Children's Home run by Carbrey Care Hempsted Ltd in Gloucestershire

Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 1 Registered provider: Carbrey Care Hempsted Ltd

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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 by a private provider and offers care for up to four children with social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 2024.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/07/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Before children move into the home, they are provided with a children’s guide welcoming them to the home, which helps them understand what it might be like to live there. Staff visit children to introduce themselves and then children are supported to visit the home, see their bedroom and meet the other children, so they feel less anxious about moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well presented and well decorated and feels homely, with lots of soft furnishings. Children have personalised bedrooms and choose their own furniture. The home gives children a sense of belonging and stability. Flags of different European countries decorated the communal areas of the home at the time of the European football tournament. However, bedroom doors are locked when children are out of the home, which means managers have to unlock them when children return, which detracts from the otherwise homely feel.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have regular meetings where they can express their views, wishes and feelings. Child-friendly records are kept so all children can remind themselves of meeting discussions. Children make choices for meals and share ideas for the home. The role of advocates is explained to children. Although not regularly used, children can access advocates if they wish.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a range of enjoyable activities, both inside and outside the home. Children help staff to plan these activities, so children’s plans align with their interests and hobbies. There are opportunities for children to spend positive time together, for example, two children went shopping and one engages in water sports, which she said was fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff interact positively with children and there are warm conversations, full of encouragement and support. Children say they have built trusting relationships with staff, so they feel relaxed, comfortable and secure in their home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff keep diaries for children and record daily comments and memories for each of them, which capture the positive experiences they share in the home. These are started with children on their first day at the home, and staff read the comments with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress because staff work closely with them to make improvements. One child who was previously out of education is planning to attend full time after being on a reduced timetable, and another child is attending relevant health appointments with staff support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals say there is good communication with leaders and managers and positive plans are made for children moving in. Staff organise positive endings for children and keep in touch with children who have moved out. Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 4

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improvement to be good

Children say they feel safe and can talk to staff and seek support if needed. Staff spend time getting to know children and understanding them, so children feel nurtured and well cared for.

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improvement to be good

Staff take appropriate action during incidents of children going missing or being absent. Relevant professionals are informed and there is always manager oversight. Staff support children to understand the risks and keep safe.

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improvement to be good

When there are concerns about staff practice, managers respond appropriately and swiftly to keep children safe, and report concerns to relevant external professionals. Internal investigations are robust and immediate action is taken to address issues.

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improvement to be good

Children say they have experienced unkind comments in the home from other children, and that these comments are not always addressed by staff effectively. Staff have informed children to report such issues, but more action has been needed to resolve the issues fully. The lack of oversight of the actions taken by staff are not consistent with the provider’s policy.

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improvement to be good

At times, staff struggle to consistently manage boundaries and routines which has led to incidents at night. Children commented on this and said it prevents them from sleeping.

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improvement to be good

Appropriate fire safety arrangements are in place. Staff help children understand risk and the importance of safely leaving the premises when there could be a fire. However, the quality of records relating to fire safety varies, as staff use different processes for recording, which can make monitoring difficult.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers are experienced practitioners and work hard to ensure the home runs smoothly and that children are helped to make progress. Leaders and managers support staff to use a therapeutic approach that promotes positive approaches to children. Regular children’s meetings are held so children can express their views, wishes and feelings. Staff help children to learn from their mistakes and rarely use physical intervention.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers say the staff team is strong and positive relationships are built to ensure the children have security and stability in the home. Leaders and managers identify training for staff, so they have relevant skills to support children. They recognise when there are changes in children’s needs and ensure additional training opportunities are available to staff. Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 5 Leaders and managers act quickly to address staffing issues and poor practice in the home and ensure all staff promote diversity so children feel accepted.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are supported by leaders and managers. Induction experiences are positive, and staff use a therapeutic approach to inform their practice. Staff are positive about the work they do with children. They say leaders, managers and staff work well together to provide good-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure there is sufficient staffing and appropriate ratios of staff to children, and safer recruitment checks are thorough. Managers are strong advocates for children and challenge other professionals when promoting children’s best interests. Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 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

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; 10 August 2024 Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 7 help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

understand and communicate to children that bullying is unacceptable; and

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Requirement Due date

have the skills to recognise incidents or indications of bullying and how to deal with them; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x)(xi)(xii)(xiii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children are given consistent boundaries and routines to help them develop acceptable behaviour.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that children understand bullying is not acceptable so that children can build positive relationships with each other. Also, that staff can recognise bullying behaviour and take appropriate action to address it effectively.

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Recommendation

Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 8  The registered person should ensure that the home environment is nurturing and not institutional. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9) Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 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: 2709670 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Carbrey Care Hempsted Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 3 Ambrose House, Meteor Court, Barnett Way, Barnwood, Gloucester, Gloucestershire GL4 3GG

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Inspectors

Emma Fryer, Social Care Inspector Martin Brown, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2709670 11 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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