Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 1254782 1 Registered provider: Hampshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to four children aged between 10 and 17 years. At the time of the inspection, there were four children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The home supports children who may experience social emotional and behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 2023.

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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: 1254782 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

03/10/2023 Full Good 21/03/2023 Full Good 28/03/2022 Interim Not judged 19/10/2021 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: 1254782 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children speak positively of their relationships with the staff. One child said, ‘They are nice to us here.’ Children can identify particular people who they feel comfortable talking to. This allows them to reflect on their experiences and share any worries and concerns. Children make good progress because of the strong relationships they have with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children say they like living in the home. Their house is well furnished, and their bedrooms are personalised in ways that reflect their interests and styles. On those few occasions that children have caused damage in the home, this has been quickly repaired. When children move into the home, they experience moves that are sensitive to their circumstances.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a range of opportunities and positive experiences. They are supported to maintain contact with people who are important to them, including friends, families and social workers. One child has been supported to travel independently to visit friends, while another recently hosted a friend at the home for a sleepover. Children are encouraged to have fun and participate in group and individual activities, such as going to theme parks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled in school or college. Staff actively encourage the children to maintain good attendance despite some challenges. Staff have established positive communication with schools, which means that children continue to access education through tutoring at home and amended timetables. Staff help the children with their schoolwork and provide opportunities for their learning and development. This ensures children are supported to prepare for their futures.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to learn important independence and life skills that will assist them in the future. The leadership team has implemented a new independence toolkit that helps staff identify the support the children need to prepare for their journey to independence. This has had a positive impact on children’s acquisition of key life skills. This resource has been shared within the wider organisation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Professionals are highly positive about the care and support that children receive. They comment on the effective communication and partnership working. One professional stated that their child ‘has made amazing progress since living in the home, and this has been mainly down to their relationships with staff and the support they receive’.

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

Children feel safe living at the home. Staff understand the risks and vulnerabilities of the children. When staff have concerns about children’s welfare, they share these with the Inspection report for children’s home: 1254782 4 wider safeguarding network, including social workers. They ensure that children get the help they need to be safe.

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

The number of times children go missing from home has reduced significantly in the past six months. Children are safer as a result. When children do go missing, staff work collaboratively with families and other professionals to locate the children and make sure that they return safely. Staff welcome children back to the home warmly. They challenge agencies appropriately when children are not offered the opportunity to discuss these incidents with an independent professional. The management team is clear about the importance of staff being curious and using their relationships with children to try and gather information about their experiences when they have been away from the home.

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

When children have made allegations, the manager has acted quickly and robustly to ensure that children are kept as safe as possible. The manager and staff work closely with partner safeguarding professionals to promote children’s safety and welfare.

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

Staff carefully plan the support and care they provide to children. They use a range of well-informed strategies to ensure that children are supported to understand how they can keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The appropriately qualified and experienced registered manager has a clear ethos and leads the team effectively, ensuring children receive high-quality care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children know how to make a complaint. When they do so, their views are taken seriously. Responses from managers are well considered and acknowledge shortfalls in care when these have occurred. Outcomes are clear and demonstrate how improvements will be made. As a result, children feel confident that they will be listened to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervision that helps them to reflect on and adapt their practice. In addition, they receive in-depth induction training and further learning that is specific to the needs of children. This helps them to develop confidence in the care and support that they provide for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There have been frequent changes in the staff team since the last inspection. At times, this has impacted on the confidence of staff and the day-to-day consistency that children experience. Leaders and managers are implementing a variety of training and development opportunities to support the learning and development of staff to achieve more consistency across the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management oversight is not always effective at identifying inconsistencies in staff practice. Consequently, children do not always receive support in line with the home’s stated model of care. In one example, staff have been overly optimistic regarding an identified support strategy to increase one child’s empathy and understanding of the Inspection report for children’s home: 1254782 5 impact their behaviours may have on others. Staff continued using this strategy despite expressing uncertainty about how successful this had been.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have not made sufficient progress in maintaining children’s records using language that cares. Several children’s records continue to have insensitive remarks or inconsistency in language. This makes them unhelpful to children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1254782 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 promotes their welfare.

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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))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff are providing consistent care as set out in the home’s statement of purpose.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must also ensure that monitoring and review systems are effective in recognising and addressing when staff are not using language that cares when reflecting the experiences of children. 12 December 2024

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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: 1254782 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 3rd Floor, Elizabeth II Court North, The Castle, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 8UG

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Inspectors

Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Inspector Ashley Edwards, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1254782 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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