Children's home run by Bracknell Forest Borough Council in Bracknell Forest

Inspection report for children’s home: SC037986 1 SC037986 Registered provider: Bracknell Forest Borough Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is run by the local authority and provides short breaks for children with sensory impairment, learning disabilities and physical disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The home currently provides short breaks for 27 children. During this inspection, seven children were accessing the service across the two days.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2022.

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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: 31 January 2023

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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: SC037986 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

31/01/2023 Full Good 09/03/2022 Full Good 30/09/2019 Full Outstanding 11/12/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC037986 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have enjoyable experiences during their short breaks at this home. Staff ensure that the children are their primary focus and support them to have fun and engage in different activities, including dance massage in the sensory room, playing on the swings in the garden or having some quiet time using their personal technology.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of children being supported to have a voice. They ensure that children are seen and heard. They consistently seek children’s wishes and views. Staff use children’s preferred communication styles and aids to ensure that interactions are meaningful. Staff listen to and act on the children’s wishes wherever possible. For example, children are supported to make choices regarding what they would like to eat and about activities they would like to do. In turn, this leads to the children feeling valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff contribute positively to the children making individual progress. They support the children to gain confidence and get involved in activities with their peers. Staff also work with the children and their families to develop the children’s independence and communication skills. The high standard of consistent care that staff provide positively influences the good progress children make in different areas of their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are empowering in their approach towards children’s care. They are mindful of children’s vulnerabilities and disabilities, yet they look beyond these and safely support children towards challenging but realistic targets. Children are praised for the positive things that they do. Their achievements are celebrated by notes of these displayed on a ‘wow’ board in the kitchen. This strengthens children’s self- belief and encourages them to enjoy a sense of pride.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is effective partnership working between staff, children’s parents and social care professionals. Staff keep the child’s support network well informed. Staff attend children’s review meetings and contribute to their care planning. Children’s parents and external professionals highly value the quality of care and support staff provide to the children and the positive difference the staff make in the lives of the children and their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from their time spent in the welcoming, well-maintained and inclusive environment. Helpful visuals, such as symbols-based menu options, emotion boards and the complaints process, are displayed throughout the home. These encourage children’s participation. Diversity is promoted in the home through a selection of books, multicultural toys and a noticeboard celebrating differences in people. Children are encouraged to embrace their own uniqueness, while also learning about differences in others. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037986 4

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

Staff show the children great care and attention. They are well attuned to the children’s needs. They understand the messages the children convey through non- verbal cues and are quick to respond to them. Parents and partner professionals gave consistently positive feedback about the service. One parent said that if they had to choose anywhere for their child, it would be this short-breaks service. Parents are confident that their children are safe, happy and well cared for. Parents said that the children really enjoy their short breaks.

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

Staff understand children’s individual needs and vulnerabilities well. They take appropriate action to minimise risks to the children. Individual risk assessments are in place for each child, which provide clear guidance to staff. Staff skilfully de- escalate tricky situations without the use of restraint. There have not been any incidents involving the use of restraint since the last inspection.

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

Social care professionals and parents are confident that the staff manage challenging situations well. The staff sensitively care for the children. There is a positive culture in the home of staff actively seeking children’s wishes and views and acting on these. They support children with additional communication needs to express themselves using sign language, and emotion and choice boards. Staff’s actions signify that every child matters.

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

The home is well equipped with the required specialist equipment to meet children’s individual needs well. This includes a sensory bath, hoists and specialist beds. This equipment is regularly serviced to ensure that it remains safe to use.

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

Children are cared for by a consistent core staff team, supplemented by agency workers when needed. Employment checks for permanent staff are carried out to a good standard. However, the manager does not currently have oversight of checks carried out for agency staff by the recruitment agency. As a result, the manager does not have access to all relevant information relating to agency staff’s suitability to work with children. The manager took prompt action in requesting further information from the recruitment agency during the inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has a good understanding of children’s needs and communicates their high expectations effectively to the staff. They sometimes work alongside staff, providing direct care to the children. This has provided the opportunity for the manager to monitor staff practice and to model the expected standard of care. The level of the manager’s direct involvement means that they have been able to monitor children’s progress first hand and guide staff to adapt their practice in line with children’s changing needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and senior leaders strive to maintain an inclusive environment in which children are well supported to have a voice. They have influenced a positive culture Inspection report for children’s home: SC037986 5 of staff proactively exploring children’s wishes and feelings and encouraging them to make choices.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a wide range of relevant training. This includes specialist training on epilepsy, shunt awareness and Makaton. Staff are further guided on caring for the children through discussions during team meetings and individual supervision sessions. This ensures that staff can confidently meet the children’s complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are well supported by the manager and their colleagues. The manager and senior leaders have been successful in developing a highly motivated staff team. As a result, the children receive consistent care from committed staff who know them well. The service is held in high esteem by children’s parents and social care professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recent refurbishments have contributed to a welcoming, stimulating and comfortable environment for the children. The children make regular use of an accessible garden which contains a variety of suitable play equipment. They really enjoy the wheelchair accessible swing and trampoline.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed to continued development and building further on the high-quality care provided to the children. For example, it is planned for the wider staff team to receive nurture training and training on sensory diet. Inspection report for children’s home: SC037986 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the recruitment of staff safeguards children and minimises potential risks to them. This includes ensuring that they have oversight of employment checks for agency staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)

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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: SC037986 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Time square, Market Street, Bracknell RG12 1JD

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Inspector

Sasha Reid, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC037986 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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