Children's home run by WS Project Ltd

Inspection report for children’s home: 2756016 1 Registered provider: WS Project Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned and provides care for up to two children with learning disabilities and who experience associated social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, one child was living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted when the home opened in March 2024 and is suitability qualified.

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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: 2756016 2

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the home opened, two children have moved into the home. One child has moved on from the home because staff were unable to keep them safe. At the time of this inspection, one child was living in the home. The child is making progress. They are building positive relationships with staff, engaging in education daily and engaging in therapeutic support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to sustain nurturing and trusting relationships with the child. Staff have been effective in helping the child to discuss how they are feeling and supporting the child to manage their emotions. As a result, incidents in the home are rare. The child says that they feel happy and safe living in the home. They said that they would rate the home as ‘nine and a half out of 10’. The child said that the best thing about the home is the people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of children’s education. The child does not currently attend an education setting. The manager has been a strong advocate for the child, communicating with the social worker and education professionals to ensure that the child will have access to education that will meet their needs as soon as possible. While education is being sought, staff have been proactive in developing daily education activities which are in line with the child’s education, health and care plan targets. This ensures that the child continues to stay engaged with learning and provides structure and routine for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the child to develop their own hobbies and interests. Staff have supported the child to enjoy a wide range of activities, such as trips to the seaside, wildlife park and museum. This supports the child to have fun, make friends and helps to improve their self-esteem.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the child to maintain good physical and emotional health and well-being. Staff support the child to access specialist services and seek support from medical professionals when required. An in-house clinical team supports the staff by offering regular training, consultation and guidance on how to best meet the child’s needs. Medication is safely stored, and records are maintained on the administration of medication. This means that the child’s health and well-being are promoted.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children are given opportunities to share their wishes and feelings in relation to the matters affecting their care and welfare. Staff encourage children to participate in formulating their own care and placement plans. Staff ensure that children’s aspirations are incorporated into their plans, including the actions that the child and staff need to take to meet their goals. This ensures that children participate in the decision-making that affects their lives. Inspection report for children’s home: 2756016 3 The staff support the child to spend time with their family. This ensures that the child continues to build relationships and attachments with the people who are significant to them. The child’s social worker confirmed that supporting family relationships is a strength of the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is generally clean and tidy. The lounge and dining area are warm and welcoming. Staff encourage children to personalise their bedrooms and participate in the decoration of the home. However, some areas of the home need attention. For example, the front driveway and back patio need weeding, and some windows need to be cleaned. This detracts from the homely feel and the nurturing environment.

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

Overall, safeguarding practices are effective. Staff know the child well. They have a good understanding of the child’s triggers, behaviours and risks. They follow detailed, regularly updated risk assessments and behaviour management plans to mitigate risk and keep the child safe. Managers are confident in their decision-making when they are unable to keep children safe. As a result, incidents in the home have reduced.

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

Staff respond quickly when children are away from the home without authority. They follow robust missing-from-home plans, searching for children and consulting with police until children are found. When staff are concerned about associated risks, such as grooming, staff promptly share their concerns and attend multi-agency meetings to develop strategies to mitigate risk. This approach to partnership working helps to promote children’s safety.

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

The manager takes prompt action when there are complaints from children. He ensures that children are quickly responded to in different communication formats, to support children’s understanding of the outcome of their complaint. This helps children to feel listened to and gives them confidence to raise complaints in the future. However, there has been one occasion when the manager failed to follow the home’s allegations policy. The manager did not inform the local authority designated officer when a child made an allegation against staff. Police spoke to the child about the allegation and the social worker was informed, so the impact on the child was minimal. However, failure to consistently follow safeguarding policies has the potential to put vulnerable children at risk.

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

On one occasion, staff have used physical intervention, as a last resort, to keep a child safe and to prevent considerable damage to property. The manager reviewed the incident to ensure that the intervention used was necessary and proportionate.

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

Staff use rewards and consequences to reinforce positive behaviour from children. While consequences are rarely used, they are not always restorative in nature. The manager’s review of these has not identified this. The child’s views about consequences are not sought, and no direct work is carried out with the child to encourage more positive behaviours. This inconsistent approach will not support children to learn the impact of their behaviours on themselves and others. Inspection report for children’s home: 2756016 4 Staff talk to the child about important topics, such as internet safety and healthy relationships. This assists the child to understand their risks, be more informed and helps them to keep themselves safe. It also supports children’s welfare and well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is caring and committed. He is supported by a competent and highly visible and involved responsible individual. The managers and staff share high aspirations for the child to progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff feel well supported by the management team. There are effective arrangements in place for staff induction and practice-related supervision. There are also regular reflective team meetings and consultations with the clinical team. The manager takes action to address any issues around staff performance. This supports staff to work as a team, which promotes consistent care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager ensures that staff receive training to meet children’s individual needs. Staff have a variety of skills, experience and qualifications. This ensures that all staff have the skills and training necessary to work with the child.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The accuracy of records is not always consistent. This affects the ability of key workers and managers to have oversight of children’s incidents and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers’ monitoring systems for the home are not always effective. While they have a good working knowledge of the home and the child, their monitoring does not consistently identify shortfalls and errors in the children’s records. However, the registered manager has a good understanding of the home’s strengths and areas of development. Home and workforce development plans are in place which demonstrate high ambition for the continuous development of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has built positive relationships with professionals. This ensures effective communication and means that children receive the care that they need. Feedback received from professionals and parents is positive about the communication they receive from staff and the quality of the care that children receive. Inspection report for children’s home: 2756016 5

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12(1)(2)(a)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that they consistently follow the home’s safeguarding policy and procedures. All allegations must be clearly recorded and shared with the local authority designated officer. 22 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b)(2)(h))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, the registered person must ensure that their monitoring systems provide consistent, effective oversight of the quality of care that children receive. 22 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2756016 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing environment that meets the needs of the children. Specifically, all areas of the home should be clean, and external areas should be maintained to a good standard. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature, to help children recognise the impact of their behaviour on themselves, other children, the staff caring for them and the wider community. In addition, the manager should review the effectiveness of any consequences used. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 9.38)  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear

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Recommendations

recording. Staff should record information about individual children in a non- stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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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: 2756016 7

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Inspector

Sonia Sullivan, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2756016 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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