guidelines to ensure that only staff who are deemed suitable are appointed to work with children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A newly established staff team and an interim manager are in post. The interim manager is providing cover for the regular manager, who is on maternity leave. The interim manager is establishing an effective oversight of the day-to-day operations of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive good support and guidance from the interim manager. They receive regular supervision and confirm that their supervision supports and challenges their performance to improve. Regular staff team meetings and daily handovers help to keep staff informed about children’s daily activities and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training records show that staff benefit from a diverse range of appropriate training to develop their knowledge, skills and professional practice. New members of staff receive an induction and are then supported to attain their level 3 diploma for residential childcare. This means that staff are well trained and suitably qualified to meet the needs of the children in their care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the staff have built good working relationships with other professionals. As a result, children make good developmental progress because they can quickly access all the services and agencies that they require to meet their needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC008274 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 quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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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

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(c)(i)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to ensuring that repairs are carried out to the bathroom. 7 May 2023

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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: SC008274 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Searchlight Care Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Marcus House, Parkhall Road, Longton, Stoke on Trent ST3 5XA

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Inspector

Dave Carrigan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC008274 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 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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