Children's home run by Willow Care Group Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 1 Registered provider: Willow Care Group Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to three children.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The home has a new manager, who started in July 2023. They have applied to register with Ofsted.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, three children were living at the home.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Date of last inspection: 11 October 2022

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/10/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are alert to the emotional, physical and social needs of the children. They are sensitive to children’s backgrounds, in particular children’s early childhood experiences.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s experiences vary. Some children invest in all the opportunities the home has to offer. They thrive educationally, socially and physically. As a result, some children have made so much progress that they have been able to return to the care of their family. One current child has begun to thrive in their learning and have aspirations for their future. Other children struggle to invest in the support that the staff offer and to engage in their education. Instead, their focus is on moving to places where they have a stronger attachment.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aware of the children’s differing abilities or aptitudes and work hard to enable children every opportunity to succeed. This includes supporting children to pursue their hobbies and interests. For example, one child’s love of animals has been embraced by enabling them to go horse riding and to have pet hamsters.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have access to clear, relevant and up-to-date information about the children’s needs, vulnerabilities and how risks must be safely managed. Staff refer to these records throughout the day to ensure that decisions and practice remain child centred.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have individual healthcare plans that help to ensure that staff can provide effective care for their specific medical conditions. They provide clarity about what needs to be done, when and by whom. Staff recognise that one child’s health needs can fluctuate, and emergency intervention can be needed. Children have medical aids. For example, one child has a ‘seizure watch’, which they wear on their wrist. This alerts the staff’s mobile phone that the child is having a seizure and notifies them of the child’s location.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff try hard to foster a positive atmosphere to enable children to thrive. Relationships between the staff and the children are mostly positive, with staff showing respect to children’s everyday requests. These can include being supported to go shopping and going to nail salons.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are confident to speak up and to express their views and opinions.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s ethnicity, culture and linguistic diversity is recognised, valued and promoted. There is a multiculture board in the entrance hall that is updated monthly. This celebrates our multicultural society.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live in a safe, pleasant and stimulating environment. They recently decorated the home to celebrate Halloween. Staff took the children around the Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 4 neighbourhood so that they could experience trick or treating. Children are now beginning to prepare the home for Christmas.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has approval by their placing local authority to spend time away from the home. Staff continue to maintain daily contact, including welfare checks, to ensure that the child has taken essential medication.

p.4

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise that, given children’s ages, learning life skills is essential. Staff try creative ways to engage the children and ensure that the smallest achievements are praised and rewarded.

p.4

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

The manager and the responsible individual ensure that there are clear policies and procedures in place that protect children from harm.

p.4

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

Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities and the need to remain vigilant about children’s vulnerabilities. Staff have a good level of professional curiosity about the risks children can face through social media, peer influence and by going into the community alone.

p.4

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

Staff try hard to educate the children of the risks in the community. Despite these efforts, children can occasionally go missing from the home. All the intelligence gathered by the staff is promptly shared with the police, social workers and other professionals. This creates a team around the child where a multi-agency approach is taken to find ways to keep children safe.

p.4

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

Positive behaviour is encouraged and reinforced through praise and rewards. The use of physical intervention is rare. When staff have used it to safeguard children, this has been for the minimum time and with minimum force. However, although children are given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint, this is not linked back to the original physical restraint record.

p.4

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

There has been one significant incident, which had a degree of racial undertones. The incident was managed sensitively for all children involved. The emergency services were appropriately called. The staff ensured that a child’s right to raise a complaint with the police was respected. Staff have held discussions with the children when the time was right, recognising each child’s vulnerabilities and the space needed to be able to process information. All social workers and other professionals have been informed and updated when appropriate.

p.4

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

The manager ensures that the home has an informative location risk assessment in place. However, this has not been reviewed as new children have moved into the home to reflect their additional vulnerabilities in the community.

p.4

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

The responsible individual ensures that recruitment of new staff aligns with regulation. Diligent checks are carried out to ensure that only suitable adults work with children. Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 5 Staff recognise the importance of children receiving their medication. However, records can sometimes create confusion over what is meant by ‘once daily’ when there is no period set. For example, one child was given medication on one day at 6.30pm and then on the following day at 8am.

p.4

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

Staff demonstrate in their practice a broad range of knowledge and skills in recognising and being alert to signs that might indicate a child is risk of harm. However, some members of staff do not yet have a good understanding of the risks to children of radicalisation.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and the responsible individual work hard to create a climate where mutual trust, respect and confidence are embedded into staff practice.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The responsible individual is passionate about children’s care. She ensures that staff know that she is always contactable. Staff are equally confident to raise any concerns as they know that these will be taken seriously.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a good balance of experience among the staff. Individual members of staff are qualified in residential childcare and have received training relevant to their responsibilities and the needs of the children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers have strong and productive links with children’s placing local authorities, schools, police and health professionals. This partnership enables everyone to work together well to support the children.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff development is well planned and matches the needs of the children. The responsible individual and the manager continue to evaluate the needs of the staff. They then use this review to secure new training opportunities that enable the staff to develop their therapeutic insight.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recording system enables the staff to maintain comprehensive records of children’s day-to-day care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has brought in new self-evaluation records. These are enabling her to track the children’s progress. The manager and the responsible individual take positive steps to gather the views of the children, parents, social workers and health professionals and use these to identify the strengths of the home and areas that require further development.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a detailed workforce plan in place. Although this is informative, the manager has not brought it up to date to reflect the recent changes in the staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 6

p.5

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any child who has been restrained is given the opportunity to express their feelings about their experience of the restraint as soon as is practicable. This record should be linked back to the original physical restraint record. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 49, paragraph 9.60)  The registered person should ensure that the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home is reviewed at least once a year. This includes when children with additional vulnerabilities move into the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.2)  The registered person should ensure that the workforce plan includes all staff currently working as part of the staffing structure. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.8)

p.6

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that medicines are administered in line with a medically approved protocol. This specifically relates to being clear on the time when medication should be administered when it is required once a day. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person should ensure that staff have the knowledge and skills to recognise and be alert for any signs that might indicate a child is in any way at risk of harm. This specifically relates to staff having training on understanding radicalisation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.12)

p.6

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: 2678404 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Willow Care Group Limited

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Willow Care Group Limited, Vicarage Corner House, 219 Burton Road, Derby DE23 6AE

p.7

Inspector

Michelle Moss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2678404 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.

p.7

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.8

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.8

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.8