Children's Home run by Oak Childcare Plus Limited in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 1 Registered provider: Oak Childcare Plus Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

A private company runs this home. It is registered to provide care for up to three children who may have had adverse childhood experiences.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023 and is suitably qualified.

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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: 18 October 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: 1273769 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/10/2022 Full Good 20/04/2022 Full Inadequate 16/09/2021 Interim Declined in effectiveness 28/04/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the previous inspection, the same child has remained living in the home and no other children have moved in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has made good progress because of the care and support they receive in this home. Staff know the child well and they build meaningful and positive relationships. Staff understand the child’s starting points and celebrate their progress and achievements. As a result, the child feels valued, respected, and speaks positively about their experiences of living in this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and leaders promote children’s educational needs effectively. They work well with educational professionals to ensure that the child has access to some form of education. In addition, the registered manager has challenged professionals effectively to provide a timetable of support to meet the child’s individual needs. Consequently, the child is making progress and is provided with opportunities to achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is supported to spend time with their family and friends. For example, the child spends regular time with loved ones and sees their friends outside of the home. In addition, staff and leaders work well with the child’s parents to overcome any barriers and maintain positive family time. One parent said, ‘[Name of child] has been thriving since living in the home. I was very worried, but they have been very good. I feel reassured and I am happy with how [name of child] is doing.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the child to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. They support the child to attend health appointments. The child has access to therapeutic support, which supports and promotes their emotional well-being. Medication is stored safely, and records are kept on the administration of medication. The management team ensures that staff receive training and support to administer the child’s medication safely.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that the child’s views, wishes and feelings contribute to the care that the child receives. The child’s views are captured by staff through key-work sessions and one-to-one conversations. This ensures that the child can contribute to the day- to-day decisions that impact on their life. Consequently, the child feels listened to and engages positively in the home.

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

Staff adopt a positive approach with the child. The use of negative consequences is low, and staff use positive messages and praise to reward the child’s progress. The registered manager has good oversight and reinforces this positive approach. As a result, the child feels safe and secure in the home, and significant incidents are uncommon. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 4 Incidents requiring physical restraint with the child are rare. Staff use their relationships with the child to avoid the need to use physical restraint. This support has meant that the number and severity of incidents have reduced considerably for the child during their time living in the home. However, staff do not consistently ensure that incidents are clearly recorded or that records are easy for the child to understand.

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

Safeguarding and child protection systems are good. When required, leaders carry out investigations into staff practice efficiently and effectively. Information gathered is shared with relevant professionals and action is taken to assist staff in learning from any shortfalls and mistakes. These actions help staff to learn from their experiences and improve their safeguarding practice.

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

Staff ensure that the child lives in a home that is physically safe and secure. Regular environmental safety checks are carried out, and staff and the child regularly practise emergency evacuation procedures. The registered manager has good oversight and takes action to repair any faults.

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

Overall, staff understand the child’s risks and take action to reduce these. They carry out direct work with the child, which allows the child to become more resilient. However, since the last inspection, the registered manager and staff have not always assessed the child’s risks effectively or followed the plans in place. Also, not all the child’s risk assessments reflect all known risks. Consequently, staff are not always informed of all risks or the actions they should take to protect the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager leads the home effectively. He is suitably qualified and keen to achieve good outcomes for the child. He is very well supported by the home’s responsible individual, who is a real presence in the home. She has a good relationship with the child and provides good oversight. As a result, leaders know the home’s strengths and areas for development well.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by leaders and are keen to learn and develop their practice. Leaders provide staff with good, regular and reflective supervision sessions and appraisals. Staff receive training that supports them in their roles. All staff are qualified or are working towards the qualification within the regulatory time frame. These systems improve staff’s confidence and the quality of their work.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Overall, leaders have good oversight of the home. Internal and external monitoring systems used help leaders to assess the care that the child receives. The independent person’s visits and reports provide a good review of the home. However, the registered manager has failed to ensure that all his formal quality of care review reports have been sent to Ofsted within the required time frames. Also, he does not always seek or gain the views of the child, staff, parents and professionals when carrying out his review. These shortfalls have the potential to impact on the quality of care that the child receives. Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 5 Staff and the registered manager have established good working relationships with a range of agencies and external professionals who are involved in the child’s care. Staff work closely with teachers, the child’s independent reviewing officer and social

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

worker. This ensures that appropriate support is in place to encourage the child’s progress and maximise their potential. One professional said, ‘To be honest, I cannot believe how far [name of child] has come. They have done a good job. Communication is positive and they are very good at advocating for [name of child]’s needs.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 6

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Statutory requirements

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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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager should ensure that staff assess children’s risks effectively and take action to reduce risks to children. 24 January 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff record information about the child in a way that will be helpful to the child. This specifically relates to ensuring that information is clear on incident reports and that outcomes of investigations are recorded as being shared with children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should put in place processes to enable the quality of care review to take place. These should allow for a report to be generated at least once every six months. The generated report should be sent to Ofsted and the placing local authority of all children looked after in the home. In addition, the registered person should use feedback from children, staff, parents and professionals to support them in identifying improvements to the care that children receive. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.3) Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 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: 1273769 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oak Childcare Plus Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suite 3, Oak House, Kingswood Business Park, Holyhead Road, Albrighton WV7 3AU

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Inspector

Dean Wilton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1273769 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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