Children's home run by South West Childcare Services

Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 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

The home is owned and managed by a private provider and registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties and/or a learning disability.

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Information about this children’s home

A qualified registered manager has been in post since February 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 outstanding

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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: 1248071 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/07/2022 Full Good 29/11/2021 Full Good 03/03/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to ensure both children who live in the home continue to make impressive progress in many areas of their lives from their starting points. Strong and trusted relationships are quickly formed between children and staff. Staff invest time in the children to make sure they quickly feel a sense of permanence at the home, recognising this gives children a stable and safe base from which to flourish. One child said that they had a great relationship with staff and loved living in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child will soon reach adulthood. Motivated staff have supported the child to fulfil their wishes and move back to live with their family. Dedicated staff continue to support the child and their family until the child’s 18th birthday. This gives the transition every chance to succeed and promotes a positive ending for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child who was previously not attending any educational provision is now attending school. Committed staff are ambitious in their approach for the child to succeed. Staff liaise effectively with the school to ensure the child has the best opportunity to succeed. The child is doing well in their education and about to sit their GCSEs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Caring staff fully understand the importance each child places on spending meaningful time with their relatives. Experienced staff know the negative impact not having this contact can have on each child’s emotional well-being. Staff work proactively with family members to help ensure children enjoy valuable time with their loved ones. One family member commented that the manager and their team always go above and beyond to help their family.

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

Children are kept safe by competent staff who understand the support each individual child needs. Staff know the importance of putting clear boundaries in place to promote safety and encourage acceptable behaviours. If incidents happen in the home, staff respond promptly and effectively to protect children and help them manage their own behaviour safely. Incident records are detailed and provide key information that enables staff to understand the children better and minimise the risk of a similar incident occurring in the future. Due to the highly trained staff team, restrictive practice to manage children’s behaviour has not been used.

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

Diligent staff are aware of the importance of taking a positive risk approach and enabling children to take age-appropriate risks so they can develop. Experienced staff teach children to learn important skills needed to be able to live independently and keep themselves safe. Children enjoy spending quality time with their family and friends in the community without any unnecessary restrictions. Children have been encouraged to develop their self-identity and form good relationships with peers. Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 4 One child’s placing social worker said that staff are solution-focused and very mindful of risks but enable their child to experience things that are valuable and meaningful for them.

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

Children have formed strong bonds with affectionate staff whom they trust. Children are able to have open conversations with staff about their concerns. Staff conscientiously listen to children to gain an understanding of their worries. Staff respond appropriately and take prompt action to allay these fears and ensure the child is protected and kept safe.

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

Staff know the vulnerabilities of each child and the risks posed to their safety and well-being. Staff have received bespoke training to increase their knowledge and develop an in-depth understanding of how they can minimise these risks. Dynamic risk assessments are comprehensively completed to help ensure staff protect children in the best possible way and reduce the child’s exposure to such risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The deeply passionate and ambitious manager has developed a culture that has been influential in positively changing the lives of the children they support. All staff share the same vision and work tirelessly to ensure children experience highly positive outcomes and make excellent progress in many aspects of their lives. One family member remarked that the manager and staff have been amazing, and they owe them gratitude for the work they have done for their loved one.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The registered manager has built impressive working relationships with schools and partner agencies. The manager successfully advocated on one child’s behalf with their school to make changes to their timetable. This ensured the child had the best possible chance to succeed in their upcoming exams. The manager understood the important impact this could have on the child’s future and apprenticeship opportunities.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Motivated and dynamic staff love working at the home. They spoke with passion and devotion about caring for children and ensuring each child is kept safe and experiences positive outcomes. Staff receive purposeful supervision from their influential manager, who listens to them and is flexible to meet their needs. Well- trained staff also benefit from having access to therapeutic specialists to support their development and enhance their well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Leaders and managers use learning from significant events to inform staff practice and improve children’s experiences. The child’s voice is always heard, and professionals’ advice is sought to ensure children benefit from meaningful high- quality care. The in-house therapeutic team is proactively used to help address all areas for improvement. They supply bespoke training and encourage reflective practice to help ensure staff continually improve and children are constantly supported to make remarkable progress. Inspection report for children's home: 1248071 5

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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: 1248071 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: 1248071 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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