Children's home run by Buckinghamshire Council

Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 1 Registered provider: Buckinghamshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by the local authority. The home is registered to provide care for up to five children who may experience social, emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 17 March 2021.

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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

Date of last inspection: 9 November 2022

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/11/2022 Full Outstanding 06/10/2021 Full Good 25/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There were five children living in the home at the time of this inspection. The children are cared for by staff who they share positive relationships with. Staff understand that the children communicate through their behaviours. They look beyond the behaviours and consult the home’s in-house psychologist, which contributes to the children receiving individualised care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff ensure effective partnership working with education, health and social care professionals. The staff worked effectively with health professionals regarding one child’s long-standing health condition. As a result, this is now well managed and has led to an improvement in the child’s quality of life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are focused on achieving positive outcomes for the children. Their efforts in advocating on behalf of a child who was on a reduced school timetable led to increased time in school for the child. The support the staff provide has also contributed to some children developing more positive ways to express themselves.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are supported to develop their independence skills. Consequently, one is now well prepared for a planned move to semi-independent living. One parent was particularly impressed by how their child has been supported to prepare for independence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

It is evident that staff’s actions contribute to the children making significant progress from their individual starting points. Professionals and parents are positive about the care and support provided by staff and recognise the progress the children have made.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s feedback is regularly sought, through informal conversations with staff and in key-work sessions. Staff welcome the children’s views and act on them. For example, the children are consulted regarding activity choices, meal planning and decorating their bedrooms. The children feel listened to and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are cared for by a diverse staff team who encourage positive thinking about inclusion. Children in the home have enriched experiences. They are provided with opportunities to learn and to experience different cultures. The staff share meals from different cultures with the children and hold quiz nights about different countries around the world. The children are very much a part of their community, and go to the local park, gym and youth club. One child is supported by staff to pursue their passion for acting and has featured in well-known theatre shows. Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 4

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

The staff have a good understanding of each child’s needs and risks. These are detailed in children’s individual risk assessments, which include measures to reduce risk. Safety plans also clearly guide staff on actions to take to ensure the children’s safety.

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

Staff understand that children’s behaviours are likely to stem from past traumatic experiences. Input from the home’s in-house psychologist has influenced a nurturing approach to the children’s care.

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

Staff’s approach is in line with the home’s model of care. The staff build trusting relationships with the children. The children are comfortable to share any worries with staff.

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

The staff understand the difficulties that children experience when they move to the home and are committed to helping the children to settle in, however difficult this may be. This strong commitment has meant that some children have been able to remain in the home in difficult circumstances. As a result, the children experience stability.

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

Incidents are well managed by staff, in line with the children’s behaviour plans. Partner professionals and the children’s parents are kept well informed of any incidents or concerns. This fosters a collaborative approach to ensuring children’s safety. The staff consistently take appropriate action when children have gone missing from home, supporting their safe return.

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

When incidents occur, de-escalation techniques are used by staff to prevent further difficulties. While physical intervention is appropriately used to ensure the safety of the children or others, some reports of interventions lack clarity and do not clearly describe the actions staff took or the holds used. This potentially undermines the manager’s ability to fully evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of each intervention. Consequently, there are missed opportunities for suitably detailed reflection. Managers have plans to add pictures to the incident reports going forward, which they anticipate will provide greater clarity.

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

The staff have the best interests of the children at heart and aim to keep the children safe. However, the use of door alarms is not always based on individual children’s assessed needs and there is inconsistency in their use.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has high aspirations for all the children and has inspired the same culture in the staff team. There is a drive to provide good-quality personalised care that is supported by committed, motivated staff. Beyond this, the manager is dedicated to improving the quality of care provided to children in care on a wider scale. The manager and in-house psychologist are collaboratively writing an article Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 5 on the effectiveness of the use of adaptive mentalization-based integrative treatment (AMBIT) for children in residential care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers provide a supportive environment for staff through regular team meetings and individual supervision. They ensure that staff understand the home’s model of care and that the children’s changing needs remain the focus for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager equips the staff for their roles by providing a variety of good-quality training relevant to the children’s needs. This includes training in child sexual exploitation and positive behaviour management. Furthermore, staff practice is enhanced through consultations with the in-house psychologist. Consequently, children receive care and support that is responsive to their particular needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager makes sure that the staff share their strong commitment to supporting children to achieve positive outcomes. They creatively support children to improve their life chances. For example, staff supported one child who struggled with being in a classroom with their learning and some trained as exam invigilators. This meant the child was able to sit their exams in the home in exam conditions that suited their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide a positive working environment in which staff feel well supported. This contributes to high staff morale and stability in the staff team. Consequently, the children are cared for by people who know them well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers are aware of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The manager described a focus on improving record-keeping and continuous staff development. However, greater management oversight is needed of incident reports. Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff clearly detail actions they take to support children when physical intervention is used. Records should enable the registered person and staff to review the use of control, discipline and restraint to identify effective practice and respond promptly where any issues or trends of concern emerge. The review should provide the opportunity for amending practice to ensure it meets the needs of each child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.59)  The registered person should ensure that limits on privacy, including the use of door alarms, are only put in place to safeguard each child in the home. 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,

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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: 2517299 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Buckinghamshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Buckinghamshire Council, Chief Executive, Walton Street Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury HP20 1UA

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Inspector

Sasha Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2517299 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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