Children's home run by Park Blue Homes Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2738393 1 Registered provider: Park Blue Homes Limited Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to three children. At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home, who are siblings.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager left in April 2024. A new manager has been appointed, who started in August 2024. She is in the process of completing her application to register with Ofsted.

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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: 14 November 2023

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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: 2738393 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2738393 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children living in the home were seen and spoken to by the inspector.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff provide children with experiences and opportunities which allow them to grow, develop and make progress. They nurture children’s creativity and imagination.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children with activities and are engaged in their interests. One child says they would rate the home as ‘five stars’. Staff support children to bring their ideas to fruition, including putting on a circus and designing an escape room. One child enjoys cheerleading. The other child prefers to spend time with their friends, who are welcomed into the home by staff. Both children enjoy sleepovers with friends, which helps them to make and sustain friendships. Children enjoy structured outdoor activities, such as kayaking and paddle boarding with the provider’s activity worker.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Both children attend school and enjoy that they can walk there on their own. One child has had difficulties with regular attendance. The school’s designated teacher says that staff maintain good communication with the school and there is a positive working relationship to improve attendance.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy an annual holiday. Over the summer, they went on a trip abroad. This offered the opportunity for children to learn more about a new culture. However, there is a lack of consideration of the children’s own culture and identity and how to promote and support these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is welcoming. Photos and certificates are displayed on the walls, which celebrates the children’s achievements and reminds them of positive memories. Children have helped to create a new video guide for the home, which includes the children sharing some of the positives of the home.

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

Children benefit from positive and trusting relationships with staff. As a result, children share their worries and concerns. This allows staff to offer support or advice. Staff have nurturing and caring conversations about important issues to help children to improve their safety and well-being. Due to these positive relationships, behaviour in the home is well managed.

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

Staff understand their responsibilities to keep children safe. They act when there are concerns. Staff get to know children’s friendship groups and check up on them when they are out and about. Due to this proactive approach, concerns are identified quickly and managed before risk escalates further. Staff support children to take age-appropriate risks, for example through increasing independence outside of the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2738393 4 Staff create safety plans when there are concerns about risk. These are reviewed following incidents, and managers ensure that staff know what action they need to take. Incidents are reviewed for learning, and managers review action taken by staff. This is done well for most incidents. However, there are gaps in consistency and quality of this over the summer period as it is not always clear that senior managers have had oversight of the concerns.

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

Thorough safer recruitment processes are in place.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, there have been several management changes, and there has been no registered manager since April 2024. Clear interim arrangements were put in place. Therefore, there continued to be support for children and staff. A core group of staff provided stability and consistency for children during this period. There is a clear induction process for new starters, which sets expectations and clarifications around the ethos. This helps recent starters to settle in and begin to build meaningful relationships with the children. A new manager has been appointed and is getting to know the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff enjoy working in the home and feel supported by their colleagues and managers. They have a good understanding of the home’s ethos and speak about everyone working towards the same goal. Staff receive training that is relevant to their role. Supervision is reflective and helps staff to explore how best to support children, and the impact of work on them. Practice issues are raised and discussed openly when necessary. There is a focus on employee wellness to support and build resilience in the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Plans and documentation to help staff support children are clear and focus on what staff can do to help and care for children. These documents contain clear and child-friendly language. This contrasts with some of the reports from incidents, where language used holds the child responsible for risky situations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff and managers are making positive progress to embed the ethos and therapeutic approach in the home. Regular support helps staff to understand what they are doing and why. Inspection report for children’s home: 2738393 5

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s plans reflect their identity and culture and how staff can support and promote these. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 14, paragraph 3.2)  The registered person should ensure that they continue to review the language used in documents so that it always reflects the therapeutic approach in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that reflection and learning from incidents are clear, including how senior managers have overseen them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: 2738393 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Park Blue Homes Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 38 Freemans Way, Harrogate HG3 1DH

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2738393 7 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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