Children's home run by New Haven (Waterlooville) Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 1 Registered provider: New Haven (Waterlooville) Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to four children who may have learning disabilities. At the time of the inspection, there were four children living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

This was the first inspection of the home, which has been registered with Ofsted since 4 November 2022. The registered manager has been in post since the home opened.

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: Not previously inspected

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 2

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inadequate

The overall experiences and progress of children are judged inadequate. This is because inspectors found significant shortfalls in safeguarding practice and a lack of effective oversight by the responsible individual and manager.

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inadequate

Since the home was registered in November 2022, four children have moved in. However, the manager has not fully assessed the needs of each child prior to them moving in. As a result, the staff have not been able to meet the complex needs of individual children. Nor have they been able to meet the diverse and competing needs of the children as a group. Consequently, the children do not always have a positive experience of living at the home.

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inadequate

For one child, the original plan for moving in was rushed. This limited the opportunity for the child to get to know the staff and the other children. Crucially, it undermined the manager's ability to get to know the child’s individual needs and ensure that the staff could meet these effectively.

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inadequate

The children sometimes feel unsafe. There are ongoing concerns about bullying and a lack of swift staff and manager action to respond to these concerns.

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inadequate

The staff encourage the children to share their thoughts, wishes and feelings in the regular children’s meetings. Children know how to make a complaint and feel able to speak to the staff team about their concerns. However, the concerns they raise are not always acted on.

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inadequate

The manager does not consistently ensure that the children’s health and well-being needs are met. A child suffered a head injury on two occasions. Staff did not seek immediate medical attention on the first occasion, and on the second occasion, face to face medical attention was delayed. Staff do not track and monitor one child’s known health needs. This has the potential to negatively affect the child’s well- being. Children are at risk of harm if they do not have access to appropriate medical monitoring or support.

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inadequate

The manager has not ensured that there is consistently good communication with parents. Consequently, parents do not have a full picture of their child’s experience of living in the home.

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inadequate

The staff are well intentioned, and despite the concerns identified in this inspection, the children are making good individual progress in particular aspects of their lives. All of the children are consistently doing well in school.

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inadequate

Children enjoy spending time with the staff and seek them out to join in their activities. Inspectors observed warm and nurturing interactions between the staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 3 and the children. The staff speak fondly about the children and are proud of their achievements.

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

Risks have not been safely assessed, monitored or mitigated. As a result, some children have experienced harm.

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

It was known before moving in that some children were at risk of self-harm and being violent towards others. Yet, these risks were not assessed, nor was a management plan developed to reduce them.

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

Staff do not effectively safeguard children from being bullied or bullying other children. As a result, incidents of bullying between the children often occur. Sometimes this has included serious physical assault. Children have raised these ongoing concerns with staff. Sometimes, but not always, staff have raised these issues with the manager or deputy manager. However, the response has been ineffectual. Discussions are not held promptly with children and staff after every incident of bullying. Challenges to children involved in bullying do not always focus on repairing relationships. Consequently, they do not have the opportunity to reflect on incidents to understand if things could be avoided or better managed in the future. This leaves children at risk of repeated incidents of bullying and at risk of further harm.

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

Staff do not understand their core role in keeping children safe. Reporting and recording procedures are not always followed after serious incidents or disclosures. Staff do not consistently raise concerns with the manager and senior leaders. A high-risk concern about one child was not reported to the manager. The manager was unaware of this risk. Risk assessments were not updated, and there was no locatable record of this risk. This was a missed opportunity to reduce risks to children’s safety and the likelihood of potential harm.

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

Serious safeguarding incidents are not always notified to Ofsted or the relevant professionals. As a result, the regulator has not had the full ability to maintain oversight of the home and of actions that are to be taken to keep children safe. Furthermore, partner professionals are unable to respond to incidents to ensure the children are well supported. Parents have not been notified of some incidents that should have been reported. Consequently, parents do not have a full picture of their children’s experience of living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has the relevant qualification and experience for the role. She knows the children well and has ambitions for them. However, the home has not delivered the care and support to the children that she aspires to, as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 4 Management monitoring and oversight are poor. The manager does not always know about or ensure an effective response to serious incidents. Staff supervision, recruitment interviews and follow-up work with children do not have suitable and consistent input from the manager. There was a lack of considered workforce development planning. Consequently, the manager has not understood and addressed shortfalls in the service. This is having a negative effect on aspects of children’s overall experiences.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The approach to supervision is inconsistent. The quality of one-to-one staff supervision is variable, depending on who is leading the supervision. On occasion, staff supervision lacks discussion regarding safeguarding and the needs of the children, and there is no indication of reflective practice. Supervision records are often not signed; therefore, it is not possible to understand if these are an agreed record of discussion and if staff understand any goals set. One member of staff had not signed their supervision records since joining the organisation in 2022. Staff practice is therefore not being thoroughly reviewed or reflected on.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager has not ensured consistent and satisfactory communication with the wider network. Parents, including those who hold parental responsibility, are not always notified of significant incidents when they happen. In one incident when a child seriously assaulted another child, neither set of parents of the children involved had been informed. One professional raised concerns that the manager did not attend or send a staff member to an important series of meetings for a child. This lack of communication with the wider network undermines effective partnership working and has the potential to undermine the consistency of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The responsible individual has not had a clear understanding of the challenges in the home. Consequently, there has been a lack of strategic work with the manager to address these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Shortfalls in the senior leadership teams’ ability to monitor the service have been identified. Senior leaders have not responded to a staff grievance within their own policy timescales. When concerns have been raised previously by the regulator, their response has been proactive. An example of this is how they now manage medications for children more effectively. However, there continue to be wider shortfalls impacting on the quality of care. As a result, Ofsted is considering taking further action to drive improvement. Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 5

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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

In meeting the quality standards, the registered person must, and must ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

seek to develop and maintain effective professional relationships with such persons, bodies or organisations as the registered person considers appropriate having regard to the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the children’s home is to provide care and accommodation. (Regulation 5 (d)) 10 September

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to such dental, medical, nursing, psychiatric and psychological advice, treatment and other services as the child may require. (Regulation 10 (2)(c)) 10 September

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding; 10 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 6 understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them. (Regulation 11(1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(v)(xii)(xiii))

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Requirement Due date

*The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm; and

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)) 10 September

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Requirement Due date

*The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

manage relationships between children to prevent them from harming each other; and

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iv)(b)) 10 September

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that staff— 10 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 7 assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(vi))

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Requirement Due date

*The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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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)(a)(b) (2)(f)(h)) 10 September

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children's home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home. (Regulation 14(1)(a)(b)(2)(b)(i)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, any plans to introduce a child to the home should consider the impact on all children, including those already living in the home. The move into the home should 10 September Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 8 be gradual and well planned unless, there is a clear reason why this is not possible.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that each staff member receives regular, reflective and good-quality supervision. Supervision should be well documented and the records signed by both parties. 10 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

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

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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)(c)(e)) 10 September

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject to a compliance notice.

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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: 2686324 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Haven (Waterlooville) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 5 Deansway, Worcester WR1 2JG

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jacqueline Smeeth

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Inspectors

Skye Frain, Social Care Inspector Stephen Challis, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2686324 10 inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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