Children's home run by Solace for Children Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2600541 1 Registered provider: Solace for Children Limited

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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 is registered to provide care for three children with social and emotional needs.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted on 10 September 2020. The home has a new manager who has applied 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 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: 2600541 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/07/2023 Full Good 21/03/2023 Full Good 07/09/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2600541 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Three children were living in the home at the time of this inspection and one child was spoken to. Since the previous inspection, three children have moved in and moved out of the home. Staff provide good support to children with their moves. They give children information about the home and what it is like to live there, before they move in. Children’s moves out of the home are well planned and children are helped by staff to settle into their new home. This reduces the anxiety children may feel around changes to their living arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children well and adapt the care they offer children according to their individual needs and lived experiences. The care offered to one child who is much younger than the other children in the home has been tailored to their age, understanding and interests. Staff prepared information about the home for this chid in a format that they could understand, which helped them to settle into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are relaxed and happy in the care of staff. Children experience warm and affectionate relationships with staff, who they are able to trust and go to when needed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children take part in a variety of activities in and out of the home to enjoy and develop their interests. This helps to increase children’s confidence and sense of self-worth and provides them with a sense of belonging in their community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff consult children regularly to gather their views, wishes and feelings. Children meet with the manager and staff members regularly in a planned or unplanned way, depending on how they feel. This supports children to feel heard and valued.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All three children are settled and making progress. Staff ensure that children feel safe and encourage them to develop strategies to manage their feelings. Staff help children to access services that will support them to achieve positive outcomes. One child is now able to express their feelings by talking to staff rather than displaying negative behaviours.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is located near a busy road. Staff have not ensured that all children are helped to have an understanding of road safety as part of their move into the home. This does not support children to understand and manage the risks from this busy road. The home environment is spacious and welcoming. Some parts of the home are in the process of being decorated. However, one of the children’s bedrooms needs to be personalised to improve their experience of living in the home.

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

Children are kept safe in the home and in the community. Staff have a good understanding of children’s risks, triggers and behaviours and how to respond to and Inspection report for children’s home: 2600541 4 manage these risks. Safeguarding incidents are recorded clearly, with details of what action has been taken to ensure that children are safe.

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

Staff know the children well and are able to de-escalate situations without the need for physical intervention. As a result, physical interventions are not used often. Records of incidents of physical intervention and children going missing from the home are detailed and demonstrate that children and staff are given an opportunity to have reflective conversations about all significant incidents. This ensures that staff and children are able to talk about how they are feeling and consider whether situations could be managed differently in the future.

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

Staff work closely with the professionals involved in children’s lives. Information is shared promptly, concerns are discussed thoroughly and plans put in place to keep children safe. All professionals said they are kept well informed of what is happening in the day- to-day lives of the children and any areas of concern.

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

Rewards and consequences are used fairly to support children in developing life skills and positive behaviour. A reward chart is used to help children visualise the progress they are making towards their goals. Consequences such as losing free time or having to repair something that they have broken are used to support children in understanding the consequence of negative behaviours. This encourages children to make good choices.

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

Staff support children to spend time with their families and other people who are important to them. Staff have helped one child to increase their time with their family, helping to make progress towards a move back home.

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

Health and safety in the home is regularly monitored, reviewed and prioritised. Risk assessments are detailed and up to date and reviewed by the manager to ensure that strategies to reduce risks to children are implemented.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated, reflective and caring. She is always looking for ways to improve the quality of the care the children receive. She strives to understand the children’s individual needs and advocates well on their behalf to achieve positive outcomes.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager’s presence in the home is evident both in her physical presence and her oversight of records and decisions made in the home. The staff speak positively of the management team. One member of staff said, ‘Management have gone through everything with us, stripped everything back and there are clear expectations in place for all of us.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is diverse and stable. The team is made up of staff from various backgrounds, most of whom have worked in the home for a long time. This provides children with stability and adults they can relate to. The manager ensures that staff Inspection report for children’s home: 2600541 5 receive regular training, which includes training specific to the children they are caring for. The staff have all recently completed training to allow them to adapt their skills to care for a very young child who is living in the home. This ensures that staff are skilled in meeting the individual needs of the children and that children feel understood.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The recruitment of new staff is rigorous and clearly recorded. Thorough checks are completed to ensure that children are cared for by staff who are skilled and safe to work with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular reflective supervision sessions and weekly team meetings are held where they are able to share information and improve practice. There is a detailed workforce development plan in place. One staff member said, ‘We do a lot of training during team meetings and come together so we know what is going on in the home.’ This ensures that staff have the necessary information and training as a team to keep children safe and meet their individual needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is strong management oversight across the home and all aspects of the children’s care. All incidents, assessments, care plans and day-to-day events in the home are overseen by the management team. As a result, children receive care that is consistently safe while promoting their overall well-being.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is proactive and ambitious. She is constantly reviewing information and observing practice to identify areas that can be improved. Her primary focus is to ensure that the children in the home are safe and have the best possible outcomes through the care they receive at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2600541 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the home is a nurturing and supportive environment. In particular, children’s bedrooms the home environment to be personalised to the children living in it. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that children feel safe and are safe. Staff should support children to be aware of and manage their own safety both inside and outside the home to the extent that any good parent would. Staff should help children to understand how to protect themselves, feel protected and be protected from significant harm. In particular, children should be supported to have an understanding of road safety when they move into the home, to be aware of the risks associated with the busy road adjacent to the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.9)

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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: 2600541 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Solace for Children Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Tadcaster House, Kempton Road, Pershore, Worcestershire WR10 2TA

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Inspectors

Menaka De Silva, Social Care Inspector Stacie Sharpe, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2600541 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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