Children's home run by Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited in West Suffolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 1 SC443009 Registered provider: Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home is part of a small organisation. The home is registered to care for up to six children with moderate to severe learning difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been in post since 1 May 2019.

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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: 1 November 2022

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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: SC443009 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

01/11/2022 Full Good 09/06/2021 Full Good 12/02/2020 Interim Improved effectiveness 10/04/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

At the time of the inspection, five children were living at the home. Two children were spending the summer holidays with their family. One child had recently returned to live with his extended family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming. Staff have decorated the walls with pictures of children and staff engaged in activities. There is a large garden area with play equipment and other resources. Managers are installing a trampoline at ground level to enable one child who uses a wheelchair to use it. There is a large tent at the bottom of the garden and the children enjoy spending time there.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers have integrated into the local community. Staff and children have completed fundraising events to raise money for charity. The children have visited a local care home for older people. This allows the children to feel part of their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and settled in the home. Staff create a fun and relaxed atmosphere for children to enjoy. Children enjoy a range of activities, including trips to theme parks, trampoline parks and swimming pools. Staff and managers also hold parties in the home, and recently held a summer party in the garden.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to be healthy. Staff make sure that children have physiotherapy and do other strength exercises when needed. One child’s social worker noted that the child had gained more strength in his arms and maintained mobility since living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children all attend the same education setting. Four children attend full time and one child is on a reduced timetable. Staff support children’s learning in the home, including reading with the children for 20 minutes each day. This supports children to continue with their learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage children to be as independent as they can. They produce clear independence plans for children to work towards. Staff record and recognise the progress that children make towards independence. This supports children to develop independent lives as they get older.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child uses a wheelchair and cannot currently access the laundry room. Although the manager has requested adaptations to make it wheelchair accessible, these have not been progressed by senior managers. This is preventing the child from being able to develop their independence. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 4

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

Children have access to sensory toys to support them to self-soothe and regulate when difficult emotions arise. Staff encourage children to use these strategies as an alternative to self-harm. When children have self-harmed, staff know how to manage this and respond with empathy. When one child is feeling upset or angry, they have a beanbag chair they can use to help feel more calm and at ease. This has significantly reduced the incidents of restraint for this child.

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

Restraint is used infrequently by staff. When staff need to use restraint, they feel they are well trained. When restraint is used, it is a last resort, after different approaches have proved ineffective. Staff keep records on restraints; managers provide oversight of these incidents and reflect on what has happened.

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

Staff and managers support the children to learn about difficult topics. Through children’s meetings, staff support children to understand things like issues about keeping secrets. One child received tailored support from staff to understand the purpose of age-restricted items. This helps children to be able to make safe choices in the future.

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

Staff make sure there is consistency and routine in the home, to support the children to feel more settled. Staff complete detailed risk assessments and behaviour support plans. This helps staff to know what to look out for and how to respond when concerns arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a permanent registered manager. The deputy manager is proactive in supporting the registered manager in their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a strong, consistent staff group, as well as drawing on the support of bank and agency staff. Managers use the same group of agency staff, so that children benefit from familiar staff who understand how to look after them. The agency staff also help to promote diversity in the workforce.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by managers in the home. They feel that managers offer consistent advice and are always on hand to offer support. One member of staff said, ‘They have helped me endlessly, with an open-door policy.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers carry out regular supervision with staff. Staff engage well in supervision, which provides a reflective space. Managers ensure that they support staff in creative ways, such as changing shift patterns to accommodate their needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have a range of training opportunities. They take on additional roles in the team to support and encourage team learning. One member of staff has a specialism in well-being and has done work on this with children and staff. This creates an environment where staff and managers share their learning. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 5 Staff support children to have contact with the people who are important to them. Parents and carers feel that their children are making good progress. One family member commented that the child had ‘blossomed like a flower since living there’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has completed a quality-of-care review. However, the review does not identify actions or targets for the home. The manager has found it difficult to obtain feedback from professionals and parents. This means that the views of others have not informed planning in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the design of the home includes any necessary adaptations to meet the needs of children with disabilities or specific health issues, and ensure that each child has access to the laundry facilities. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.24)  The registered person should ensure that they carry out a review of the service every six months. The review should identify areas of strength and possible weakness in the home’s care, which will be captured in the written report. The report should clearly identify any actions required for the next six months of delivery in the home and how those actions will be addressed. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.4)

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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: SC443009 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Greenwood House, Greenwood Court, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP32 7GY

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Inspector

Leah Stannard, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC443009 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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