Children's home run by Island Choices Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1241939 1 Registered provider: Island Choices Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is one of two homes operated by a private company, commissioned by the local authority for the home’s location. It is registered to provide care for up to three children.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2021.

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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: 1241939 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

24/03/2022 Full Good 11/12/2019 Full Good 22/01/2019 Full Good 08/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1241939 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress through living in a warm and stable home. The children have all lived in the home for over a year and there have been no new staff since the last inspection. This means that the home is settled and children know the people who are caring for them well. Children said that they ‘love’ living in the home with ‘nice people’. A parent said that staff care about children ‘like their own’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are listened to and staff advocate for them, making sure that their voices are heard. Children are supported sensitively to understand why some things cannot happen. Children choose their meals and activities. Clear records show when children have requested something specific and whether this has happened.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

In the main, children are engaged in education. Staff champion children’s needs and help them to express their challenges in engaging in education with staff from the virtual school. Those who cannot attend education at this time benefit from suitable activities. There are plans for children out of education to restart their post-16 education in September.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health and well-being needs are well supported through excellent links with specialist nurses. Children who have struggled to attend some appointments have been helped to overcome their fears, with careful encouragement from staff to explain the need for the appointment. Children are helped to understand how to lead healthier lifestyles through exercise and food choices. Staff are vigilant to the needs of children who have issues around food, recognising the impact that children’s emotions have on eating patterns. There are close links with emotional well-being services, including child and adolescent mental health teams.

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

Children said that they feel safe in the home. They know that the staff understand their vulnerabilities and that they are trying to keep them safe. Children have developed better coping strategies. Staff know the processes to follow if they think that children are at risk, and there is strong joint-working with partner agencies.

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

Instances of children going missing from home have significantly reduced. Particularly positive relationships between specialist police officers and children and staff mean that children feel safe talking to them. One police officer said that the staff often locate the children safely before they can, and praised their approach to finding children who are missing. Children are helped to understand the risks of being missing and when others may be grooming them. Having learned that staff genuinely care, children now feel confident to tell staff if they feel their friends may be at risk, knowing that staff will use the links with the police to help them too. This demonstrates that children have genuine trust in staff and understand the signs of grooming and exploitation, as well as realising the risk they were at. Inspection report for children’s home: 1241939 4 Staff work well with placing authorities when children would like to attend events,

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

such as music festivals. They show children that they are seeking a suitable way for them to attend events safely, both advocating for the child and agreeing suitable safety plans. Records are clear and show a genuine desire for children to have experiences similar to their peers.

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

Staff know that children are communicating how they feel through their actions. They help children to consider how to manage their emotions in a positive manner through using incentives, rather than a punitive approach. Children feel listened to and able to share what is upsetting or frustrating them, knowing that the staff will do what they can to help.

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

Children are clearly comfortable in the home and genuinely see it as ‘theirs’. The home has been redecorated throughout to suit the needs and choices of the children. Children said that the fact that their rooms have what they need helps them to feel safe. However, the kitchen is in a poor state, despite staff attempts to revamp it through redecoration and painting the tiles. In addition, the dining chairs have lost their cushioning and are uncomfortable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is well managed by a committed and caring registered manager. Staff have respect for her and the approach and ethos she promotes in the home. Staff feel well supported and that they have the skills and training they need to meet the children’s needs. They find reflective supervision useful, in addition to the open and collaborative approach to running the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have an excellent understanding of children’s progress. Plans are updated monthly and highlight the progress that children have made towards their targets and goals. This approach means that children’s plans are live documents. Children have input into their plans and agree the wording and approaches.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Joint-working with partner agencies is a particular strength. The manager forges relationships with key professionals to ensure that children have the best opportunities and support from the wider network. The manager is confident in challenging poor services and has children’s best interests central to all that she does. However, the manager is concerned that current agreements with one child’s placing authority are not suitable in relation to the timing for staff reporting the child missing. Although there has been little impact on the child, due to the actions taken, the manager is yet to escalate this concern to the placing authority.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff are constantly seeking to improve their approaches to care so that children have the best possible chances and positive outcomes. For example, the manager has recognised gaps in the quality of some of the development plans and is improving them. In addition, the manager recognised that the independent visitor was not providing the critical challenge that they were seeking in order to continue to improve the service. The home now has a new independent visitor, who has greater oversight. Inspection report for children’s home: 1241939 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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to involve each child’s placing authority effectively in the child’s care, in accordance with the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

seek to secure the input and services required to meet each child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

if the registered person considers, or staff consider, a placing authority’s or a relevant person’s performance or response to be inadequate in relation to their role, challenge the placing authority or the relevant person to seek to ensure that each child’s needs are met in accordance with the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 5 (a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the managers and social workers agree on the protocols when children are missing from home. 31 May 2023

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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

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, this relates to modernising the kitchen and ensuring that other furnishings, such as the dining chairs, are in good condition. 31 May 2023 Inspection report for children’s home: 1241939 6

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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: 1241939 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 67 Argyll Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight PO33 3BY

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Stanbridge

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Inspector

Jennie Christopher, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1241939 8 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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