Children's home run by Bristol City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 1 Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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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 by a local authority and is registered to provide care for up to three children. At the time of this inspection, three children were living in the home. Another child lived in the home between February and March 2024.

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Information about this children’s home

The previous registered manager resigned on 1 September 2024. A new manager is in post and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager was not present during the inspection but contributed by telephone. In his absence, the inspection was led by the assistant manager and team manager.

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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: 28 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: 2656731 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

28/11/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 22/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff at this home are skilled at building positive and trusting relationships with children. These relationships help children settle at the home and make progress. Children say that they feel happy living here and that they feel able to talk to staff openly.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are aspirational for children and provide flexible and creative support to help them attend and achieve in their education. When there are barriers to children attending education, staff work effectively with education professionals to ensure that children have the right support to help them overcome these. This positive and bespoke approach by staff has enabled children to re-engage in education and to achieve educationally.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s day-to-day health needs are generally well met by staff. However, one child had several immunisations outstanding. This was addressed during the inspection and an appointment was booked for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children have specific health or medical needs, these are well understood by staff. One child has been supported effectively by staff to better manage a long-term health condition. This has included making healthy choices in terms of diet and exercise and has reduced the impact of the condition on their day-to-day life.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Moves to and from the home are well planned and children’s needs and risks are considered in detail before any move in is agreed. Children are able to visit the home and meet staff and the children who live in the home before moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child lived at the home for a short period of time before they moved out more quickly than intended. Despite the short notice, staff planned the move well. Staff were well supported by managers to reflect on the ending to this child’s placement, and lessons learned are Identified to inform future practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to take part in a range of different activities. Two children recently went abroad on individual holidays with staff, which was a positive experience for them. Staff take photographs of children’s holidays and other significant events, and these are collated into albums for them when they move out. However, these albums could be completed more frequently with added context and detail so that they capture the children’s memories in a more meaningful way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home environment is warm and welcoming with pictures of children and staff throughout. When children do not want their photographs on show, staff include them by displaying photographs the children have taken of trips out and of food they have cooked. Children’s bedrooms are personalised, clean and tidy. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 4

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

The trusting relationships that staff have with children contribute to them being kept safe. Children said that they feel safe living at this home and that they can speak to staff about any worries that they have.

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

Staff know children well and recognise the signs when they are feeling upset or unsettled. Staff are skilled at de-escalating situations and distracting children to prevent incidents escalating.

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

Children rarely go missing from the home, with two incidents taking place since the previous inspection. When children do go missing staff respond appropriately, reporting them missing and looking for them. When children return home, they are welcomed warmly. Any potential risks are identified and considered.

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

When children self-harm or experience difficulties with their mental health, staff provide appropriate and empathetic responses. Staff have good quality follow up discussions with children after incidents and these conversations demonstrate positive and supportive relationships between staff and children.

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

Staff and managers have a good understanding of the risks around drug and alcohol use and take prompt action to address these risks. For example, regular supportive and educational conversations take place with children, with the aim of helping them make safer choices in the future and reducing risks over time.

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

Staff recognise the signs of exploitation and have regular conversations with children about keeping safe both online and when out of the home. However, for one child, there has been a delay in age-appropriate restrictions being put in place around their phone use. As a result, this child has had unfiltered access to the internet and staff have not been able to consistently monitor who they are in contact with or what content they are viewing.

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

Door alarms are in place on external doors to allow staff to monitor if children leave the home at night. Appropriate risk assessments are in place setting out why these restrictions are necessary. However, these do not clearly identify a timescale for review and children’s views on these restrictions are not recorded clearly. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has recently had a change in manager. A well-planned and extended handover took place between the current and previous managers, which limited disruption for children and staff. Staff identified that the assistant manager has also been a valuable source of support and consistency during this period.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since being in post, the current manager has worked to establish positive relationships with staff and children. He has a good understanding of the needs and risks of each child and of the home’s strengths and areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager works well with other professionals and there are multiple examples of him advocating strongly for children. Professionals were positive about the communication from the manager and staff and about the quality of care given to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly and are used effectively as a space for staff to discuss learning and to reflect on recent incidents in the home. Meetings are also regularly attended by the therapeutic lead. Staff and managers make good use of this support to consider children’s needs and to develop practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight on some records is of good quality, with reflection on staff practice and clear follow up actions detailed. However, this is not consistent and management oversight is not recorded on all incident reports. Children’s records and plans are not always up to date, and therefore, in some instances, guidance to staff on how best to support children is not clear or current.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The experience of the staff team and frequent communication between managers and staff mean that this has not had any significant impact on the care provided to children at present. However, managers acknowledge that there is a need for records to be clearer to ensure children continue to receive consistent care and responses in the longer term. Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 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; and

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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

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;

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Requirement Due date

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

(Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that boundaries and expectations are made clear to children consistently. This includes rules and expectations about mobile phone and internet use. 31 October 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 7 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

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and

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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)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, managers should ensure that review and oversight of incidents is suitably robust and consistently recorded. Managers should also ensure that children’s plans, risk assessments and guidance to staff are regularly reviewed and updated so that they reflect children’s current needs and circumstances. 31 October 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the reasons for any restrictions or monitoring in the home environment are recorded clearly, that timescales and mechanisms for review are specified and that children’s individual views on these measures are recorded. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10) Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 8  The registered person should ensure photographs and memorabilia of children’s time in the home are collated regularly with children’s input wherever possible. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)

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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: 2656731 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Bristol City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Bristol City Council, Director of Legal Services, City Hall, College Green, BRISTOL BS1 5TR

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Juan Gomez-Lama Romero

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Inspector

Janet Jauregui, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2656731 10 regulates and inspects to 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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