Children's Home run by Wessex College Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 1 SC037596 Registered provider: Wessex College Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private provider and offers care and accommodation for up to four children. The provider states in the statement of purpose that care is provided for children with social and emotional needs. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The current manager has been in post since 4 March 2023 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC037596 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

27/07/2022 Full Good 19/10/2021 Full Good 04/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 15/07/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the home has been through an unsettled period. Several staff and the previous registered manager left, and two children had unplanned moves from the home. Leaders and managers carefully considered the decision to move the two children following concerns about their safety due to repeated missing-from-home incidents. Leaders and managers have undertaken a thorough review of these events and had reflective discussions with staff. However, this review does not effectively state what actions will be taken in relation to the lessons learned to develop and improve practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three other children have also moved from the home. Their moves were well planned and positive, in line with the plans for the next stage of their lives. Staff continue to provide support for these children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two new children have moved in to the home. The moving in plan for each child was well managed, with staff visiting children at their existing home as well as visits to their new home. Importantly, staff talk with the children already living at the home about the new children’s plans to move in. Despite gathering a lot of information about the new children’s needs, plans do not consistently state how staff will mitigate and reduce the level of identified risk.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Although it is early days, the two new children are making progress. Staff have built positive relationships with the children. Children said that, typically, they like the staff and like spending time with them. Both children said that they feel safe and could talk to staff if they had any worries or concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child very much enjoys doing activities, whereas this is a work in progress for the other child. However, staff are working on this, and both they and the child said that when the child does join in, they have a good time. As a matter of course, staff seek the children’s involvement in choosing what activities and trips they do.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Currently, neither child is in full-time education, which does not support them in achieving their academic potential. For one child, meetings are taking place to discuss options for increasing the education provision from September.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have access to an in-house therapist, as well as support from external professionals, such as mental health and substance misuse services. Staff work well with these professionals to enable the children to develop an understanding of their needs, enhance their self-esteem and learn strategies to help them to deal with their emotions and feelings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with a lovely, spacious, well-furnished home. Children are involved in choosing the décor and furnishings, especially in their bedroom. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 4 Feedback from social workers and the children’s families is positive. They feel that the children are safe and receive good-quality care.

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

Children feel safe at the home. Safeguarding concerns are appropriately addressed and, when necessary, referred to the required agencies. Typically, the team works effectively with other agencies in the best interests of the children. However, one safeguarding event was not reported to Ofsted as required. Despite this omission, appropriate actions were taken to keep the children safe.

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

Staff manage children’s behaviour appropriately, working with the children so that they develop an understanding of their behaviours and how to manage potential risks. This support is confirmed in the good-quality incident records, which are made by staff. Positively, there has been no use of restraint since the previous inspection. Staff use their skills to de-escalate situations and help children to feel calmer. Generally, behaviour support plans are of a good quality and provide guidance for staff on how to support children’s behaviour. However, additional clarity and further information are needed in the next steps that staff will be taking in relation to concerns about mobile phone use.

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

There have been a significant number of missing-from-home incidents, mostly for the two children who have left. These incidents were managed well, with staff taking effective action to locate children, including searching for them and working with external agencies. Leaders and the manager have raised complaints with external agencies when there are worries about their lack of response regarding children going missing from the home.

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

Staff recruitment follows safer recruitment practices. However, the quality of interview notes is not consistently good as they do not reflect the discussion held and are not consistently signed by the author.

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good

The manager is experienced in residential childcare and appropriately qualified for their role. They were previously the deputy manager of the home and have applied to register with Ofsted. The manager has some understanding of the strengths and areas for development in the home, but not all.

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good

Staff are very positive about the support that they receive from leaders and managers. They find them approachable and easy to contact. They receive regular supervision, which they value. The quality of supervision records require improvement as they do not consistently reflect the discussions held or the support provided. These omissions do not support the development of staff.

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good

Staffing levels are appropriate to meet the needs of the children who are currently living at the home. There have been several changes in the staff team and new staff Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 5 have been recruited. Leaders and managers ensure that staff receive the training they need to support the children and enable staff to develop their practice. Staff receive good-quality training, enabling them to support the children and develop as professionals.

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good

Overall, children’s plans require improvement as they do not consistently provide clear, consistent guidance for staff on how they will meet children’s identified needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 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, 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

The leadership and management standard requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1) (2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, leaders and the manager should provide clear information about how the outcomes of reviews into placement breakdowns will be used to develop practice. 11 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must maintain records ("case records") for each child which—

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Requirement Due date

include the information and documents listed in Schedule 3 in relation to each child. (Regulation 36 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that all children’s plans provide clear and consistence guidance to staff, which supports them to meet the children’s needs. 11 September

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must notify HMCI and each other relevant person without delay if—

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Requirement Due date

a child is involved in or subject to, or is suspected of being involved in or subject to, sexual exploitation;

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Requirement Due date

an incident requiring police involvement occurs in relation to a child which the registered person considers to be serious;

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Requirement Due date

there is an allegation of abuse against the home or a person working there;

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Requirement Due date

a child protection enquiry involving a child—

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Requirement Due date

is instigated; or 11 September Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 7 concludes (in which case, the notification must include the outcome of the child protection enquiry); or

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Requirement Due date

there is any other incident relating to a child which the registered person considers to be serious. (Regulation 40 (4)(a)(b)(c)(d)(i)(ii)(e))

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children are in full-time education while they are of compulsory school age. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 28, paragraph 5.14)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that all interview records are signed by the interviewer. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that records of staff supervision sessions are of a consistently good quality, and include details of the discussion held to aid the development of the member of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.3)

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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: SC037596 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Wessex College Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Atria, Spa Road, Bolton, Greater Manchester BL1 4AG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Choules

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC037596 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 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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