Children's Home run by SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd in Bracknell Forest

Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 1 SC481040 Registered provider: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned home provides care for up to four children who require specialist support and therapeutic intervention. At the time of this inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since April 2023. The manager is in the process of applying to register 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 requires improvement to be 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/08/2023 Full Outstanding 29/11/2022 Full Outstanding 10/08/2021 Full Outstanding 03/02/2020 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress because they are looked after by a group of staff who are committed to building and maintaining positive relationships with them. Staff understand the importance of predictable structures and routines for children and are aspirational for what children can achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say that they like living in the home. The environment is homely and welcoming. Children’s bedrooms have personal items that reflect their interests and identity. Diversity is celebrated by compassionate staff, who help children to navigate life events with patience and understanding.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, this is well planned to ensure that the move is at a pace which is suitable for the child. Information about children’s needs is gathered from a range of sources to ensure that staff are well informed about how to meet their needs. Staff support older children to learn life skills such as cooking and shopping. This helps them to be more confident about living more independently in the future.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s guide contains all the relevant information. However, the language is not suitable for the learning needs of some of the children. This means there is a risk that some children are unclear about expectations.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have many opportunities to participate in activities that are in line with their talents and interests. Group activities promote social development and help children to maintain positive relationships with each other. Staff proactively organise opportunities for children to spend time with their families. This helps children to maintain a sense of identity and belonging.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents say that they are happy with the care provided and that communication from staff is good. External professionals also speak positively about the quality of care that children receive. Working in partnership with people who are important to children helps to ensure that children receive consistent support that is in line with agreed plans. However, some of the language in children’s plans is clinical and uses jargon and this makes them difficult to understand and unhelpful for children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are accessing education that is suitable for their needs. Some children are now attending education, having not done so for extended periods before moving into the home. They are exceeding expectations due to the support they receive from dedicated staff and an effective multi-agency approach.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff prioritise the health and well-being of children. They make sure that children have the support they need to access appropriate services to ensure their health needs are met. Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 4 Children’s wishes and views are heard. Regular house meetings are held to discuss any issues or ideas children have about the way the home is run. Children say that they feel comfortable about speaking to staff if they are worried about something. They are confident that they will be listened to and that their views will be acted on.

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

Children feel safe living at the home. They have access to therapeutic services and information about their current risks and vulnerabilities is shared with the staff team. This means that all staff understand how they can help children to stay safe.

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

Staff help children to understand how to keep themselves safe and support them to safely have increasing independence.

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

Allegations and complaints are managed efficiently. Staff know the process for reporting to all relevant professionals. When there are concerns regarding staff performance or practice, investigations are timely and thorough. Actions to reduce the risk of a recurrence are identified. Learning is shared by the leadership team through team meetings or staff supervision.

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

Positive behaviour is consistently promoted by staff, who have clear expectations. The use of physical restraint is extremely rare and it is used only as a last resort. There have been no incidents of physical restraint since the last inspection.

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

Health and safety matters are well managed. Children live in a well-maintained and safe environment. Regular fire drills support children to know how to keep themselves and others safe in the event of an emergency.

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

All staff have completed mandatory training. However, not all staff have received good- quality training about the model of care which is at the centre of the home’s ethos. Therefore, some staff are unable to confidently describe the aims and objectives set out in the statement of purpose.

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

Staff do not demonstrate a full understanding of the potential impact of failing to follow the administration of medication process. All staff have received medication training, and the manager carries out competency checks. However, this has not been effective in reducing the number of errors in relation to the administration and storage of medication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The home has been without a registered manager for over a year. This has had a negative impact on the quality of management monitoring and oversight of the home and, at times, the morale of the staff team. The current manager is in the process of applying to register with Ofsted. Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 5 The manager is well known to the children and staff. She is ambitious and child-focused. She is supported well by an experienced and committed deputy manager. The whole staff team shares an optimistic vision about how they can improve outcomes for children. Staff say that they feel well supported and able to raise concerns should the need arise.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

An internal quality assurance exercise did not fully identify some of the shortfalls found during the inspection. Record-keeping systems are not streamlined and cause confusion for staff. The manager is in the process of implementing new approaches to improve this and the monitoring of the home, but these are not yet embedded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Significant gaps were identified in the frequency of staff supervision. Some staff have not had supervision for several months. This prevents the manager and leadership team having an informed understanding of staff practice and knowledge. Additionally, new staff have not received regular supervision during their induction at the intervals set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Regular leadership meetings provide a platform to discuss the progress being made towards plans for the home. The manager creates her own reports to share with senior managers and inform her own quality of care review.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Monthly visits to the home by the independent person offer an additional layer of scrutiny. The manager is proactive in sharing outcomes with the staff. Team meetings are well attended and provide an opportunity for discussion and reflection. However, follow-up communication processes with staff are unclear and lack of monitoring allows some actions to drift. Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 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 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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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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. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(h)) 30 April 2025

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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 staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a) (2)(f))

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Requirement Due date

Specifically, that children’s plans include relevant and up-to-date information and are written in a way that is accessible to children. 30 April 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 7 The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)) 31 January 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 8

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s guide is available to all children when their placement in the home is agreed (or on arrival at the home if the placement is made in an emergency) and must be age appropriate, provided in an accessible format and explained to each child to make sure they understand it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 24, paragraph 4.21)  The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements for the safe handling and administration of medication to children. They should ensure that staff follow medication processes. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: SC481040 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd, 591 London Road, Sutton, Surrey SM3 9AG

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Inspectors

Jill Sephton-Wright, Social Care Inspector Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC481040 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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