Children's home run by Plymouth City Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC454900 1 SC454900 Registered provider: Plymouth City Council

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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 operates as a short-breaks service and is run by a local authority. It provides care for up to six children with complex needs who require at least one-to-one care and support.

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Information about this children’s home

Thirteen children are currently using the short break services. At the time of this inspection, three children who attended for their short break were seen by the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 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 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: 19 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: SC454900 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

19/12/2023 Full Good 24/01/2023 Full Inadequate 16/02/2022 Interim Sustained effectiveness 15/09/2021 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children’s home: SC454900 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are welcomed into the home with sensitive planning. They visit for as long as they need before they stay overnight. Their bedrooms are personalised with their belongings before each stay to help them to settle in. The manager has developed the home’s planning processes to improve the experiences of children who attend together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children really enjoy their short breaks at this home. Parents describe their children’s excitement when they go to the home. One parent described the managers and staff as an extended part of their family. During the inspection, staff were happy to see the children when they arrived, and their interactions were nurturing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the children well. Important documents include detailed information about the children’s needs and give clear guidance to staff about how to care for them. Staff have improved their communication with children. There is now an array of pictures and symbols used with children who require this. This has led to increased involvement and participation of children in the decisions about their care, including greater choice about their routines and activities.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a co-ordinated approach that contributes to children’s progress. Targets are integrated well into children’s care, including education, life skills, and self-care targets. There is considered planning and a step-by-step approach to help children to achieve in these areas. In addition, one staff member has invested time with a child to support them to learn to use a musical keyboard.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Overall, the home’s physical environment is welcoming for children. For instance, there are colourful stickers in bathrooms, a new ball pool pit, and toys and books are available for children. Some areas need decorating to ensure that the home environment is well maintained throughout. Children enjoy the renovated garden space and during the inspection, one child enjoyed using the large ‘nest’ swing.

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

Children’s plans include detailed information about the support and protection that they need. Decisions about safe care strategies are informed by consultations with children’s parents and local authority social workers. This includes decisions about suitable TV programmes for children to watch and care approaches used to help children to feel safe at night.

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

Children’s health needs are understood. Staff monitor and respond to children’s specific health needs, including seizure activity, in line with specific health advice and guidance. The home’s medication records are clear. Any errors are addressed effectively to reduce the risk of errors reoccurring. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454900 4 There are few incidents at the home. In the main, strategies are used well to de-escalate any incidents before they occur. Restraint is rarely used. When children’s behaviour challenges staff, reflection and learning is used to improve the responses to children.

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

In the main, restrictions to keep children safe in the home and in the community are clearly defined in their plans. However, the use of restrictive casing on the TV to prevent harm for one child is not removed for other children who attend the home at different times, and who do not require this.

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

When the registered manager is informed about staff practice concerns, action is taken promptly. This includes the sharing of information with relevant safeguarding agencies, including the local authority designated officer. However, the actions taken are not recorded clearly and they are not easy to track. This reduces the opportunity to review and improve safeguarding practice at the home.

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

The quality of children’s emergency evacuation plans has improved. Information about children’s responses to fire alarm tests is used meaningfully to inform their plans. This ensures that staff have clear guidance about how to help children to leave the home safely in the event of an emergency.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers have increased their oversight of the quality of care delivered to children. They have worked hard to embed reflection and learning across all aspects of children’s care to directly improve children’s experiences and progress.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a co-ordinated care planning approach at the home. This is contributed to by the home’s positive links established with partner agencies, including education, health and children’s social care services, and with children’s parents. Information about children is detailed and recorded clearly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

However, systems used to record staff practice are not clear and up to date. This includes records relating to staff training courses and formal supervision sessions. This reduces opportunities to monitor staff practice effectively and to address any concerns in the quality of care at the earliest opportunity.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Feedback received throughout the inspection was overwhelmingly positive about children’s experiences and the care that they receive. Children enjoy different activities at the home and in the community, but for a few children, the range of activities offered to them has reduced due to the home no longer having access to its own vehicle.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff report that they enjoy working at the home and that they feel supported by managers. They are proud of the progress that children make. However, staff recruitment is a challenge. This has resulted in children’s short breaks being cancelled, including at short notice. There is a current recruitment drive to address this issue. Inspection report for children’s home: SC454900 5

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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

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children.

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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)(a) (2)(c)(i))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that adaptations made to restrict the child’s access to the TV are not in use for children who do not require this. 11 June 2025

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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;

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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

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

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that staff practice is reviewed effectively to identify any improvements needed. This includes records relating to staff supervision and 11 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC454900 6 training courses kept up to date and the actions taken in response to staff practice concerns recorded clearly.

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that the home environment is well maintained and decorated. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 23, paragraph 10.3)

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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: SC454900 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Plymouth City Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Ballard House, West Hoe Road, Plymouth PL1 3BJ

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Victoria Whitman

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Inspector

Louise Bacon, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC454900 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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