Children's home run by Paddock House Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 1 Registered provider: Paddock House Limited

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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 managed by a private provider. It provides care for up to six children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were six children living at the home at the time of the inspection. The inspector spoke to five of them during the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in May 2017.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: 1252120 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2023 Full Good 07/12/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/03/2022 Full Good 15/11/2019 Interim Sustained effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three of the children have lived in the home for two to three years. A stable home life has helped them settle and make progress. When a child moves into the home, the manager makes sure that they can live with the children who already live there. An assessment of needs ensures that the staff team can care for the new child and meet their needs. Planned moves help children to cope with the change.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the children and staff have improved since the last inspection. Staff show a commitment to the children. More of the children say that they have been getting to know staff and are more comfortable speaking to them when they have things on their mind. This means children have staff that they can turn to when they need to talk, helping them at the time they need support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience ups and downs in their relationships with each other. Some children say that they do not want to be around each other, preferring to go to their bedrooms. However, there are group activities and holidays taken outside of the home which the children participate in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children attend school, alternative education provisions or have a tutor coming to the home. Children receive support from staff with their education. Although some arrangements took time to begin, they are now in place. Therefore, children who have gaps in their education are now learning. Some children have taken their GCSE exams this year and this is a big achievement. Staff are proud and have celebrated with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

For those children who smoke cannabis or cigarettes, this has lessened; however, vaping is something that most children do. Currently there is no plan to address this to help educate children about the dangers of vaping. This does not support children to lead healthier lifestyles.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are well supported to develop independent living skills to help them prepare for the future. Some children have taken full advantage of the advice on offer from staff and are working towards their targets. This will guide and help to prepare them for adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff take time to speak to and get to know children’s family members. They encourage families to spend time with their children and where appropriate family members are welcomed to visit the home. This is important for some children who are close to their families and want to spend more time with them. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 4

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

Staff know the key risks and vulnerabilities for the children well, such as substance misuse, offending behaviour or exploitation. They know what action to take, for example if a child goes missing or if there are concerns about negative behaviour between peers. The staff take extra steps to ensure children are supported when children experience more difficulties, for example checking in on them more often and having conversations about how to keep themselves safe.

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

Staff support children when they are in crisis, such as when children self-harm. Staff seek appropriate medical treatment and follow advice from professionals. All the children have access to extra emotional support through child and adolescent mental health services to help them talk about and manage their feelings in a better way. Additionally, staff have conversations with the children about worries and concerns they have for their safety. This helps children to know that staff care about them and helps them to understand why staff are worried about their actions.

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

Staff use their positive relationships with children, together with consequences and rewards, to support children to make better choices. As a result, more restrictive measures such as physical guides or holds are rarely needed. There have been occasions when the manager has been involved in physically holding or guiding a child. When this happens, there is no review of these incidents from a person that was not involved. This means that there is no independent oversight to ensure that the guide or hold is proportionate and used in line with the regulations.

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

Children do go missing sometimes. Staff follow the children’s individual plans and take action to follow, find and contact children when they are away from home. When children are missing for more than two days, the manager asks for a strategy meeting to discuss the safeguarding concern with the wider professional group involved with the child. This helps to coordinate the response to ensure their safety if the child goes missing again.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There is a stable staff team with some sessional workers used. Agency staff do not work at the home, which ensures that the children receive consistency of care, with children knowing the staff caring for them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager supports staff by covering for a staff vacancy. The manager is enthusiastic about what he does and wants the best for the children. The manager has good relationships with both the staff and children. However, through supporting staff to care for the children, this takes him away from his management duties at least twice a week. This impacts on his monitoring and oversight of the home. Consequently, the manager was not aware of the shortfalls found at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 5 There are gaps in information in written paperwork. For example, a child was missing for several days and the staff’s recording does not reflect all the steps taken to find the child and bring them home safely. There are also inconsistencies in the quality and detail in the paperwork. The manager has failed to address this with staff, with the quality impacting on the manager’s oversight of staff practice. Furthermore, the details of staff’s

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

conversations with children are not always recorded and some daily records are brief. If children want to read their records as adults, they will not have a good understanding of their time living at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager receives supervision from the responsible individual. This does not provide the manager with good-quality supervision as the responsible individual does not have the qualification or skills to provide good-quality supervision and to further develop the manager.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Although most staff have a relevant qualification to undertake their role, one member of staff has not been able to provide evidence that they have completed this necessary training. This means that the manager cannot be assured that this staff member is suitably qualified to provide care for the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff work well together as a team. Staff say that they like working at the home. They feel well supported by the manager. Staff receive supervision and attend team meetings to help staff think about their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Feedback from professionals is positive. They say that the children have good care, and that staff know the children well and try hard for them. The manager and staff’s advocacy for the children means that children have the help that they need. Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 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 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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(h)) 20 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (1) (4)(b))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must receive supervision with an appropriately qualified person. 20 September 2024

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it. 20 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 7 The registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure; and

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Requirement Due date

has signed the record to confirm it is accurate; and

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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.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (2) (3)(b)(i)(ii)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, if the manager is involved in using a measure of control, another appointed person needs to have oversight of these incidents to ensure they are appropriate, and the use of control warranted.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home,

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (4)(a)(b)) 20 September 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that, in line with their individual health plans and the ethos of the home, children are offered advice, support and guidance on health and well-being to enhance, and supplement that provided by their school through Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’ page 34, paragraph 7.18)  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 recording. In particular, ensure important information is captured regarding staff actions or conversations with children. (‘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: 1252120 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Paddock House Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: B3 Kingfisher House, Team Valley, Gateshead NE11 0JQ

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Inspector

Miriam Dolman, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1252120 10 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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