Children's home run by Rockhopper Children’s Services Limited

Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 1 Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is privately owned. It is registered to provide care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Four children were living at the home at the time of this inspection. The children were spoken to as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The home is led by a new manager who is not yet registered with Ofsted.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: outstanding

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

12/03/2024 Full Outstanding 14/03/2023 Full Outstanding 24/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children receive excellent care and support from an experienced, skilled and stable staff team. The home is led by a manager who provides opportunities for children to develop and flourish. As a result, children have built strong trusted relationships with staff. For example, one child who has experienced several moves, has now been settled in the home for nearly two years. This is significant progress for this child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The manager and staff talk about children with warmth and affection. The children approach staff to ask for help and guidance, in a natural and relaxed manner. They have a strong sense of belonging to the home. A professional said, ‘They [children] never want to leave.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Managers and staff work in close partnership with external professional agencies and, where appropriate, parents. As a result, the children’s individual plans and the care they receive supports their overall development and progress. The staff use a wide range of creative resources to help the children understand their histories and plans for their future. Consequently, children are supported with their preparation for independence and adulthood. When older children are preparing to leave the home, they experience positive moves to live semi-independently. One older child said, ‘We have had all the help we need and feel ready to move.’

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Managers and staff place a high importance on children’s education and training for work. They are proactive in ensuring the right education is in place, through their work with the wider professional network for children. They are strong advocates, to make certain that children’s academic, emotional and social needs are met. As a result, the children are engaging with their education and training.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The children are in good health. They receive the help and support they need to access and engage with health professionals. Managers and staff are vigilant in their observations of children’s physical and emotional health. Excellent arrangements are in place to support children’s emotional and psychological well-being. This is achieved through supporting children to access external mental health services. Additionally, the staff receive support from a clinical psychologist to help them respond to children’s emotional and mental health needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The home is well presented, clean and tidy and has a calm atmosphere. It is homely, and provides children with personal space for relaxation, play and physical activity. A well-equipped gym in the outbuilding has been provided following a request made by children. There are also plans to develop a sensory area in the garden, following the success of the sensory area in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 4 The children receive excellent support from staff to maintain their relationships with family members and friends. This supports children to maintain their sense of identity and keep meaningful relationships with those people they are close to.

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

Children are provided with an array of opportunities to express themselves and share their wishes and feelings. This supports their participation in the day-to-day decisions made about their care, daily routines, play and leisure activities. They are supported to understand their rights and have access to their key professionals and parents. Appropriate resources are displayed on notice boards and in accessible areas of the home which provide key information and contact details for independent advocates and agencies.

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

Managers and staff understand the children’s care plans, risks and vulnerabilities. They have strong and positive relationships with key safeguarding professionals. As a result, there are robust individual risk assessments and behaviour support plans that help keep the children safe.

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

When children are struggling to manage strong emotions and their behaviour deteriorates, the managers and staff use the very strong relationships they have with children to help them to become calmer. They listen and talk to children and use incentives and distraction to de-escalate difficult situations. The staff have not had to use physical intervention to manage behaviour for several years. This is testament to the good relationships that children and staff have.

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

The manager ensures careful planning for children coming to live in the home. However, when it became apparent that one child’s needs had not been fully disclosed before admission, the manager had to end the placement, as the child’s behaviours caused a risk to others. The manager was, however, proactive in listening to and offering advocacy to the children while working with the placing local authority to identify an alternative placement. The manager ensured the child had a planned and positive end to living at the home.

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

Children said they feel listened to, safe and well cared for. They are able to identify key staff they like to spend time with and can talk to about their feelings and worries.

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

Staff provide regular and high-quality individual key-work sessions with children. Topics are responsive to the children’s needs and circumstances. They enable children to explore their feelings and gain a better understanding of their vulnerabilities and risks. The manager and staff place a strong emphasis on children’s identity and understanding of their history and reasons for being in care. This supports children to have a greater awareness of their individuality and the circumstances that led to them coming into care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 5 The manager and leaders have developed a culture of high aspiration in the home. This is achieved through the value that the manager places on staff development. The manager leads by example. He promotes the use of reflection and regular reviews of staff’s care practice in individual staff supervision sessions. This is to ensure that children receive the best possible care and support. Staff are experienced and skilled, and the manager has high expectations of their care practice. There is regular training and support in place for staff, which helps them to feel valued and contributes to their commitment to their continued work at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff said they receive highly effective supervision, appraisals and training which is based on research-informed practice. The manager ensures that clinical consultation for staff to support the care provided to children also covers their emotional well-being and coping with the demands of residential care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the children very well and has established relationships with them all. Along with the staff, the manager knows the children’s personalities, likes, dislikes, interests and care experiences. He is extremely ambitious for children and works in partnership with key professionals to ensure their care plans are progressed, and he supports them to reach their full potential.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager has strong and effective relationships with key external professionals and parents, where this is appropriate. He ensures they receive regular updates about their children’s day-to-day lives and achievements. External professionals are very impressed with the care, protection and progress children make. One professional said, ‘This is the best home I have worked with; they are very child centred.’ A parent said, ‘The home is good, and we are listened to if a complaint is made.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is ambitious for the continued development of children, staff and the home. The manager is relatively new and he is eager to put his own stamp on the home, using an array of resources to support this. The manager has ensured there is a child- centred approach to everything in the home, from the decor to meal plans, activities and holidays. He supports staff to use a range of creative methods to support children to express themselves.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager is very well supported by a newly appointed deputy manager. The manager also receives support and challenge from the responsible individual. All the leaders are equally committed to the use of effective systems to monitor, review, reflect and analyse the operation of the home. The leaders place a strong emphasis on identifying learning from their very comprehensive quality assurance systems. This helps them to constantly review care practice and drive improvements forward. Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 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: 2645688 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Kedleston (Wood Grove Childcare) Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Unit 8, Brook Business Centre, Cowley Mill Road, Cowley, Uxbridge UB8 2FX

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Inspector

Angela Duffus-Palmer, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2645688 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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