Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in New Forest

Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 1 SC461781 Registered provider: New Forest Care Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is one of several homes operated by a private provider. It offers care for up to four children with learning disabilities and additional needs. It provides an integrated service that includes therapy, education and care. The inspectors only inspected the home and not education.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

The home refers to the staff as adults. The report reflects the language used 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/05/2023 Full Good 09/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/01/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness 27/07/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have made progress because of meaningful relationships with adults. Children have formed strong relationships with a vibrant and caring team of adults. One family member described the adults as ‘brimming with enthusiasm’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children live active and full lives. Adults encourage the children to pursue interests and develop their skills and talents. Children have music lessons, play football and benefit from a range of new experiences. These include going to football matches, stadium tours and to music festivals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are involved in their care. The manager and adults seek their views and meet with them regularly. They can make decisions about their activities, meals and the decor of their rooms. The children’s rooms are highly personalised to their interests and passions. One child’s room has recently been redecorated in the colours of his favourite football team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are attending education and doing well. They enjoy going to school, and education is promoted in the home. After one child’s stay ended at the home, leaders ensured that they continued to attend school. They completed their education and sat their exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, the home has been completely redecorated. It provides a bright and well-maintained homely space for children to live and play. This has had a positive impact in relation to the children’s sense of belonging and them taking pride in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Adults promote independence with children. Children help with the housework, which supports them to develop their independent living skills. Adults encourage children to take positive risks and develop friendships away from the home. One child regularly goes to the local skateparks and is taking lessons to learn how to use a skateboard. These opportunities are helping them to develop social skills and friendships.

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

Adults understand where children may be vulnerable. They are well trained and responding to situations where children may be at risk. If children express their emotions through behaviours that are potentially harmful, adults involve relevant health professionals to ensure that children receive the help they need to cope and stay safe.

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

Adults sometimes use physical intervention to keep children and others safe. They are well trained and confident in carrying this out. Adults speak with children after incidents to understand underlying reasons for behaviours of distress. The manager has strong systems to monitor the use of these interventions and uses these to identify patterns Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 4 and to inform practice. Adults are supported through helpful ‘clinics’ to explore with therapists the underlying reasons for behaviours. The use of physical intervention is reducing with children.

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

Adults are confident that they can raise safeguarding concerns and know they will be listened to. Leaders investigate practice concerns promptly and share findings with the local authority designated officer. Safeguarding concerns are discussed at the end of every day and adults have opportunities to talk openly about concerns.

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

Adults help children to identify their emotions in a way that helps them to find safe ways to express their feelings. Children receive regular therapy from therapists in the organisation. As a result, children are developing more tools to communicate their feelings, which has led to a reduction in behaviour incidents.

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

Adults help children to understand the house rules and how to behave well in the community. Adults speak regularly with children about these. They use incentives to motivate children to stick to the rules. When rules are broken, adults work with children to help them understand others’ feelings and how to make amends. As a result, children are developing their social skills and building positive relationships.

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

There are alarms on children’s bedroom doors. The organisation has a clear policy on the use of these. The manager has obtained consent for their use, but no individual plans and assessment of risk. The need for surveillance is not individually reviewed for children to ensure that the alarms are only used when necessary.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The new registered manager has provided stability and sustained improvements in the quality of care for children. The manager works closely with the deputy manager to provide highly effective oversight of the care provided to children. The managers understand the children well and are deeply involved in their lives.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults feel well supported. They describe the managers as being ‘supportive’ and ‘available’. The team was working across two homes. However, since this has stopped, staffing has been more stable. The manager has made changes which have encouraged strong teamwork. As a result, morale is high. Adults have regular supervision. A new supervision template has been introduced to provide consistent structure to supervision, and this ensures a strong focus on their work with children, adult well-being and development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Adults are well trained to carry out their roles. They understand their roles and receive regular training to enhance their knowledge and skills in providing effective care to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Communication with professionals and families is strong. One social care professional reported effective communication. They said that the manager is responsive and ‘all over it’. Adults routinely share key information with professionals and family members. Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 5 The manager has good oversight of the home. They use monitoring systems well to ensure that there is a high quality of care for children. Leaders have recognised when the independent visitor has not provided sufficient scrutiny. They have reviewed this and appointed a new visitor. The manager has development plans in place to further improve the quality of care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s moves into the home are carefully planned. Children are introduced to the home through visits. The manager carefully assesses their needs, and their moves are well managed. Leaders keep children’s placements under review. When one child needed to move on outside of their plan, this was carefully considered. Adults who knew the child well sensitively helped the child to move into their new home and say goodbye. Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that the use of surveillance equipment is individually assessed for children and kept under regular review to ensure that it is necessary. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.16)

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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: SC461781 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton, Hampshire SO45 6AA

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Inspector

Mark Dawkins, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 8 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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