Children's Home run by Dorset Council in Dorset

Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 1 Registered provider: Dorset 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 service is run by a local authority. It provides short breaks for up to three disabled children at a time. At the time of the inspection, five children were using the service for overnight stays.

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Information about this children’s home

After a period of closure, this home re-registered with Ofsted and reopened in February 2024. The manager is registered 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

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: 2624723 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/05/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children benefit from visits to a warm and welcoming environment. Thoughtful preparation takes place to prepare the home for a child. This includes the setting out of personal effects such as photos, toys and blankets for their use. Children have the option of leaving personal items there or taking them home with them. No children were using the service at the time of inspection. However, the home had been prepared for a child who was due to arrive following the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The care provided to children is individualised. Carers take time to get to know children’s personalities, needs and behaviours. This allows carers to thoroughly plan experiences and activities. The views of children and their parents are gained and considered to ensure that children’s time at the service is child-focused and beneficial. When children make progress and achieve, such as progressing with independence skills or making positive choices, carers celebrate this with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships built with other professionals are positive. These relationships are essential in ensuring that the service has up-to-date information about children. Four professionals who were spoken to were extremely complimentary about the service and the experience of children while they were there. Positive points raised were in relation to communication, attendance at meetings and the high level of support provided to children and their families, including the service’s ability to be flexible when possible. Carers have embraced support from a school in relation to developing their communication and techniques for use with children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Robust mechanisms are in place to monitor and manage children’s medication. Carers are aware of children’s health needs and meet these while they are with the service. When carers have had concerns in relation to children’s health, advice has been sought from health professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Logs detailing children’s time at the service are detailed and child-focused. Carers explore children’s thoughts and feelings and describe children’s emotions. Memory books are bright and full of pictures for children to look at. They show pictures of smiling children completing activities. Comprehensive records of children’s time at the service are shared with their parents and social workers. One child has been supported to share their positive experiences at the service in his class’s ‘show and tell’. A teacher described this as a positive experience for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive support to communicate and understand communication from others. Their needs are clearly set out in personalised communication passports. Carers have access to the Picture Exchange Communication System and use a wide range of personalised stories with symbols and words, called ‘social stories’. The use of these tools supports children’s knowledge and understanding of their lives. When required, carers access training to develop their skills in line with children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 4 Planning for children to start using the service is thorough and robust. Before any stays at the provision, carers build relationships with children and their support network through outreach visits. Planning and introductions are completed at the child’s pace. This supports the completion of robust planning and introductions for children. Consideration of whether children should stay at the provision at the same

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

time focuses on risks as well as the needs and personalities of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Carers have worked closely with other professionals and a child’s parents to make a move for a child positive. Carers ensured that the permission of parents was gained before information was shared with external professionals. Carers have planned to visit the child once they have settled, acknowledging that this will be positive for them.

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

Parents provide positive feedback about the provision and the carers who work there. They said that their children are kept safe and enjoy their time there. They said that they receive regular communication from carers and have no concerns about the care and support provided to their children. One described the provision as a ‘lifeline’. One social worker said that they have recently visited children in the provision and said that children appeared happy and settled.

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

Carers have a good understanding and knowledge of risk. Plans that are designed to support carers to manage risk and support children are detailed and consider the needs of children, with the aim of keeping them safe. Carers take time to know children, how they behave and the reasons why they behave in certain ways. Information is gained from children’s parents, social workers and teachers. This allows them to form clear plans to meet the overall needs of children while they are in their care.

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

When incidents occur, carers use de-escalation techniques and follow plans. Records of children’s and carers’ actions provide a clear narrative of events. While carers have appropriately used guides to keep children safe, restraint has not been used. Conversations with children following incidents, providing them with the opportunity to reflect on what has happened, do not always take place. Carers take opportunities to discuss incidents between themselves and with their managers. These conversations are reflective and consider their well-being, the child and the quality of their practice.

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

Concerns raised by a child that they were hurt by a carer during an incident were not investigated. The written recording of the incident shows no reflection of this part of the incident, and there is no management oversight of what happened. This prevented any ongoing learning from carers’ actions. The child did not receive any response in relation to the concern that they raised. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 5 Children do not go missing from this provision. Planning for the event that this were to happen is clear and informative and highlights the extreme vulnerabilities of the children.

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

Planning to keep children safe in the event that there is a fire in the property is robust. Children’s individual needs, including the use of equipment such as ear defenders, are considered. Carers support children to take part in fire drills to ensure that their planning is as effective as possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is led by a dedicated and conscientious manager. She knows the home, the team, the children who use the provision and their parents. She has strived for this new service to be the best it can be from the outset. She is reflective and open to feedback and uses this to make continuous improvements for the benefit of children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers said that they like working for the service. As a new team, they feel that they have been provided with the training and support to develop their skills and settle into their jobs. They describe a strong and supportive team where everyone has a view and a voice, and where they are listened to by leaders and managers. Carers talk positively about the children who they care for and the achievements that they make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The quality of documents that set out the care that should be provided to children is excellent. They are written to children. The voice and views of children and their parents are present throughout. Planning and targets are clearly set out, reviewed and updated. This ensures that the service is continually meeting children’s developmental needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Two concerns raised by parents were dealt with promptly and sensitively. Clear and informative communication from the registered manager kept parents informed throughout the investigations.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Records that document team meetings show that they are comprehensive and informative meetings. From the outset, expectations and boundaries for the setting were discussed. Discussion about children, the team and the setting is thorough. Carers’ views are encouraged. This leads to reflective conversation and decision- making as a team. Clear actions are set and reviewed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Carers receive supervision that focuses on their well-being, practice, learning and development. Managers recognise that the team is new and needs additional guidance and support. An ethos of continuous learning and development has been embedded within the service.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Recruitment practice ensures that the checks necessary to determine whether carers are safe to work with children are completed. Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 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 protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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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

have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

understand the roles and responsibilities in relation to protecting children that are assigned to them by the registered person;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

are familiar with, and act in accordance with, the home’s child protection policies. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(iii)(v)(vi)(vii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all concerns or reports of harm from children are taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. 30 November

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are spoken to following incidents to ascertain their views, wishes and feelings. These conversations should be in line with the child’s understanding, and support should be provided to allow the child to have a voice. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.10) Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 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: 2624723 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester DT1 1XJ

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Inspector

Carla Simkiss, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2624723 9 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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