Children's home run by Beaufort Care Group Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 1246831 1 Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group 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 private provider that has several other homes in the area. The home provides care for up to three children. There were three children living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 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 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1246831 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

10/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 08/06/2021 Full Good 20/01/2020 Interim Sustained effectiveness 06/08/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1246831 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy living in this home. They form positive relationships with staff and enjoy spending time with them. Children and staff enjoy playing games in the garden together, baking or taking trips to the beach. Staff identify opportunities for children to explore their interests, such as music and art, in creative ways outside of the home. Children’s views are central to the home. Staff have regular discussions with children about how they feel about living in the home, its management and the other residents. Staff offer children close support to manage their relationships with each other, promoting positive interactions. Staff take photos and write about the positive memories they have shared with children. Some of these are sent to an email account for each child, with physical books made too. However, staff do not always keep collections of memories up to date. This risks information getting lost

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

and means children cannot look back over their time in the home as they wish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living in this home make progress. One child has achieved a long-standing goal of attending the dentist. This child has also started meeting with a professional to explore their emotional health. The child discusses these sessions with staff in the home, who help them begin to understand their own emotions. Another child has started to safely spend more time out with friends in the community. Two children attend school. The manager forges close links with schools to share information that will help the children make the most of their learning opportunities. The manager explores options and interests for the third child, working with the local authority to ensure that suitable support is in place.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents speak positively about the home and the support their children receive. They say that they cannot fault the home. They see their children making progress and experiencing good support from staff. They say that communication is good and helps them know what is going on in their children’s lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home’s decor is welcoming and homely. The manager has introduced soft furnishings and decorative items to improve the overall feel of the home. Children’s bedrooms reflect their individual interests and personal tastes. Children receive support from staff to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. There are window restrictors fitted to some windows. The manager has not reviewed their use and how relevant they are to the children currently living in the home. Action was taken during the inspection to remove these.

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

A consistent and stable staff team develops positive relationships with children. This means children trust staff and see them as safe adults. The children in this home sometimes experience frustrations with each other. Staff quickly intervene and support children to defuse any situations. Staff then use their strong relationships to explore incidents with children in an open and reflective way. Inspection report for children’s home: 1246831 4 Staff understand and identify potential safeguarding concerns. Children speak with staff about their lives, which means they can identify areas of risk. Staff take action to keep children safe. They speak with children about concerns at the earliest opportunity, meaning risks do not escalate.

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

One child has stopped smoking cigarettes. However, they now use an electronic vape. Staff understand how they will address this concern with the child and over time, there have been changes to this child’s use, showing some successes. Staff provide children with good support when there are worries about self-harming behaviour. Staff help children to develop alternative coping strategies and engage with relevant professionals.

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

Restraint has been used in this home, and the frequency is reducing. The use of restraint was necessary to keep children safe during serious incidents. The manager speaks with staff after incidents to help them explore what they could do differently and to reflect on the incident. The child is spoken to, and their experience of the restraint is sought.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An experienced manager leads a consistent staff team well. The manager has led significant changes in the home, improving the quality of care and the environment. Staff feel supported in their role and speak positively of the changes the manager has instigated in the home. Staff receive regular supervision and opportunities for training, including sessions relating to the specific needs of children in the home. Staff recruitment is mostly safe; however, for one member of staff, a gap in employment was not identified and explored. This was rectified during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff show confidence and proficiency when speaking about children. They know what they need to do to help children achieve and make progress. This skill is reflected in the records that they write about children. The manager maintains good oversight of what staff do. This means he identifies areas for learning and development and is able to proactively plan for children’s care. However, children’s behaviour plans overly focus on risk, and there is an unhelpful overlap between documents. The organisation is aware of this shortfall and has plans to change these documents post-inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager develops positive working relationships with professionals. He builds the network around children and holds other professionals to account, escalating concerns when necessary. One child’s social worker provided feedback for the inspection. They identify that their child is forming positive relationships with staff and that safeguarding concerns are addressed and followed up. Inspection report for children’s home: 1246831 5

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What does the children’s home need to do to improve?

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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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a review of the use of window restrictors is undertaken and that risk assessments are updated if their use is required for specific children’s needs. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that they seek an explanation for any employment gaps during the recruitment process. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that written plans and documents about children’s care are streamlined and contain relevant information to help staff support children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that children’s memory books are kept up to date. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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: 1246831 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Beaufort Care Group Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 2 Hollygrove Business Park, Verwood Road, Ringwood, Dorset BH24 2DB

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Amanda Goodenough

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1246831 7 regulates and 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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