Children's Home run by Oracle Care Limited in Bedford

Inspection report for children’s home: SC484114 1 SC484114 Registered provider: Oracle Care 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 three children.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023 and holds a relevant qualification at level 5.

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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: SC484114 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/01/2024 Full Good 09/11/2021 Full Good 13/11/2019 Full Good 14/06/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC484114 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children living in the home spoke with the inspector. The manager was present during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children talk about feeling cared for by staff, who they see as part of their family. Children’s family members and professionals agree that their children are safer since living at the home. The manager has good oversight of the home, and staff say that they feel well supported.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager and staff are proud of the home. They work hard to make it a welcoming and cosy environment for children. The children have spaces where they can choose to spend time alone if they want. They can also sit with staff and watch their favourite television shows. Children’s pictures are displayed on the walls and up the stairway. Their bedrooms are personalised with letters and cards from their family and staff members.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children and staff have fun together outside the home. Children enjoy trips to the seaside. They visit the cinema, theme parks and enjoy local activities, such as Halloween parties. This helps children to feel part of their wider community and enhances their sense of belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and the manager work well alongside social workers and education professionals to support children effectively with their education. When one child moved into the home, they had not felt safe enough to attend education for a long period. Since moving into the home, their attendance has increased significantly. The child’s designated safeguarding lead said that this is down to the staff’s ‘hard work and strong relationship- building’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children spend meaningful time with their family and friends. Staff understand the importance of building and maintaining children’s relationships with their families. Family members are positive about the care the manager and staff show their children. One family member described their child as ‘a different child’ and said that they are so much happier now. Another family member spoke about how the manager has gone ‘above and beyond’ in arranging for their child to spend time with their wider family.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff speak of children with warmth and compassion. They have carried out some sensitive work with children. However, this work is not consistently recorded in a child- friendly way. The language used can miss the significance of children’s earlier experiences of abuse and harm. This is not in line with the therapeutic ethos outlined in the home’s statement of purpose. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484114 4

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

Children say they feel safe. Social workers agree that children are kept safe and are offered consistent care by the staff.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home. If a child goes missing, staff are tenacious and creative in the strategies they use to bring the child home. Children are welcomed back warmly, with clean bedding and reassurance. One child’s social worker praised the ‘amazing work’ that staff have carried out with her child around child sexual exploitation and going missing from care.

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

Staff confidently understand children’s vulnerabilities. They talk to children about what they are worried about. Strategies to help keep children safe are clearly set out in children’s individual risk assessments, which are reviewed frequently. Children have strong relationships with staff. One child’s social worker said that this was a significant factor in a child’s deprivation of liberty order being revoked.

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

Children feel listened to. Staff seek and act on children’s views. As a result, children feel that they have some control over their lives. When staff listened to a child about not using language which depersonalised them, the child said, ‘It made me feel like I was worth something after all.’

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

Physical intervention has only been used once this inspection year. Staff look beyond the children’s behaviour. With the help of a clinical psychologist, they try to understand and empathise with how the children are feeling. This helps staff to meet the children’s attachment needs.

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

Staff’s use of consequences is not always consistently proportionate or therapeutic. In addition, time limits for consequences are not always clear, and children are not consistently offered restorative alternatives. The manager has not challenged staff around this area of practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is a tenacious advocate for the children. She has high expectations of the quality of care that she expects staff and professionals to provide to the children. She is supported by a warm and approachable responsible individual. The responsible individual carries out comprehensive supervision sessions with the manager which support and challenge her in equal measure.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff consistently say that they are very well supported by the registered manager. They enjoy working at the home. Staff receive regular and effective supervision, which is enhanced by regular team meetings. Furthermore, staff benefit from additional opportunities to reflect on their work during clinical consultations. This helps staff to feel fully supported in their roles and with their continual professional development. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484114 5 The manager ensures that new staff are motivated throughout the induction and probation process. This gives staff a sense of being appreciated and valued. Consequently, staff morale appears high.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are provided with a balance of online and face-to-face training. They are trained to understand and respond to the needs of the children. Learning from this training is embedded in practice through team meetings and clinical consultations. Staff are given opportunities to further develop their skills through leading team meetings around specific areas of research and learning.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager and her staff have good working relationships with professionals. These professionals, such as social workers, education professionals and clinical staff, consistently praise the manager and her staff’s communication and commitment to the children. Children have a wide network of relationships with adults. This helps to keep them safe and increases their relational resilience. This support will help to equip children with the skills they will need for adulthood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has met the requirement from the previous inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: SC484114 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is led and managed in a way that delivers the ethos, outcomes and approach set out in the home’s statement of purpose. (‘Guide to the Children s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 25, paragraph 10.4)  The registered person should ensure that any consequences used to address poor behaviour are restorative in nature. In particular, there should be regular management scrutiny to ensure that consequences are fair and time-limited and that children are offered the opportunity to carry out restorative work. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.38)

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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: SC484114 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 and 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Chelsea Lightfoot

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Inspector

Majella Russell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC484114 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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