Children's home run by Oracle Care Limited in Central Bedfordshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC455338 1 SC455338 Registered provider: Oracle Care 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 provides care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home has not had a registered manager since 30 August 2024. There were three children living at the home at the time of inspection.

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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: 11 December 2023

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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: SC455338 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/12/2023 Full Good 21/11/2022 Full Good 11/01/2022 Full Good 27/07/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC455338 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home and one child has moved on from the home. At the time of this inspection, three children were living at the home. The inspector spoke with two children during the inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have built positive and trusting relationships with staff. One staff member said that she is so proud of the children. Staff are playful and the children enjoy being with them. Children appear relaxed and happy at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Parents are impressed with the care that the children receive. The manager has worked hard to help children rebuild relationships with their families, whom they have not seen for a long time. One parent said: ‘I wouldn’t want any more for [child’s name] He is safe and happy.’ Parents feel included in the care for their children and are invited to the home for barbecues and special occasions. Parents feel reassured that children are happy and safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All of the children have education places. The manager and staff hold education in high regard. The manager is an excellent advocate for children’s education. She has helped teachers understand children’s barriers to learning and how to overcome these. One child has achieved a level 2 qualification in childcare.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children benefit from a wide range of activities, including concerts, day trips and swimming. One child is part of a gymnastics club and is on a children’s board. Another child has a bucket list of experiences she has missed out on. Staff are helping her to achieve these experiences. Two children have passed their Bikeability safety course. All three children spent a holiday abroad at an entertainment resort. The children enjoy new and enriching experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met. Children attend routine appointments. Two trained staff are sexual health champions. One child attends regular therapy to help process past trauma and difficult emotions.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are actively involved in supporting charities. Children donated pyjamas at Christmas to children in hospital. Children have also donated food to the local food bank. One child is planning to sell homemade lemonade and donate the money to charity. Children make positive contributions to the local community.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved on from the home successfully. The child’s views were listened to. The move was planned and staff spent several days helping the child to settle into their new home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455338 4

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

The manager and staff have taken appropriate actions to help keep children safe. Despite every effort being made to keep children safe, situations out of the staff’s control have meant that one child has been exposed to risky situations. Social workers are impressed with how well safeguarding incidents are managed by staff.

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

The manager agrees risk assessments with all relevant professionals so that children who are at risk of exploitation are safeguarded. Regularly reviewing children’s vulnerabilities and agreeing protocols through joined-up working enable an effective multi-agency approach to safeguarding children.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been one allegation about a member of staff. The manager ensures that allegations made by children are investigated promptly and that children are kept safe. Since the last inspection, have been no physical interventions. The children’s behaviour plans focus on positive reinforcement. The plans include children’s input on how they want to be supported. Children are developing good strategies to manage their feelings and emotions safely.

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

One child has had some missing-from-home incidents. Staff have managed these well. The child is at risk of sexual exploitation. The child has support from a child sexual exploitation specialist. The sessions have helped the child understand healthy relationships. Exploitation risks have significantly decreased. At the time of the inspection there had been no missing-from-home incidents for over two months and the child was safely managing some free time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and is working towards a relevant qualification. She is currently in the process of registering with Ofsted. The manager has had a thorough induction with the responsible individual. The children and staff have benefited from consistent staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have good-quality training. The home’s psychotherapist provides regular training and consultation to the staff. The staff said that they have thorough inductions and a wide range of face-to-face and online training. The staff either hold a level 3 diploma or are working towards the qualification within the agreed time frame.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff said that they feel supported by the manager and have regular, effective supervision sessions. One staff member said that she felt lucky to have such an understanding manager and that staff morale is high. This support develops staff practice and helps them to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

An independent person reviews the home monthly and generates a report that is sent to Ofsted monthly. The reports are of good quality and include feedback from children, parents and professionals. The independent person makes appropriate Inspection report for children’s home: SC455338 5 recommendations. The recommendations help the service to make improvements to the quality of care that children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Two social workers said that they are happy with the care provided. They said that their children are making excellent progress, and they cannot fault the staff and manager. The social workers are impressed with the communication and how proactive the manager and staff are.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager completes a six-monthly review of the home. The quality of care review report is of good quality and helps to ensure there are continuous improvements. She has included feedback from professionals. However, she has not consistently included feedback from children or parents. This reduces the scope and effectiveness of the review. Inspection report for children’s home: SC455338 6

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Recommendation

 The registered person should actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring. In particular, include feedback from children and parents in the six-monthly quality of care review report. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 10.24)

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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: SC455338 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oracle Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Suites 1 & 5, Riverside Business Centre, Foundry Lane, Milford, Belper, Derbyshire DE56 0RN

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Samantha Mitchamson

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Inspector

Amy Miles, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC455338 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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