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

Inspection report for children's home: SC035593 1 SC035593 Registered provider: New Forest Care Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and run by a private organisation. It provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2019, and is appropriately 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: 16 January 2024

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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: SC035593 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2024 Full Good 07/06/2022 Full Good 09/02/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 16/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC035593 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home currently provides care for 40 weeks a year for one child and 52 weeks a year for another child who has recently moved in. Children receive nurturing care from staff who are committed to supporting them through their challenges and improving their longer-term outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to form trusting relationships with staff, through relationship-based practice which has enabled them to build confidence and manage difficult emotions. One child has made significant progress since moving in and has grown in confidence and is now able to spend time with staff. The other child is at the start of this journey and has already benefited from the environment where staff strive to give them a sense of belonging and permanence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help the children to manage their day with structured routines, which are presented in a way that children can understand and engage with. As a result, one child is very settled and the child who is new to the home is starting to learn about how to engage positively with the routine of a home, for the first time.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend education. One child is receiving support to prepare for exams in the next school year. The other child is being helped to settle into a new school, taking into consideration their experiences and adjusting timetables to enable them to engage more successfully.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff celebrate and praise children’s progress. Children have reward charts and individualised prizes for both big and small goals. A daily chart helps the children to understand there will be stability and predictability in their day, which is contributing to them being able to settle. Children can look at their charts to see their achievements and measure their own success.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff ensure that children have new experiences and celebrate important childhood events. A birthday party is being planned for one child, who has chosen the theme and been helped to make party bags. In addition, there has been careful consideration around enabling the child to have new friends to join the celebration, at a level and pace which suits the child’s current needs.

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

Managers and staff focus on helping the children to feel safe and secure. A range of approaches have been developed to navigate complex behaviours, by introducing clear boundaries while providing nurturing support. This has helped one child to start responding more positively to staff. Inspection report for children's home: SC035593 4 There have been a high number of incidents involving physical interventions and allegations. Learning from each incident has been explored and practice continuously reviewed, to ensure strategies to manage behaviours are adapted to meet the child’s individual needs. This approach is proving effective as allegations and incidents have reduced, and physical interventions have significantly reduced in duration.

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

Placement plans for the home are clear and reflect the views of the children. Safety plans are individualised and detail children’s risks, strengths and vulnerabilities and guide staff in how to keep children safe. However, these documents do not always contain guidance for staff to consistently follow when teaching children about staying safe and about not using discriminatory language.

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

Complaints made by children are listened to by the manager. Concerns are recorded and taken seriously, and children are kept up to date about what action has been taken. When complaints involve allegations, managers liaise with external professionals to agree protocols to understand why a child may make allegations in response to staff setting boundaries. Incidents are thoroughly investigated and sensitive work with the child is carried out to support them to explore different ways in which they can communicate their feelings, to increase their feeling of safety.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is committed and dedicated and continuously strives to ensure systems are in place to help children receive the best possible care and to provide experiences that they may not have been able to have before coming to live at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has faced many challenges since the last inspection. Managers have worked hard to prioritise supporting the staff and children to not only stay safe but also to start progressing towards a shared ambition for children to be happy and settled. Managers and staff have shown resilience and adaptability during a difficult time, managing high- risk behaviours while always having the child’s welfare and best interests at the heart of care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recently been through a period of change in the arrangements of staff’s working week, to make improvements to the service that can be offered to children. The consultation with staff was carefully approached by managers and, as a result, staff have been able to adapt to this adjustment with positivity, continuing to provide consistent and stable support for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is an advocate for children’s relationships with their families and works quickly to help children spend positive time with their family. Parents speak warmly about the home and how well staff have worked with their children. One parent said their child loves their bedroom, and that the home is ‘lovely and the staff do an amazing job’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is proud of the staff team and what has been achieved, including for children who have made significant progress in their personal development and have Inspection report for children's home: SC035593 5 successfully moved out of the home. Staff are positive about the support from the managers and how they work together as a team. They benefit from a range of training, coaching and supervisions, and managers work alongside them when additional support is needed. Inspection report for children's home: SC035593 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that all children receive proactive direct work, targeted to their specific needs, to provide them with opportunities to explore their personal development needs and to help them understand how to keep themselves safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

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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: SC035593 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

Shirin White, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC035593 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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