Children's Home run by Island Choices Ltd in Isle of Wight

Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 1 SC399866 Registered provider: Island Choices Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is operated by a private company. It is registered to provide care for up to four children. Four children were living in the home at the time of the inspection. All the places are commissioned by one local authority.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in August 2009.

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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: 14 November 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: SC399866 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

14/11/2023 Full Good 23/03/2023 Full Good 04/11/2021 Full Good 13/11/2019 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress because they are cared for by the staff in the home, who genuinely care and know them well. Staff respond to the children’s emotional needs. They promptly arrange meetings with external professionals to talk about how to meet the children’s emotional needs. The staff encourage the children to engage with specialist services, and professionals visit them at home when they struggle to engage with them. External professionals describe a caring staff team, whose members do what they can to support the children and provide good care. Staff effectively capture the care they provide, and the progress made by the children in reports.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff have built good relationships with the children. There are warm and nurturing interactions between staff and the children. Staff care deeply about the children and their welfare. The children can identify staff they feel comfortable discussing their worries or concerns with. The manager is continually recruiting regular casual staff, which helps to maintain the continuity of care for the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote the importance of education with the children. One child now attends education full time, and one child has enrolled into the navy. Staff have supported the children not in education to have home tutoring sessions and engage in learning life skills. This helps to ensure that the children’s learning and educational needs are met.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage the children to pursue their passions and interests. The children regularly take part in their hobbies, such as sea cadets and dance classes. One child competes in monthly dance competitions and is very proud of the trophies they have won. The children are offered a range of activities, such as outings to the theatre, visiting animal parks and trips to the beach. Staff ensure that photos from activities and important events are captured in individual memory books and made available to the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported by staff when moving on from the home. Staff make sure that staff from the child’s new home are fully informed of the children’s needs before they move. However, staff do not fully record moving plans for the children in a way that is accessible to the children. In one example, the staff did not ensure that a child with anxieties around moving on had a visual plan of their move. This has contributed to an increase in recent worries for the child.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All staff have completed the organisation’s mandatory training. However, some staff have not completed all available training specific to the needs of some of the children. Consequently, some staff do not have the most current understanding of how to support the children’s needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 4

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

Staff understand the children’s risks and vulnerabilities. Risk management plans for the children are regularly updated, providing staff with clear guidance to follow and ensuring the children’s safety. Staff provide the children with the right support when safeguarding concerns emerge. The children are kept informed of decisions made and supported through the process. Staff act to ensure that measures are implemented and policies revised to prevent a reoccurrence of the same safeguarding concerns.

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

Children are rarely missing from home. The children experience good responses from staff when they are missing from home. Staff look for the children and ensure their safe return. The children have access to independent professionals when they return home and are offered opportunities to explore why they were missing from home.

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

Staff support the children to understand their emotions. Staff use physical intervention infrequently, since the last inspection, there has been one incident of physical intervention. When the children have become distressed, the manager ensures that the children and staff can reflect on what happened. As a result, the children feel confident to share their thoughts and feelings with staff.

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

The manager completes safer recruitment checks to ensure that individuals are suitable to work with vulnerable children. However, where there are gaps in employment, these are not scrutinised or investigated thoroughly. This could mean unsuitable staff are caring for the children.

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

Staff, on occasion, have used prohibited consequences. Staff have used financial consequences with the children. These included the children losing incentive monies when they broke the rules of the home. The manager has not identified that the use of financial consequences is a prohibited measure of discipline.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has developed good relationships with the children. She is child centred in her approach and ensures that the children receive the best possible care from staff. Families and external professionals speak positively of the manager and staff. The manager regularly liaises with family and professionals to ensure everyone is working together in the best interests of the children. Staff speak highly of the manager and the support they receive from her. Staff describe her commitment to them as well as the children as ‘brilliant’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff benefit from good inductions that help build the foundation for positive practice. The manager ensures that staff receive annual appraisals and regular, reflective supervisions. This helps staff to develop in their roles and embed their practice. However, some supervision records are brief and do not reflect effectively the topics discussed with staff. Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 5 The manager has monitoring and reviewing tools in place that allow her to have oversight of the home. She regularly reviews the children’s documents and the quality of care they are receiving. The manager is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the home and has a clear plan to support development of the service. The manager has not reviewed the statement of purpose to ensure that it includes the information about staff’s skills and qualifications.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Most staff are qualified to be in their role or are due to complete their qualification. One member of staff has not enrolled on the required qualification in the required timescale. This means the member of staff does not have the suitable knowledge to care for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 6

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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 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; and promotes their welfare.

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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 staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; and

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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)(c)(f)(h).

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that staff complete training relevant to the children’s needs.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the children’s records reflect the moving on plans for the children and are accessible for the children.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that all supervision records are detailed and clear.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that the statement of purpose includes the details of staffing as outlined in schedule one. 25 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 7 The registered person must recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children’s safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children’s home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home.

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Requirement Due date

the individual has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills for the work that the individual is to perform; and

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that potential candidates submit a full employment history, together with a satisfactory explanation of any gaps in employment, in writing. 25 April 2025

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Requirement Due date

For the purposes of paragraph (3)(b), an individual who works in the home in a care role has the appropriate qualification if, by the relevant date, the individual has attained—

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Requirement Due date

the Level 3 Diploma for Residential Childcare (England) (“the Level 3 Diploma”); or

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Requirement Due date

a qualification which the registered person considers to be equivalent to the Level 3 Diploma.

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who starts working in a care role in a home after 1st April 2014, the date which falls 2 years after the date on which the individual started working in a care role in a home; or

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Requirement Due date

in the case of an individual who was working in a care role in a home on 1st April 2014, 1st April 2016. (Regulation 32 (4)(a)(b) (5)(a)(b) 25 April 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 8 No measure of control or discipline which is excessive, unreasonable or contrary to paragraph (2) may be used in relation to any child.

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Requirement Due date

The following measures may not be used to discipline any child—

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Requirement Due date

imposing a financial penalty, other than a requirement for the payment of a reasonable sum (which may be by instalments) by way of reparation. (Regulation 19 (1) (2)(f)) 25 April 2025

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Information about this inspection

The inspector has 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: SC399866 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: East Quay, Kite Hill, Wootton Bridge, Ryde PO33 4LA

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: William Stanbridge

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Inspector

Louise Webling, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC399866 10 regulates 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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