Children's Home run by Plus One South West Ltd in Somerset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 1 Registered provider: Plus One South West Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private company which is based in the south-west of England. It provides care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this visit, one child was living at the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager of the home registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: 22 February 2023

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

p.1

requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/02/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 3

p.2

improvement to be good

The child currently living at the home has built important and meaningful relationships with staff. Staff know the child well, listen to them and invest time in them to promote their welfare. They provide a stable base from which the child can make progress and experience positive outcomes.

p.3

improvement to be good

Staff understand the importance of the child attending their educational provision and encourage the child to achieve this. However, the child’s attendance remains poor. The manager continues to liaise with the local authority and school to advocate for the child to ensure that they receive the right educational provision to meet their needs, giving the child the best opportunity to succeed. However, educational opportunities for the child outside of school are lacking.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child is supported by staff to have a voice. The child feels safe to share their thoughts, feelings and wishes with the adults that support them. Staff have developed an in-depth understanding of the child’s needs and interests. The child is listened to, and staff use the conversations that take place to positively influence the child’s experiences and life chances.

p.3

improvement to be good

The child is supported to maintain and improve their health. Staff ensure that the child understands the importance of having a healthy and well-balanced diet. An in- house psychotherapist supports staff to appropriately respond to new or changing behaviours. This enhances the child’s mental well-being and helps keep the child safe.

p.3

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

The child is kept safe by proactive staff who know the child well and have a thorough understanding of their needs. Staff put clear boundaries in place to promote safety and encourage acceptable behaviours. If incidents occur, staff respond promptly and effectively to protect the child and help them manage their own behaviour safely. Incident records are detailed with good managerial oversight. When required, changes are made to staff practice to minimise the risk of similar incidents occurring in the future.

p.3

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

Staff place a strong emphasis on the child learning key independent living skills that will give the child more control and autonomy in their future. The child is supported to take age-appropriate risks as part of their development. The child enjoys spending quality time with their friends in the community without any unnecessary restrictions.

p.3

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

When the child goes missing, staff urgently follow a clear plan and take well- coordinated action to reduce the risk of harm to the child. Staff promptly inform all Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 4 relevant professional bodies to proactively help protect the child. Learning takes place after each missing episode, and staff practice is revised to enable the most effective response and help keep the child safe in the future.

p.3

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

Staff know the vulnerabilities of the child and how these may impact on the child’s safety and well-being. Dynamic risk assessments are comprehensively completed and routinely reviewed to help ensure that staff reduce the child’s exposure to identified risks. Staff have received bespoke training to increase their knowledge of what the child needs, and develop an in-depth understanding of how they can support the child and further minimise the risk.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers show warmth and kindness when interacting with and talking about the child and staff. Their philosophy of understanding the impact that past trauma can have on the lives of children positively impacts on how staff care for the child. The child benefits from consistently being supported by staff who share the managers’ vision, and who work in a trauma-informed way to help ensure that the child has the best opportunity to succeed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are strong advocates for the child. They present appropriate levels of challenge with external agencies to help ensure that the child’s needs are met. Managers listen to the child and respect their wishes. They proactively liaise with professionals to ensure that the child’s voice is heard and that changes are made to reflect what is currently important for the child, to give them the best chance of engaging and improving their life chances.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is fully staffed and resourced to meet the needs of the child. The child is supported by suitably vetted and qualified staff that provide good-quality care. Recruitment arrangements are robust, supervision is purposeful, and training is focused around the child’s needs.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has not completed a review of the home as required by regulation 45. This is necessary to review and assess the effectiveness of care provided, identify shortfalls, highlight areas to improve and ensure that opportunities to improve outcomes for children are not missed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 5

p.4

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The 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.

p.5

Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

p.5

Requirement Due date

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

p.5

Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child's education and training targets, as recorded in the child's relevant plans;

p.5

Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally; Regulation 8(1)(2)(a)(i)(v))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to leaders, managers and staff engaging in suitable structured activities that promote opportunities for the child to learn informally. When this does take place, it needs to be clearly recorded to evidence what activity has been undertaken to acknowledge the child's achievements. 30 September

p.5

Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children ("a quality-of-care review") at least once every 6 months.

p.5

Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

p.5

Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(c))

p.5

Requirement Due date

This specifically relates to the manager completing the regulation 45 report within the timescales set out in regulation. 30 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 6

p.5

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: 2682298 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Plus One South West Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Mount, 21 High Street, Wellington, Somerset TA21 8QT

p.7

Inspector

Gary Turney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2682298 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8