Children's Home run by Compass Children’s Homes Ltd in Wolverhampton

Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 1 Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for three children with learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted on 9 May 2024. She is currently working towards a relevant level 5 qualification in leadership and management.

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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: 1254840 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/05/2021 Full Good 11/12/2019 Full Requires improvement to be good 28/02/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness 24/09/2018 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home closed in August 2022 for structural work to be carried out to the building. The home reopened in October 2023. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home. Inspectors spent time with both children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Care planning arrangements for children moving into the home are excellent. The manager’s child-centred approach ensures that the plans for children to move into the home are individualised according to their needs. For one child, this meant that staff from his previous home moved to this home with him. When the second child moved in, the registered manager ensured that staff had the skills to meet their needs. The child already living in the home was well prepared for the child moving in. One child’s social worker described their child’s move as ‘amazing’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have built trusted and secure relationships with staff. There are warm and nurturing interactions between the staff and the children. Staff know the children well and they have a good knowledge and understanding of their individual needs, including their likes and dislikes. As a result, children are provided with individualised care and support and both children have made good progress in a short space of time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are equipped to meet the children’s complex health needs. Both children are registered with local health services. Staff are creative in supporting the children to attend health appointments. For example, staff have made introductory visits with the children before any appointments. When this has not been possible, staff have made plans for an optician to come to the home so the children can have their eyes tested in an environment they feel comfortable in. This supports children to maintain their physical and emotional well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children attend school and are making good progress in all aspects of their learning. Children’s school attendance is good. Staff attend school with the children and provide support to children while they are in school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s communication styles. The staff team has adopted a whole communication approach and uses various communication tools such as symbols, signs and speech, social stories and communication books to support children to express their views and ensure that their voices are heard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The registered manager and staff make considerable efforts to promote positive relationships between children and their families. Staff create a warm and friendly environment to ensure that family members feel welcomed into the home. One parent said, ‘I enjoy seeing my [name of child] at the home.’ Another child’s social worker said their child’s parent is happy with the care her child receives. Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 4

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

Staff work hard to keep the children safe. The children have good relationships with staff and this strengthens their feelings of safety. The manager and staff fully understand their safeguarding roles and responsibilities and implement these effectively.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the children’s needs and the steps to follow to keep them safe. As a result of their understanding, staff can identify factors that are causing a child to become unsettled and use their knowledge to de-escalate behaviour that challenges to reduce incidents and protect the child.

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

Since the home reopened, there have been no incidents of the children being absent or missing from home. Furthermore, there have been no significant events, complaints or allegations.

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

There are clear arrangements in place to ensure the safe storage and administration of medication. Due to the children’s complex health needs, they are both prescribed a range medication that needs to be taken at different times. The staff have a good understanding of the children’s health needs and the importance of their medication. There have been two recent medication issues that have been addressed by the registered manager. Action plans have been put in place to prevent further errors.

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

There are effective systems to monitor health and safety. Staff carry out regular health and safety checks including in relation to fire safety. The home is safe and free from hazards.

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

Safer recruitment practice helps to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. This ensures that children’s safety and welfare are promoted.

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

Staff only physically intervene with children as a last resort. This is to prevent children from harming themselves and others. The registered manager completes a report following an incident; however, she has not ensured that all children have the opportunity for a debrief when they have been held. This does not ensure that children are able to understand the reasons why they were held or share their views. This is particularly important given the needs and vulnerabilities of the children living in the home.

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

Children’s risk assessments have recently been reviewed to make them individualised. The implementation of individualised written risk assessments is in its infancy. However, the staff know the children well and this has not placed children at risk of harm.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The provider has met the recommendation from the previous inspection. There is now a suitably experienced registered manager in place. The registered manager is enthusiastic and child-focused and has high aspirations for the children living in the home. Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 5 The home has a stable and committed team of staff who know the children well. The registered manager has worked hard to create a positive working environment and staff speak with enthusiasm about working in the home. They feel valued and supported by managers. This contributes to children being provided with consistent, positive and child- centred care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager understands the home’s strengths and weaknesses. She has effective monitoring systems in place and uses these to continually review and drive forward improvements in the quality of care for children. Furthermore, she is developing an additional monitoring tool to track children’s progress and to identify areas for development in the children’s independence skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the home reopened, there has been a new responsible individual. They are present in the home and have a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas for development. The responsible individual has already implemented changes to improve the quality of care provided to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has effective working relationships with other professionals. Children’s social workers speak positively about the level of care provided. One social worker said, ‘The manager and staff keep me updated and the communication is great.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager communicates well with families so that they are kept up to date about their child’s progress. Parents spoke with enthusiasm about the home. One parent said, ‘The home provides my child with opportunities I could not.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff are provided with regular supervision. However, the quality of the supervision is variable and the registered manager does not set or review clear objectives for staff. This is a missed opportunity to address and develop staff practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

All staff have completed the organisation’s mandatory training. However, the registered manager has not ensured that all staff have completed their child-specific training, as outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. This does not ensure that all staff are equipped to support the children’s individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is visited each month by an independent person to review and scrutinise the quality of care. However, the independent visitor does not always see the children and when they are seen, the visitor does not gather their feedback. This hinders the regulator, as well as the manager, in monitoring the service. Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 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

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)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This particularly refers to children having the opportunity to discuss their views and feelings following an incident of physical intervention. 18 July 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should continually and actively assess the risks to each child and the arrangements in place to protect them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should ensure that staff can access appropriate facilities and resources to support their training needs and should understand the key role they play in the training and development of staff in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 53, paragraph 10.11)  The registered person should ensure that systems are in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision that helps them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)  The registered person should ensure that the independent person undertakes visits to

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Recommendations

the home in line with regulation, seeks children’s views and gains their feedback. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 65, paragraph 15.5) Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 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: 1254840 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Compass Children’s Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3 Rayns Way, Syston, Leicester LE7 1PF

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Inspectors

Lydia Isaac, Social Care Inspector Joanne Hawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 1254840 9 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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