Children's home run by Phoenix Childcare Ltd in North Devon

Inspection report for children’s home: 1234374 1 Registered provider: Phoenix Childcare Ltd Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides care for up to two children. It is part of a large organisation that operates children’s homes in the region.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 31 May 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Two children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1234374 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/06/2022 Full Good 01/02/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness 02/06/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/01/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1234374 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress and their achievements are celebrated. They attend school, and one child has attained an academic qualification in school. Children’s life experiences are improved through wonderful activities and opportunities that support their interests.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children well. They communicate with children effectively. However, a social story used to help one child understand boundaries relating to their electronic devices has not been used regularly to support them in other areas of their life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff spend time listening to children. This identifies issues negatively impacting their lives and informs the support that is provided to children. At times, children’s views relating to them living together are not fully explored.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager has forged effective links with partner agencies to support children’s needs, and specialist help is made available to children when this is needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

A family environment has been created in the home. The inspector observed positive interactions between staff and children when children returned home from school. Early planning is in place to help children develop skills needed for increasing independence.

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

Safeguarding arrangements protect children. Managers take swift and effective action to reduce harm to children while online. Staff have delivered focused support to children to help them learn how to increase their safety online. Ongoing support is needed to ensure that children continually learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

Risk management plans are informed by partner agencies. Following incidents, robust safeguarding actions reduce harm effectively. There have been no incidents of children going missing from care for a long period of time. Family time arrangements for children are safe.

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

Children are supported to take risks appropriate to their age. Restrictions are reviewed regularly and reduced in line with children’s progress and reduced risk indicators. Staff implement boundaries to keep children safe in the home and in the community.

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

Overall, the frequency of incidents occurring in the home has reduced. There has been a recent increase in incidents for one child in the home. Following incidents, staff spend time with the child to understand the reasons for their distress to inform future care planning. Inspection report for children’s home: 1234374 4 Staff use boundaries and nurturing approaches to support children. When staff are challenged by one child’s behaviour, these approaches are not always effective. Staff do not always have alternative strategies to help the child when they are in distress, and support plans do not provide clear direction to staff about the actions that they should take.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively. The registered manager is committed and passionate about driving high standards of care in the home. They identify learning from incidents to continually improve care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staffing arrangements meet the children’s needs. A permanent staff team promotes continuity of care for the children. Managers recruit promptly when there are vacancies. Staff provided positive feedback about working in the home and the support that they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of care provided to children and their progress is monitored effectively. Care for children is strengthened through input from the organisation’s therapy team. In addition, further training is planned to increase staff knowledge and skills to respond to children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

In the main, the home environment is well maintained. However, repairs in one child’s bedroom have not been completed to a high standard to ensure that the physical environment is always nurturing and homely for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s social workers are complimentary about the care that the children receive. They discuss progress made by children since living in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Weekly reports about children’s progress and their difficulties are shared with their social workers and their families. However, some reports are not detailed to help families fully understand their children’s experiences and the support that they receive. This is raised as a concern by one child’s family member. Managers said that they will review this with the child’s social worker. Inspection report for children’s home: 1234374 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a homely environment is created. In particular, the registered person should ensure that the physical environment is maintained to a high standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the skills to respond to each child’s individual behaviour and manage conflict if challenged by a child in their care. In particular, the registered person should ensure that strategies used to manage conflict are effective. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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: 1234374 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Phoenix Childcare Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Support Hub, Unit 5, Chinon Court, Lower Moor Way, Tiverton, Devon EX16 6SS

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Hannah-Marie Bennetts

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Inspector

Louise Bacon, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1234374 7 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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