Children's home run by Buckinghamshire Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 1 Registered provider: Buckinghamshire County Council

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by the local authority. The home is registered to provide care for up to five children who may experience social, emotional, behavioural or mental health difficulties. Four children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 17 March 2021.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

05/07/2023 Full Good 09/11/2022 Full Outstanding 06/10/2021 Full Good 25/09/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 3

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outstanding

Children enjoy positive and meaningful relationships with staff. The staff empower the children to voice their views and manage any challenges that they encounter. This helps the children to confidently share their views and explore who they want to be. As a result, children trust and respect staff. They feel happy, safe and supported.

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outstanding

Staff help the children to make exceptional progress. They are ambitious for the children and encourage them to take pride in their achievements. Staff share in the children’s celebrations. When children face difficulties, staff provide guidance, assisting them to overcome challenges and motivating them to reach their full potential. One child has exceeded expectations in their school achievements, independent living skills and ability to positively manage difficult feelings and emotions.

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outstanding

Support for children to build and maintain relationships with their families is excellent. Staff listen to children’s views and handle difficult situations with sensitivity. This enables the children to develop meaningful relationships with people who are important to them, resulting in life-changing outcomes.

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outstanding

Parents are happy with the quality of care provided to their children. Parents value the progress that children have made since moving into the home and appreciate the open communication with staff. One parent praised the staff for their ability to connect with their child. They felt that staff have ‘found the key’ to understanding and communicating effectively with them. Another parent described the communication with the staff as ‘fantastic’.

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outstanding

Staff advocate for the children to ensure that they access the most suitable school for them. Managers are skilled at navigating agreements for short-term and long-term educational plans for the children. Furthermore, managers actively seek out additional individualised opportunities to bridge any learning gaps based on each child’s abilities. These opportunities include online courses, tutoring and practical experiences to facilitate effective learning.

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outstanding

Staff support children to explore their identity. They promote inclusivity and enable children to be who they want to be. Staff are passionate about seeking the best possible opportunities for the children and actively support them to embrace their cultural heritage and participate in community activities. For example, one child recently visited their place of worship and has been helped to make connections with a child living in a children’s home in South Asia. Another child is taking part in an international competition, representing the European country of their family’s heritage. Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 4

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outstanding

Staff and managers know how to keep children safe. Staff have completed extensive training in safeguarding and the therapeutic model of care used in the home. Staff are skilled at helping the children to learn about how to stay safe, manage their feelings and learn strategies to deal with situations more effectively. Staff go above and beyond to better understand the intricacies of each situation and continually find ways of improving the life experiences of children.

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outstanding

When incidents happen, staff respond quickly and with confidence. Staff are skilled at dynamically managing complex situations to ensure that the children are kept safe and receive the specialist care that they need. Learning for staff and children continues after each incident and results in positive changes in practice. Behaviours such as children going missing from the home have stopped because of the support that staff provide.

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outstanding

Plans about how to manage risk are extensive and individual to each child’s needs. Staff allow children to make informed choices while following risk management strategies. Staff use key-work sessions to help children reflect. These sessions are effective due to the knowledge that staff have and their trusting relationships with children.

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outstanding

When there are incidents of bullying, these are addressed quickly and robustly. Children are helped to understand the impact of their behaviour on others and taught about more appropriate ways to manage their emotions. As a result, the children in the home enjoy positive and rewarding relationships with each other.

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outstanding

When children move into the home, they settle quickly. Staff closely examine the children’s patterns of behaviour to gain insight into their experiences and provide individualised support. If expert advice is needed, staff and managers actively seek further guidance from external professionals.

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outstanding

The home has a dedicated Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) worker who visits the home weekly to offer a therapeutic service to the children and staff. This has had a positive impact and improved the children’s mental health. In addition, CAMHS workers have completed work with family members to further support relationships with their children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is a stable and effective management structure in place. Monitoring systems cover every aspect of the home, and information gathered is studied to develop an understanding of how the home is performing. The manager has high standards and high aspirations for what the children can be supported to achieve. The manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 5 understands the strengths of the service and works creatively to provide the best possible care to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has particularly good oversight of key-work sessions, the resourcing of online courses and how staff are teaching children to become more independent.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive continuous support from managers. This ensures that a consistently high quality of care is provided. The home uses a therapeutic practice model, which is informed by research and is present in every interaction that staff have with children. The home manager has worked alongside a clinical psychologist to research and produce a guidance booklet on the implementation of this model, which has also been shared with other services to help improve practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Managers work proactively with staff, taking a collaborative approach to individual and service development. Managers recognise individual potential and encourage staff to undertake additional training in particular areas. Staff become experts in their lead roles. They share knowledge and lead practice in the team and share their expertise with other children’s homes. As a result of the investment in the team, staff feel valued and staffing levels are stable.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is spacious, welcoming and filled with photos of the children and staff making memories. Children’s rooms are uniquely personalised and reflect their individual identities. However, some bedrooms need some repair and redecoration. This has not impacted on the quality of care that children receive. Managers are aware of the work that is needed and are in the process of addressing this, although this has not been completed in a timely way. Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s home is an environment that supports children’s physical, mental and emotional health. In particular, they should ensure that repair and decoration work is completed in a timely manner, and any issues in securing maintenance resources are escalated appropriately. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)

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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: 2517299 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Buckinghamshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Buckinghamshire Council, Chief Executive, Walton Street Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury HP20 1UA

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Inspectors

Shirin White, Social Care Inspector Lisa O’Donovan, Regulatory Inspection Manager Inspection report for children’s home: 2517299 8 and inspects 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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