Children's home run by Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited in West Suffolk

Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 1 SC427652 Registered provider: Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited

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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 home is owned by a private organisation. It provides care for up to three children with moderate to severe learning difficulties and/or autism.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 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 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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/06/2021 Full Good 17/09/2019 Full Inadequate 12/08/2019 Full Inadequate 31/10/2018 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home has been closed for two years. A new manager was appointed, and the home reopened in August 2024. One child moved into the home in September 2024 and contributed to the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child now attends school full time. These positive routines support the child’s needs well. This helps the child to work towards academic achievements and reach their learning potential. School offers the child opportunities to make new friendships. Staff ensure that there is good communication between the home and the school to overcome any barriers to learning.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support the development of the child’s day-to-day life skills well. These are captured as a positive reminder to the child about how much they can and have achieved.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child’s relationships with their family and friends are fully supported. The child has regular family time at the home and in the community. This is planned to continue as naturally as possible after the child’s move from their family home. The child is encouraged to have friends visit the home and enjoy social time in the community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff advocate well for the child. They listen to their wishes and feelings and communicate well with appropriate professionals. Staff use communication tools to meet the child’s needs. A whiteboard is at hand for the child when necessary. Staff also use this to write positive messages to the child. This has encouraged the child to develop warm and trusting relationships with the staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child is encouraged to participate in a range of activities and new interests. Staff support the child to go swimming, bowling, shopping and to use the leisure centre. Staff have provided a camera for the child to explore photography and nature.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff organise access to health appointments. The child’s healthcare includes appointments with several health professionals. Specialist support is identified and accessed when required.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The child has a hearing impairment and uses hearing aids. The suggested protocols for these are not clearly understood by the staff. This means that staff are not always able to get the child to use these in the most beneficial way as guided by professionals.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The first floor of the house is modern and well appointed. The child benefits from a large, well-lit bedroom with a spacious modern en-suite bathroom. Furniture and resources have been used to fully reflect the child’s preferences and interests. However, although the ground floor is clean and comfortably furnished, the decor is not suited to the child’s age or needs. The child uses a low glass coffee table for his gaming. Heavy Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 4 dark wooden furniture and reclining sofas make the main living areas appear dated and dark. Some radiators do not get hot and there is no heating in the kitchen.

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

Staff use positive rewards to help the child to develop behaviours that are acceptable. Staff are consistent in their behavioural expectations of the child towards adults and peers. This provides the child with continuity and a sense of security.

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

There have been no missing-from-home incidents for the child. The child did leave the home on one occasion but remained in sight of staff. Staff followed the child’s missing- from-home protocol carefully and the child returned to the home safely.

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

The staff are confident about their safeguarding responsibilities and the actions to take if they have any concerns about the child. They can talk confidently about these.

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

Staff know how to keep the child safe online. There are clear agreements in place with the child around the use of the internet. Parental controls are in place. Staff speak to the child about online risks and check internet use.

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

Staff know the child and the associated risks well. Risk assessments are regularly updated, and staff adhere to these. However, these do not include strategies that show learning from previous incidents and could help to minimise future incidents.

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

The home has been closed for an extended period and has recently reopened with a new manager. This is the manager’s first post. The manager was overseas on annual leave at the time of the inspection. Although the manager has worked hard to develop systems and procedures that support good care, some areas still need further understanding and establishing.

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

The staff team is very small. There are currently three core members of staff, which means that the manager regularly uses staff from the other home. These can be several different staff members, which can lead to different approaches. The child requires routine-based care from a consistent staff team. The manager does her best to make the rotas work. However, at times, the rotas include several members of staff who the child does not know so well.

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

The systems for checking the home have not identified that one radiator was broken and the back gate leading to a car park does not close securely. Although these issues were dealt with immediately during the inspection, these areas require better oversight.

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

The manager has confused the manager’s review of care with the statement of purpose. Although there remains time for this to be drafted, the confusion identifies the manager’s lack of understanding and experience. Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 5 The staff have received some training. However, they do not have training in the best communication method for the child and some staff have not received up-to-date safeguarding disabled children training.

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

The manager is dedicated and committed to providing good-quality care. She is supported by another manager and the responsible individual. They all work well together and share a vision for the home that celebrates and supports children’s progress and success. Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 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

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 6 (1) (2)(c)(i)) 1 July 2024

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of the care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(e)(h)) 28 February 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children; 1 July 2024 Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 7 the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a) (5))

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Recommendation

 The registered person should work in partnership with relevant people as appropriate to ensure that each child is provided with support (appropriate to their age and understanding) to communicate their views, wishes and feelings and participate as fully as possible in all aspects of their care planning and daily care. This may include the use of and support to use communication aids, equipment and/or any necessary language support. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.6)

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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: SC427652 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Greenwood House, Greenwood Court, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP32 7GY

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Inspectors

Deirdra Keating, Social Care Inspector Sarah Cooper, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC427652 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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