Children's Home run by SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd in Bracknell Forest

Inspection report for children’s home: SC431806 1 SC431806 Registered provider: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This is a privately owned children’s home and is registered to provide care for up to four children. The home provides care for children up to the age of 18 with social and emotional difficulties. There were three children living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager is experienced and suitably qualified.

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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

Date of last inspection: 20 February 2024

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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: SC431806 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/02/2024 Full Outstanding 13/03/2023 Full Good 08/06/2021 Full Outstanding 03/12/2019 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC431806 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children receive excellent individualised care and support, which supports them to make exceptional progress from their starting point.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

When children are preparing to move into the home, they are warmly welcomed and care is tailored to their needs. One child said, ‘When I visited the home, I knew straight away that this could be my new home.’ Children’s views are considered, including when decisions are made about new children moving in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff ensure that the children are well prepared for independence, and they advocate for any necessary support when children leave the home. A child who is preparing for independence is being supported very effectively to do their own shopping, budgeting, cooking and laundry, and is learning how to access community support services independently. The child’s social worker said that staff ‘support him like they are his family’.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Staff support the children to feel comfortable in the home. Children can decorate their bedrooms to their liking, take part in activities and benefit from bespoke educational and therapeutic support. This has had a positive impact on the children’s progress, which is recognised by education staff, social workers and parents alike. One child, who is preparing for independence, talked about how the staff in the home, and the therapy they had received, helped them to overcome some of their difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

The quality of children’s relationships with staff is excellent. The interactions between children and staff reflect nurturing relationships. Staff consistently help children learn through playfulness and this is embedded in staff practice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children make tremendous progress in relation to their health, education, emotional well-being and social skills, engaging in therapy to address their vulnerabilities and risks. Children attend the provider’s independent school, which has small class sizes and individualised educational plans, alongside children’s preferred activities and therapeutic support.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children’s diversity and cultural needs are promoted in creative ways. This includes using colouring books that represent the children and staff’s ethnic backgrounds, visits to various cultural places and direct work with children to discuss gender identity. These activities help children to better understand each other and further improve their relationships.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: outstanding

Children have access to a range of fun activities, both at the home and in the community. Staff support children to follow their interests and hobbies. A child has recently said that they want to learn to speak Spanish, and the staff are in the process of identifying a private tutor for them. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431806 4

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

Staff understand the children’s communication styles and behaviours very well. The home’s model of care is embedded in the day-to-day interactions with children. This helps to support children to keep themselves safe. Staff use bespoke board games, books and comic book characters to explore specific topics with children. The topics include managing difficult emotions, unwanted behaviours, sexual harmful behaviours, exploitation, bullying, diversity, physiological and emotional changes and positive relationships. The language used by staff is ‘let’s play a game’ rather than ‘let’s have a key-work session’. This helps to make children feel more comfortable, and so the sessions typically flow quite naturally.

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

Staff keep children safer and help them to feel safe. They are skilled at managing the children’s behaviours and emotions and work in collaboration with the team around the child, ensuring a robust and proactive approach to any emerging concerns. Staff have open and honest discussions with the children. These discussions are creative and meaningful and cover various scenarios and risks, to support children to learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

Risk assessments and behaviour support plans are bespoke and child centred. They are tailored to the children’s individual needs. The plans are completed with the children and feature the children’s preferred characters or pet. This makes them easy to read and helps the children to reflect on their emotions and behaviours.

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

Children’s vulnerabilities and risks are such that they need one-to-one supervision. Staff achieve this in a non-intrusive way, while keeping the children safe. Children are supported to use the internet safely and learn about online risks and how to keep themselves and others safe while online.

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

There is a good balance between managing the risks versus supporting children to achieve independence. Staff, school staff and the therapeutic team work well together in supporting the children to learn how to manage their vulnerabilities once they leave the home.

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

There have been no incidents of children going missing from the home, physical interventions, complaints or allegations since the last inspection. Children know how to make a complaint should they need to and are confident in sharing any worries or concerns with staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is managed by an exceptionally strong and experienced manager. She is supported by an equally knowledgeable and committed deputy manager. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431806 5 The manager and deputy manager have high aspirations for the children. They are very visible in the home, working alongside staff and leading by example. The management team knows the children well and talk passionately about the children’s progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager and the deputy manager provide staff with regular and effective supervision. This focuses on staff well-being and how they are supporting the children’s progress. This adds to the exceptional support that the management team provides to staff and children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff receive training in topics that are relevant for the safe care of children. This includes training in the model of care chosen by the provider. This training is up to date and ensures that staff have the skills to provide outstanding care to the children. When new staff join the home, they are well supported and equipped to care for the children. One member of staff said, ‘The induction I received in my first month was incredible. I was really impressed by how in-depth and professional it was.’

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The manager knows the home’s strengths and weaknesses well and has excellent oversight of the home. She takes effective actions to address issues and leads by example to ensure that the children’s needs are continually met. The manager encourages team discussions to promote learning, reflection and identify best practice. This promotes professional development and creates a learning environment for staff that ultimately benefits the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC431806 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: SC431806 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: SWAAY Child & Adolescent Services Ltd, 591 London Road, Cheam, Sutton, SurreySM3 9AG

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Sasha Austria-Stevens

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Inspector

Claudia Poienar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC431806 8 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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Inspector

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Inspector

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