Children's home run by Five Rivers Child Care Limited in Wiltshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 1 SC059755 Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a national private organisation. The home may provide care for up to four children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, two children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 15 August 2023.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: SC059755 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/08/2022 Full Good 23/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 06/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 03/12/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the previous inspection, two children have moved in to the home. Both moves were well planned, which has led to the children settling in well. Both children told the inspector that they see this as their home. One child has left the home as they needed to live with children of their own age prior to moving onto the next stage of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are making progress. Adults are proud of the children’s achievements and celebrate these with them. This builds the children’s self-esteem and sense of pride. Examples of this progress include improvements in speech and language, being able to take part in shared play, eating a healthy diet and taking part in more physical activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since moving in to the home, both children, who have had time out of education, are going to school full time and very much enjoy it. They are doing well and have put their school achievement certificates on their bedroom walls. In addition, they have made friends outside of the home. They have spent time with these friends on activities and while attending birthday parties. Both children are looking forward to going back to school after the holidays.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults have and continue to build positive relationships with the children. The progress that staff have made in this area is based on their comprehensive understanding of the children, their needs, and the consistency in which they meet these. Adult are supported by clear, current care plans, which provide good guidance for them. However, one of these plans has sections that are written in the first person, but have not been developed by the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from taking part in a wide range of activities. Activity plans are in place, but are flexible to take into account how the child is feeling. Children have input with these plans. Children spoke excitedly about their recent holiday and what other things they would be doing during the rest of their summer holidays. One child is learning to swim, while another is doing a bike ability course to enable them to ride to school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults ensure that the children are provided with a spacious and comfortable home. Since the previous inspection, a new kitchen has been installed. Toys in the home are age-appropriate and plentiful. Adults help children to personalise their bedrooms, which are spacious, enabling them to have room to play. One child chose to have a tepee in his room. The manager has plans for the further development of the home and the spacious garden. Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 4

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improvement to be good

Children are kept safe at the home. Adults have a good understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and implement these when needed. Managers ensure that safeguarding events are swifty addressed, taking appropriate action to keep the children safe. Senior leaders will effectively challenge other professionals around their safeguarding responsibilities when necessary.

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improvement to be good

Adults understand risk, manage risk well, and are working with children to develop their understanding of risk and how to manage it. Adults are not risk-averse. Risk assessments are of good quality and support adults’ work. These are kept under review, taking into consideration events and incidents, and the level of risk is adjusted as required.

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improvement to be good

Behaviour is appropriately managed. Adults understand that behaviour is a form of communication that the adults need to understand. Behaviour support plans are current and clear, and provide good guidance for staff. These are reviewed and amended in light of events.

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improvement to be good

Restraint has been used in this home and increased in use since the previous inspection. Adults have shown resilience during this period by providing children with consistent, support, nurture and care. Consequently, the use of restraint is decreasing, but a further decrease is required. Good-quality, meaningful conversations are held with the child and the adults when a restraint takes place. Information from these is used to develop the adults’ approaches to the children’s behaviour and the children’s behaviour support plans. The manager closely monitors records of restraints for patterns and trends, taking swift action when any are identified.

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improvement to be good

Recruitment follows safer recruitment practices, which help to protect children. Probationary reports on adults are thorough and, when needed, probation periods are extended.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager successfully registered with Ofsted on 15 August 2023. They have been managing the home since the previous registered manager left. They are experienced in residential care work and have a clear vision for the home. There are effective monitoring systems in place, which provide the manager with a good understanding of the home, its strengths, and areas for improvement. This information then informs the home’s development plan. The manager is a strong advocate not only for the children but also for the staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that the home is appropriately staffed to meet the children’s needs. Adults very much enjoy working at the home. They are child centred, enthusiastic about their role, and want the best outcomes for the children. Adults feel well supported and trained for their roles. They spoke highly about the manager, Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 5 saying that she is very approachable and a good role model. Records of adults’ supervision sessions are not of a consistently good quality as they do not always reflect the discussions held or actions to be taken.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals praised the team for their commitment to the children and the quality of the care that they provide. They said that the adults ensure that the children feel loved and valued, and are safe and happy. Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the use of restraint continues to reduce, and where possible avoided. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 48, paragraph 9.53)  The registered person should ensure that records of staff supervision sessions are of a consistently good quality, and include details of the discussion held so as to aid in 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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Recommendations

 The registered person should carefully consider the appropriateness of recording the child’s information using first-person narrative. All information in children’s records should be recorded in a way that is helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.15) Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 7

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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: SC059755 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Five Rivers Child Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Five Rivers Childcare, 47 Bedwin Street, Salisbury SP1 3UT

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Inspector

Wendy Anderson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC059755 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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