Children's home run by Real Care Support Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 1 Registered provider: Real Care Support

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private provider. It offers care for up to two children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home and the manager registered with Ofsted in October 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. Both children spoke to the inspectors about their experiences living in the home.

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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: not previously inspected

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they like living in the home and are supported well by the staff caring for them. Since the home registered, three children have moved into the home and one child has moved out. Children are helped to move into and on from the home in a planned way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is large and well furnished. The outside area is spacious with a well- maintained garden that provides children with space to play. Children have decorated and personalised their bedrooms to reflect their own tastes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s social workers said that children are happy and that the home has exceeded their expectations with both children making good progress from their starting points. They said that they are kept informed about what is going on for children and receive effective and regular updates.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children struggled to engage with formal education before moving into the home. Work is being carried out with their placing authorities and education professionals to identify the right education provision for them. However, due to external factors, there has been some drift in the right education provisions being identified. Children regularly engage in informal tuition in the home. However, activity plans sometimes take priority, which means that education is not consistent. This limits opportunities to ensure that children are supported to achieve their academic potential.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s time with their family is supported in line with their plans. Families are made to feel welcome at the home. This was particularly important for one child as they were initially struggling to settle due to the distance from their family home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Weekly meetings with children ensure that their views are listened to and acted on by staff. This is done informally, and the manager has oversight of decisions that require extra finances. The children enjoy these meetings and are vocal in their wishes and feelings about the running of the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The routine use of alarms on children’s bedroom doors is not regularly reviewed and agreements from children’s placing authorities are not included in plans. This limits children’s privacy and unnecessarily restricts their movement around the home.

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

Both children say that they feel safe living in the home. They have good relationships with staff and can talk about what is going on for them. The home employs external therapists, who are getting to know the children well through being present in the home and engaging the children with play. Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 3 Children’s risk plans are clear and detailed. They provide information for staff on how to help children if there are incidents. Plans detail the measures that are helpful to each child, and they are written with the individual child in mind. Staff act proactively to respond to incidents and understand how to keep children safe.

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

Children are only held when it is necessary to keep them or others safe. Staff and children involved receive meaningful debriefs to discuss the incident. However, records lack detail about the holds used. This limits management oversight and reduces opportunities for managers to evaluate practice effectively in the home.

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

When children go missing from the home, staff follow the agreed individualised plans and search for them to ensure their safe return home. Children are spoken to on their return and their views have contributed to changes, including increased family time for one child.

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

Staff help children to understand the risks they may be exposed to in the community and online. Recently, work has been carried out to educate children on the legal and moral aspects of how they interact with other children online. Key-work sessions have been carried out to help children learn about safe and respectful relationships.

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

Staff are aware of their safeguarding responsibilities and notify relevant professionals when there are concerns. The manager and staff managed an ongoing safeguarding concern for one child when it emerged that all relevant information had not been shared with them before the child moved in. The manager worked collaboratively with the child’s placing authority to keep the child safe until a more suitable home could be found for them. The manager carried out a lessons-learned exercise with staff and other professionals to identify areas of learning and training to further develop practice in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has an ambitious vision for the home. This is complemented by high expectations for children and what they can achieve. Staff are positive about the manager and state that he provides a supportive environment with good advice and guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has sufficient staff who are suitably qualified to meet the needs of the children. The arrangements for recruitment are robust and staff receive a thorough induction. Staff also receive ongoing training to ensure that they have the right skills to understand and respond to children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel supported in their roles. However, they do not receive regular supervision in line with the organisation’s policy. Team meetings are sometimes used to provide group supervision, but these sessions do not provide opportunities for staff to individually reflect on their practice or identify areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has completed his first quality of care report to review children’s experiences. However, the opinions of parents, placing authority social workers and Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 4 other professionals are not considered in the report. This reduces opportunities to ensure that feedback is being used to develop practice in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 5

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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 education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

maintain regular contact with each child’s education and training provider, including engaging with the provider and the placing authority to support the child’s education and training and to maximise the child’s achievement;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of 2 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 6 exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to appropriate equipment, facilities and resources to support the child’s learning. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s daily routines encourage and promote their engagement in education.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only use devices for the monitoring or surveillance of children if—

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is for the purpose of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the child concerned, or other children;

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Requirement Due date

the child’s placing authority consents in writing to the monitoring or surveillance;

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Requirement Due date

so far as reasonably practicable in the light of the child’s age and understanding, the child is informed in advance of the intention to do the monitoring or surveillance; and

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Requirement Due date

the monitoring or surveillance is no more intrusive than necessary, having regard to the child’s need for privacy. (Regulation 24 (1)(a)(b)(c)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the use of door alarms is only for safeguarding purposes and is agreed by the placing authority social workers. The use of door alarms must be reviewed on a regular basis. 2 July 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating— 2 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 7 the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the report includes the views of those referred to in paragraph 2 and how those views have been considered when evaluating the service.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and

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Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c)) 2 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 8 In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff receive supervision in line with the organisation’s supervision policy.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

details of the child’s behaviour leading to the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of the measure and its duration;

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details of any methods used or steps taken to avoid the need to use the measure;

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Requirement Due date

the name of the person who used the measure (“the user”), and of any other person present when the measure was used;

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Requirement Due date

the effectiveness and any consequences of the use of the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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Requirement Due date

within 5 days of the use of the measure, the registered person or the authorised person adds to the record confirmation that they have spoken to the child about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(iv)) 2 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 9

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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: 2745471 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 17 Rose Terrace, Ashton-on-Ribble, Preston PR2 1EB

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Inspectors

Colin Jones, Social Care Inspector Nicola Rutherford, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2745471 11 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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