Children's home run by West Berkshire Council - Social Care in West Berkshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 1 SC030677 Registered provider: West Berkshire Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and run by the local authority. It provides short breaks for children who have physical or learning disabilities. The home is registered to provide care for up to six children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was registered with Ofsted in August 2020. At the time of inspection, the manager was away from the home for an extended period.

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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: SC030677 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2021 Full Good 24/02/2020 Interim Not judged 19/06/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/12/2018 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have enjoyable short breaks, supported by an enthusiastic and committed staff team. They are helped to have new experiences as well as spend time with others their own age in a social setting. Staff support children to try new activities and, as a social worker said, ‘The staff see the children before they see their disability.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress through staying at the service. Staff have excellent links with the children’s schools, sharing plans to ensure consistency in approach to meeting children’s goals and targets. Plans are clear on what children are working towards, with records showing their progress towards these each stay. Children learn new skills such as gaining greater independence in eating, or learning to share space and be with other people. Close links with parents mean that there is consistency across the settings and children’s new skills are not lost. Parents are highly complimentary of the staff and service for children. They say that their children enjoy their stays and are upset when it is not their turn to stay!

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff use questionnaires to gain children’s wishes, to see if they have enjoyed their stay, what activities they have enjoyed and if they feel safe. This information is collated and acted on when needed. Children’s feedback forms are completed individually with children with staff help where needed. Children make choices throughout their stay as staff are skilled in each child’s communication tools and style.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of activities in the community. There are regular trips to the local shops or parks after school, but also time for relaxing after a long day at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have individualised, child-centred health plans which are updated when there is a change. Close links with the specialist nurse mean that the staff understand every aspect of each child’s heath needs. Medication is administered and stored correctly, and all staff have completed medication training. Staff have a good understanding of children’s current medical needs and protocols.

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

Children’s actions and demeanour show that they feel relaxed and comfortable during their stays. Staff know each child’s risks and vulnerabilities and work well to keep children safe. Staff know the procedure to follow should they be concerned for a child’s safety or welfare. Should concerns arise, staff work effectively with partner agencies, exploring all aspects of the issue, developing practice as required.

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

Staff know that children are communicating how they are feeling through their behaviour. They rarely use physical interventions and never use consequences. Staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 4 support children to develop their resilience and tolerance through making the environment predictable and safe for children. They make meticulous plans to take children on new activities to ensure that they are as safe as possible.

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

Staff monitor children’s actions and presentation on arrival at the service. They complete body maps if children arrive with any marks or bruises. While staff report these injuries to parents and/or school, children’s social workers have not been informed. Although no children have been put at risk, this practice means that there is less oversight of the patterns, if any, of children’s injuries.

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

The home is well maintained and fully equipped to meet the physical needs of all children. There are many areas for play, including two soft areas and an adventure playground. Children’s rooms are individualised with themes for differing interests. Children choose their bedding for their stay, and their photo on the bedroom door makes it truly their ‘space’.

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

There are some gaps in the written records of recruitment and pre-employment information. These include not having full employment histories, including months and years of employment. In addition, a disclosure and barring service certificate number was not available for one member of staff. In the absence of the registered manager, this information was hard to locate.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home’s registered manager and deputy were both unavailable during the inspection. The responsible individual has a basic working knowledge of the home and supported the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff say that they feel supported by the management team, and particularly found the new team leaders to be really helpful and supportive. Staff feel that they can approach the team leader and deputy at any time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have regular, effective supervision, which they said supports them in working with the children and develops their skills and understanding. They have access to all the training that they need to support children and keep them safe, in addition to specific training in health needs from the community nurse.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Joint working with partner agencies is a strength. The social work team manager was complimentary about staff for attending statutory meetings. Staff are seen by other professionals as really good advocates for children, capturing aspects of the children’s life that other professionals have not.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have strong oversight of the service provided. The development plan is aspirational. Progress towards meeting the areas identified has been good. However, there are gaps in oversight which have led to plans not being explicitly clear. For example, some plans are colour coded. However, there is no key to explain these. Additionally, some language is not appropriate or does not provide enough clarity. Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 5 Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 6

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

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that bruising and marks recorded on body maps are reported to the child’s social worker. 31 May 2023

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s plans are clear and easy to understand; for example, where colour coding is used, provide a key to the meaning. 31 May 2023

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only— 31 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 7 employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home, if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

the individual is of integrity and good character;

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform;

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Requirement Due date

the individual is mentally and physically fit for the purposes of the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, evidence that all suitable pre-employment checks have taken place.

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Recommendation

 The responsible person should ensure that records are objective and non- stigmatising. (‘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: SC030677 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: West Berkshire Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Victoria Park Children’s Centre, Newbury RG14 1EH

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Inspectors

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Trish Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC030677 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 looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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