Children's Home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited in Cheshire East

Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 1 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is registered to provide care for up to six children who may experience social and emotional difficulties. The home is privately owned.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since June 2022.

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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: 2648868 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/07/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are enabled to build trusting and secure relationships with staff. Staff speak warmly and positively about the children and invest time in getting to know them. These positive relationships are helping the children learn what a respectful relationship looks like, and how to create one.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to maintain good physical health. Children are encouraged to eat healthily and attend all their health appointments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are attending school regularly and making progress. Staff work closely with the children’s schools and there are open lines of communication. This is supporting the children’s educational outcomes. One child is sitting their national qualifications this year and has been offered a college place for September.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to see their family and friends. The staff maintain regular communication with family members and facilitate overnight stays for the children with their families. One social worker said that the staff have worked hard to build positive relationships with family members. This helps the children to maintain their identity and continue to see the people who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Individual work is completed with children on important issues, such as peer relationships, vaping and regulating emotions. The children’s views are recorded. However, the records do not always evidence how the individual work is helping children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children know how to make a complaint. Their complaints are treated seriously and dealt with swiftly. The children are kept fully informed throughout the process and understand the actions that are taken because of their complaint.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff advocate for what is in the children’s best interests and enable children to express their wishes and feelings. This helped one child move to a school nearer to the home. The children have access to an independent advocate who visits the home each month.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the children to carry out daily tasks independently, in line with their individual needs, such as budgeting, laundry and shopping. This is helping the children prepare for adult life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children enjoy a range of activities, such as going to the cinema, cycling and days out. The children recently went to the beach together as a group. Children are supported to develop their own interests; one child goes to Cadets each week and another child attends Explorers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 4 The children do not have life-story books of their time in the home. This limits the children’s opportunity to reflect on their experiences and progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a welcoming and comfortable home. There are photos of the children displayed on the walls and one child has a small pet. However, there are information posters on the kitchen and dining room walls, and there is a gate to deter children from entering the main office area. This detracts from the otherwise homely environment.

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

Children currently living in the home say that they feel safe. They can talk to staff about any worries they have.

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

Assessments of risk and behaviour management plans are detailed and understood by staff. This ensures that staff take the right action when children go missing from the home. For example, staff make every effort to contact and locate the child, working closely with the police and the placing authority. However, an independent return home interview does not always take place in a timely way when a child returns after being missing.

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

Children receive help and support to manage their behaviour and feelings safely. The staff are supported by a clinical child psychologist and an occupational therapist. This is helping to ensure that children are cared for by resilient and well-informed staff who can meet their individual needs and keep them safe.

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

Effective monitoring and review systems are in place. The managers have a good understanding of what is working well for the children. Individual sessions with children are planned and targeted, there are monthly progress reports and managerial audits ensure that progress is monitored.

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

The managers and staff know what to do in response to any allegations made. Referrals made are timely, and suitable action is taken to minimise the risk to the children to allow the necessary enquiries to be made.

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

Searches of bedrooms are carried out sensitively by staff. All searches are recorded appropriately. The reasons for the searches are clear, and there is management oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a suitably qualified and experienced manager who is supported by a competent deputy manager. The managers are child-centred and keen to achieve positive outcomes for the children. The managers know the children well and are good role models for both staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable core staff team in place, which helps to ensure consistency for the children. However, the rosters do not record the actual hours worked by all staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 5 members. This does not provide an accurate picture of when staff are working at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Safer recruitment processes are followed and new staff coming into the home receive a thorough induction.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers and staff receive training to develop the necessary skills and knowledge to understand and meet the children’s individual needs. All staff are trained in the PACE (Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy) approach, and staff have completed training in self-harm, child sexual exploitation and autism spectrum disorder. As a result, staff have a good knowledge and skills base to safeguard children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Effective monitoring and review systems are in place. The managers complete monthly audits to ensure that they have regular oversight of all records. They understand what is working well and the areas for improvement. This means that the managers and staff can identify and act on shortfalls to improve the quality of care that the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

For the most part, the incident records are detailed, with good management oversight. However, it was difficult to ascertain the decision-making process for one incident, as information was missing from the record. Some records contain language that is not child-friendly. This is not helpful in telling the story of the child’s time in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff describe the managers as being supportive and say that they enjoy working in the home. Staff meetings take place monthly. Staff have regular supervision, where they reflect individually on their practice and the needs of the children in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 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, 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.

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Requirement Due date

Schedule 4 sets out the other information that the registered person must keep in relation to a children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

maintain in the home the records in Schedule 4; and ensure that the records are kept up to date. (Regulation 37 (1) (2)(a)(b))

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Requirement Due date

This relates specifically to the registered provider ensuring that the rota shows the actual hours that all staff have worked, including managers. 31 July 2023

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that an independent return home interview takes place within 72 hours of a child returning home when they have been missing. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 45, paragraph 9.30)  The registered person should ensure that there is clear evidence in the records of the impact of individual work sessions completed with children by staff. This can then be used to further inform the children’s assessments and plans. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.14)  The registered person should ensure that the staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. An incident record should always detail any decisions made, the actions taken and the outcome. Information about the child must always be

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Recommendations

recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that staff encourage children to keep appropriate memorabilia of their time living at the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5) Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 7  The registered person should ensure that the children live in a home that is homely and child-friendly throughout. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: 2648868 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Cowley, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Inspector

Dawn Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2648868 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 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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