Children's home run by Platform Childcare Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1263837 1 Registered provider: Platform Childcare Ltd 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 up to three children. The company’s aim is to build children’s resilience through support, nurture, structure, consistency and routine with tailored support specific to each child.

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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: 1263837 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/04/2022 Full Good 26/07/2021 Full Good 22/10/2019 Full Good 12/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1263837 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy in this home. They make significant progress from their starting points. For example, children have grown in confidence, self-esteem and resilience. They make good progress with their life skills such as personal hygiene and independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a good admission process that ensures staff are well prepared for children who are moving in and that children are warmly welcomed into the home. The registered manager ensures that she has relevant information to make an informed decision about children moving into the home. Children already living in the home are well prepared for a new child. Children settle quickly because staff are well informed and are able to form warm and nurturing relationships with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the importance of building positive relationships with children. Children respond well to staff. They seem happy and relaxed around staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Creative ways of enabling children to express themselves are established, for example children expressing themselves through art or writing a journal. A child has been encouraged to draw on a chalk board in his room, which supports communication and helps develop his social skills.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have many opportunities to have their say about the home and their care. For example, ‘Children’s Chats’ and ‘Manager’s Chats’ with individual children clearly demonstrate a therapeutic approach in which children’s views, choices and opinions are valued. Children’s choices are actioned wherever possible. For example, a child wanted to participate in football training. A football coach was sought, and goals were bought for him to practise in the garden. Another child wanted to go swimming. The child is now going swimming every week. Another child wanted a superhero bedroom. Staff have redecorated his room and bought a new superhero duvet cover for him. The child was very excited to show off his new room.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children participate in a wide range of activities in the house and in the local and wider community. For example, children have many board games and toys. They also have access to outdoor play equipment. They join local clubs such as football and gymnastics and go to the park, soft play centres and many other trips out. Children have a full and active life.

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

Staff know how to keep children safe. They have a good understanding of the home’s child protection policies. High numbers of staff on duty help to keep children safe. Inspection report for children’s home: 1263837 4 Children feel safe and secure in this home. Staff closely supervise children, but also allow them time by themselves. Consequently, children do not run away from the home.

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

Staff support children well when they are feeling anxious or upset. Staff have a good understanding of what upsets children and use effective strategies to support children who are struggling to regulate their emotions. Strategies include distraction, humour and giving the child space. They also listen to the child about how they would like to be supported when they are upset. For example, a child said that he likes to wrap himself up in a blanket when he is feeling upset. This has been added to the child’s behaviour support plan. There have been very few incidents, and no further incidents of physical intervention since this addition to the plan.

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

Staff are trained in physical intervention techniques. These are rarely used and have reduced over time. There have been no incidents involving physical intervention since March this year.

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

Risk management plans help staff to reduce risks for children, while still providing children with opportunities to take well-managed risks to support their development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is experienced, but has not yet completed the appropriate qualification. She plans to complete this by the end of the summer. She provides good supportive leadership. She has made helpful improvements to the home and has plans for further developing the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is an established team of staff, of which most are qualified. Staff are highly motivated and passionate about providing children with good care and experiences. They benefit from good training opportunities, which support them with their knowledge and skills. The staff are clearly child-centred in their approach and aim for the best possible outcomes for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff routinely sleep in children’s communal areas. They have no facilities of their own. This means that children can walk into a staff sleeping area during the night. Bedroom door alarms alert staff when children leave their rooms, which prevents this. However, while the current arrangements are in place for staff sleeping accommodation, this leaves staff and children vulnerable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Locks on doors to communal areas mean that staff can routinely lock doors to prevent children accessing these rooms. Doors are usually left open and only locked to limit damage if children are upset or when staff are sleeping in a communal room. Because incidents are rare, doors are rarely locked, other than when staff are sleeping in the games room. However, the locking of doors has not been agreed with children’s placing authorities and this practice has not been risk assessed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is only one bathroom, which is upstairs. This means that staff and visitors share the children’s bathroom. This could be inconvenient for children and could be Inspection report for children’s home: 1263837 5 a safeguarding risk if visitors are unsupervised while accessing the areas where children’s bedrooms are located.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals are complimentary about the registered manager and her team. They agree that children have made significant progress. They say that there is good communication between staff and themselves. One social worker said that a new child to the home ‘has warmed to the staff’. The social worker said she was anxious about placing the child in residential care, but feels reassured by the good care and support the child is receiving. Another external professional said, ‘We are grateful for the dedication, care and guidance you offer and for making a real difference to a child’s life – allowing them to achieve positive outcomes and flourish.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 1263837 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that just as in a family home, children should be able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child’s needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home. Any decisions to limit a child’s access to any area of the home, and any modifications to the environment of the home, must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that the design of the home provides staff that sleep in the home overnight with appropriate accommodation and facilities to do so. The current situation leaves staff and children vulnerable and could lead to

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Recommendations

potential allegations. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.26)

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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: 1263837 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Platform Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 2, First Floor, Millennium Court, First Avenue, Centrum 100, Burton-Upon-Trent DE14 2WH

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Inspector

Joanne Vyas, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1263837 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 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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