Children's Home run by Oasis Adolescent Services Ltd in Oldham

Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 1 Registered provider: Oasis Adolescent Services Limited 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 company and provides care for up to three children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

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

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2024.

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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 February 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: 1258975 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/02/2024 Full Good 08/03/2023 Full Good 18/01/2022 Full Outstanding 24/02/2020 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are consulted regularly and are listened to, and their needs are understood. Children and staff were observed to have positive interactions during the inspection. One child said, ‘I can talk to the staff about anything, we can talk for hours.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are encouraged to develop skills such as cooking, gardening, practical skills in the home, budgeting and shopping. Independence preparation books contain photos of the children taking part in these activities alongside members of staff. Children have grown in confidence. For example, one child has become more confident in larger shopping areas and in speaking to store staff about what they are purchasing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have active lifestyles and take part in a range of activities, such as bike riding, golfing, swimming, going to the gym and enjoying woodland walks. Children go out with staff for meals and celebrate festivities throughout the year. Children take part in menu planning. However, menus should include a broader variety of nutritious food options, including fresh fruit and vegetables, to promote children’s health and well-being.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s time with their family and friends is supported by the staff team. Staff are flexible in their approach in supporting parents to visit children in the home. Staff are creative in planning activities to support children and their families to have quality time together. This helps children to maintain relationships which are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to attend school or college. Children are making good progress. They benefit from packages of education support, which includes vocational activities as well as formal learning. The manager and staff team work effectively with education providers and external professionals to track the progress children are making with their studies. Where necessary, they advocate for children who face barriers in education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children are new to the home, they are central to decisions around admission and plans are taken at their pace so that they can ask questions about the home, familiarise themselves with the environment and build a sense of belonging. One child asked for new items in his room, which staff arranged for him on his arrival. Additionally, staff helped the child to paint his bedroom walls the colour of his favourite football team’s kit.

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

Risk assessments are in depth and cover a wide range of considered risks to children. They are reviewed regularly and are accompanied by clear behaviour management plans which identify preventative measures. Children know how to raise complaints. When complaints are made, the manager manages these effectively and seeks to find a quick resolution, keeping children informed along the way. Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 4 Safeguarding incidents are responded to well and are thoroughly recorded, with management oversight. Safeguarding meetings are prioritised and attended, and accurate recordings are placed on file so that staff have current information which can inform safety planning.

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

There have been no incidents that have required physical intervention. Positive behaviour is promoted and encouraged, and appropriate de-escalation techniques are used to diffuse situations and to prevent further risk of harm to the child or others. One professional said, ‘They are excellent role models to him. When he becomes emotionally upset or angry, they are not fazed by this.’

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

Staff take the appropriate action to locate children when they go missing from home and return them safely. The manager and staff work collaboratively with external professionals, such as the police and missing-from-care team, to ensure that safety planning is effective. Children are supported to engage in return home interviews with someone independent of the home. This encourages children to discuss their feelings and helps staff to consider if more support is required to prevent situations reoccurring.

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

When children move into the home, they are welcomed sensitively. However, one child did not have a robust assessment before their placement was agreed. Therefore, the provider did not review all the relevant information and risks relating to the child, which means that the impact on the other children in the home could not be assessed.

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

Staff carry out regular direct-work sessions and have significant discussions with children on a range of topics, such as making appropriate choices, positive behaviour, promoting positive mental health and encouraging good personal hygiene. Therefore, children receive continued support and guidance from the staff team and have good routines in place for when they move on from the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has been in post since April 2024, and his deputy manager has been in post since May 2024. Together, they have good oversight of the home and make use of internal and external monitoring systems to continually improve the quality of care provided to children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a stable workforce in place, and staff talk positively about how the manager supports them. They confirm that they receive regular, purposeful supervision that is accurately recorded. Additionally, staff have annual appraisals that detail professional development goals and how staff can be supported by the manager and wider organisation to meet their individual development plan.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings take place regularly and are well attended. Leaders and managers use team meetings to share information and encourage staff to make suggestions for improvements. They are also used as an opportunity for the staff team to discuss significant incidents that may have occurred . Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 5 Staff undertake training, which is monitored by the manager. The manager has recently arranged training to take place with the in-house therapeutic team around therapeutic models of care. The manager has plans to develop this model further and embed it across practice. Recording is generally consistent across all documents; however, staff would benefit from revisiting the home’s policies around recording to ensure that discrepancies do not reoccur.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals speak positively about effective multi-agency working which is promoted through regular communication with partner agencies. Professionals recognise that good standards of care have led to children sustaining good progress. One professional said, ‘They update me regularly and chase me for things if they need to.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 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 care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home.

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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

that children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(a)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that suitable assessments are carried out before agreeing to a child’s placement. Additionally, the suitability of a child’s placement must be considered alongside the risks and needs of the other children already living in the home. 20 October 2024

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that each child’s day-to-day health and well- being needs are met. This includes supporting children to eat a variety of nutritious foods that promote their health and well-being. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 33, paragraph 7.3)  The registered person should ensure that all staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of clear recording. This includes ensuring that records in logbooks are clear and that there are no discrepancies around the start and end times of shift patterns in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 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: 1258975 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oasis Adolescent Services Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Hobart House, Oakwater Avenue, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle SK8 3SR

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Inspector

Michelle Greenhalgh, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1258975 9 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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