Children's Home run by Willows21 Limited in Devon

Inspection report for children’s home: 2599388 1 Registered provider: Willows21 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 provider. It provides care for up to four children who may have emotional or social difficulties. At the time of the inspection, four children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

In addition to the main home, there is an annexe building that can be used to help a child move into adulthood. No children were living in the annexe at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in November 2023.

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Information about this children’s home

Staff in the home are referred to as ‘carers’. This is reflected in the report.

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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: 6 February 2024

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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: 2599388 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

06/02/2024 Full Good 06/12/2022 Full Good 23/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2599388 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home provides a wonderful environment for children to be. All children have spacious bedrooms with good-quality furniture, which are personalised to them. The addition this year of five goats and the development of the outside space have brought important benefits for the children. It encourages the children to nurture and to be nurtured in a calm and relaxing space. It also gives children appropriate responsibility for looking after something that is special to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have trusted relationships with carers. Two children have been in the home for over a year, and two are very new. All the children were involved in the inspection and were seen to spend time with carers over dinner. Children and carers discussed their days and laughed together. The children helped to wash up dishes, tidy and settle the goats for the night.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Planning for children arriving is thorough. Two children have moved in recently and quickly. Carers did not know the details of one child’s care plan, which included a specific health need. There has not been any impact on the child from carers not knowing how to respond to this, but it could have had serious implications. The child’s plans did not give clear guidance to the carers on how they should respond to this child’s particular health need.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved out since the last inspection. Both children were supported well even though one child moved out in an unplanned way. For the other child, carers have remained in touch and are continuing to support them. Feedback from an adult who lived at the home as a child was overwhelmingly positive. They spoke of the carers as their family and described how they continued to receive support long after leaving the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All the children are in education. One child had not been in education for almost two years before living at the home. They stayed at school for the full day on their first day after moving in. Both children who have lived in the home for longer have excellent attendance at school.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have opportunities to engage in activities, for example horse riding and going to the gym. Two of the children go to the gym together. Special memories are captured for the children, with photobooks on display of special occasions. Children are encouraged to keep objects or mementos of their memories and add to them. However, if these needed to go with the children quickly, they may not be up to date and important memories could be lost. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599388 4

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

All the children said that they feel safe at the home. Carers make consistent efforts to know and understand the risks to children, although two of the children are new and so carers are still learning about them.

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

Clear plans are in place should children go missing from home. There have been two incidents of children going missing from home since the last inspection. On both occasions, the children were in regular contact with carers, and for one, carers knew where they were. Carers are proactive in searching for and contacting children when they are away from the home for longer than agreed. Carers keep in touch with children regularly. Carers have also formed good relationships with some of the children’s family members so that children can be found quickly. Discussions about expectations happen on a regular basis so children know what is expected of them.

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

Children are supported by carers to manage their feelings. A nurturing approach is seen in response to self-harm. When an incident of self-harm happened recently, the manager quickly arranged additional support from the in-house psychotherapist to support both the child and the carers looking after them. The guidance has been added to the child’s plan to ensure that the carers have a consistent response. This provided support to the carers quickly and reinforces a consistent parenting approach for the child.

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

Allegations of harm were made about a carer by one of the children, and this was responded to quickly and reported to the appropriate safeguarding agencies. An internal investigation was advised and completed. The child was supported to understand the response sensitively, and the action taken was in line with the child’s needs. Appropriate support was also provided to the carer.

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

Carers understand the risks from children being online and accessing their phones. Parental apps and controls are used to ensure children’s safety. This is reviewed regularly for each child and is individual to them. Children are given an appropriate level of trust in relation to this.

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

Close working relationships exist with children’s social workers, and information is shared quickly so effective plans can be made. Safer recruitment processes are followed to ensure that appropriate adults are employed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed by an experienced manager who is ambitious for children. The manager has close relationships with the children, and they are keen to find the manager when they have questions or requests about the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have benefited from a consistent and stable team of carers. Carers often cover for each other, and members of the support staff are also known to children, avoiding the use of agency or temporary workers. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599388 5 The manager has good systems in place to monitor care. They take quick and effective action when incidents happen. Serious incidents are considered carefully with the manager, responsible individual and a director routinely overseeing these. Leaders and managers reflect on what could have been done differently and consider how and why the child might be feeling the way that they do. Training has been arranged to meet children’s specific needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children’s records are generally clear documents. However, there are occasions when the language used does not describe the nurturing practice that is evident elsewhere. Terms such as ‘shifty’ or ‘manipulative’ to describe behaviours are not in keeping with how children, professionals and carers describe the care in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Supervision takes place regularly, and team meetings focus on children’s needs. Adults say they are happy to work at the home and feel supported by each other. Feedback from external professionals describes an ‘amazing’ home with carers who are quick and responsive to them and to the children who live at the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 2599388 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children’s plans are relevant and form the basis of their care. Staff should know children’s plans well. If a child has an allergy or intolerance, the child’s plan should set out clear guidance to staff on how to manage this safely for the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 55, paragraph 11.1)  The registered person should ensure that children’s memory books are kept up to date and are meaningful to the child. This helps to ensure that the detail of events and outings is not lost. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.5)  The registered person should ensure that children’s records are ‘living documents’ and that staff are recording information in a way that is accessible and meaningful to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality

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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: 2599388 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Old Farmhouse, Gussage St Michael, Wimborne, Dorset BH21 5JE

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Inspector

Nickie Doney, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2599388 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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Inspector

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