Children's Home run by Budwood Limited in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 1 Registered provider: Budwood 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

The home is operated by a private provider and provides care for one child who may experience social or emotional difficulties. One child was living at the home during this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since September 2021.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2023 Full Good 17/01/2023 Full Good 25/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, a number of individual children have lived at the home at separate times. All have made progress in their own way and at their own pace. The child currently living at the home is settled and describes feeling listened to and cared for. Staff develop strong relationships with children and help children to feel secure.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s wishes and feelings are regularly captured through conversations and feedback. They are involved in planning their week, and spend quality time with staff doing the things they enjoy. This includes baking, days out, movie nights, pamper evenings and planning holidays. They are encouraged to spend their pocket money wisely and to learn to save towards more expensive purchases. Family time is also promoted and encouraged. Staff support the child to see important family members and friends and maintain their relationships, especially when these are a little strained. One child who has left the home was supported to re-establish their relationships with important family members. This was especially important for them as it increased their support network at a key time of moving into young adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s needs are understood well by staff. Assessments and plans are regularly updated to reflect any changes and the progress the child is making. Staff help the child to articulate their hopes and future aspirations, and to set their own goals. The child is encouraged to take responsibility for age-appropriate aspects of their care. A small number of records contain language that is too professional or vague and may feel unfamiliar to the child. The manager is already aware of this and working with staff to address this.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the complexities of children’s emotional and physical health needs and encourage them to attend health appointments. This is mostly successful. Medication is stored and administered safely by staff when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The manager works well with education professionals and advocates strongly on behalf of children. The child has a bespoke education package and has just started at a part- time alternative education provision. This is a huge step for them. They are also encouraged to attend education sessions at home and to complete their homework. Staff have helped them to use public transport to access education. This is a significant achievement for the child and is building their self-esteem and confidence.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Key events and memories are captured in photo books that children can keep. This helps children to look back at their time at the home. The manager is working with staff to ensure that these books contain sufficient detail to help children to remember key adults and events.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Plans for children moving in and out of the home are made in advance. This helps them to feel less anxious about their move. When children move out of the home, they are helped to achieve positive endings, reflect on their progress and celebrate their Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 4 achievements. This has been especially important for children who have experienced frequent incidents and periods of being very unsettled in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parental and professional feedback is very positive about the quality of care being provided. The manager and staff work well with family members to help them to feel well informed, listened to and included in the child’s day-to-day care and plans.

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

Children living in the home are safeguarded. The manager has good insight into the child’s behaviours, needs and risks, and makes effective use of the in-house clinical psychologist to inform the care provided by staff.

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

The child benefits from consistent relationships with staff and clear boundaries. They are being helped to understand trust, and responsibilities and when their actions will have consequences. Their behaviour support plans, risk assessments and care plans are very detailed, regularly updated and give staff the information they need to identify behaviours and risks and how to respond.

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

When children do not return home as agreed, staff follow the child’s missing-from-home plan. Staff keep in regular contact with children during missing episodes and encourage them to return home. Staff are well supported by managers during these times and to reflect on the reasons why children go missing. Since moving into the home, the frequency of missing episodes and risk of exploitation have significantly reduced for the child.

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

The frequency of significant incidents in the home has varied depending on the needs of the individual child living there at the time. While staff are trained and respond appropriately to defuse situations and to remove triggers, there have been some very difficult and distressing incidents for one child, and it has taken some time for these experiences to be processed by all those involved. Following all incidents, children and staff are helped to explore their feelings and behaviours and to identify what will help to reduce the likelihood of these happening again. There has been a significant decrease in the frequency of serious incidents over the last five months as these were mostly linked to previous children.

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

The manager has robust oversight of all significant incidents and missing-from-home episodes. They provide a clear evaluation that informs next steps and the child’s plan. The manager has used mitigations, such additional staffing and specialist support, to help prevent further incidents occurring and to support the child’s and staff’s safety and well-being.

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

The home follows safe recruitment processes when employing staff. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home presents as a family home. It is well furnished and well presented. The child has personalised their bedroom with lots of artwork and photos. They describe how they ‘love’ their bedroom.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is run well by a quietly confident, skilled and experienced manager. The depth of their compassion for children, their reflection and openness to learning are key strengths. They set the tone and culture within the home. They are committed to providing a caring, stable family home for children and achieving the best care for them. They continuously seek ways to strengthen their leadership by completing further qualifications and training. They work well with other professionals to access the right support for children and provide appropriate challenge to other professionals when needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager advocates strongly on behalf of children. For one child who was moving out, the manager was able to positively influence the child’s future care plan by clearly identifying how the child needed ongoing care and supervision. This was acted on by professionals.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The last 12 months have been characterised by some very difficult times in the home. The manager has responded with great care and empathy during these periods. They have kept their focus on the needs of the child while balancing the needs of their staff and putting appropriate mitigations in place to support children and staff. They have taken the learning from this and supported staff to reflect and learn as practitioners, and to use supervision and practice reflection sessions as a support.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has robust oversight of all aspects of the home. They review the progress that children are making on a frequent basis and adjust the child’s plans to reflect this. They have comprehensive performance management and quality assurance systems in place and regularly review the quality of staff practice and the day-to-day running of the home. Actions are clearly identified and taken forward by them. They make effective use of external reviews to improve and make changes to the care being provided by staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are purposeful and regular. They include the outcomes of external reviews so staff can understand and act on any changes that are needed. Practice- reflection sessions are used well by staff to explore their approach. Actions arising from these sessions are not always tracked or reviewed to ensure that they are completed and evaluate what impact they made. While staff complete a wide range of training, including specialist training, they do not have the opportunity in supervision to explore how they will take the learning back into their practice and what difference it makes to their role.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Although there has been some turnover of staff, the current staff team is settled and has been working together for some months. Staff value the different skills and experiences they bring to the team and enjoy working at the home. They feel well supported and listened to by the manager and senior leaders. Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person must have systems in place so that all staff, including the manager, receive supervision of their practice from an appropriately qualified and experienced professional, which allows them to reflect on their practice and the needs of the children assigned to their care. Specifically, this should include how well staff are taking the learning from training back into their practice and role. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.2)

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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: 2652468 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Malvern View, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire B60 4AD

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Inspector

Kendra Bell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2652468 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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