Children's Home run by Fairways Care (UK) Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 1 Registered provider:

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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 owned by a large charity. It is registered to provide care for up to six children aged from seven to 15 years who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

Six children were living in the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been in post since July 2022.

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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

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/03/2024 Full Good 20/09/2022 Full Outstanding 19/05/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are happy and well cared for and enjoy living in the home. They are making positive progress in all areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

There is a family atmosphere in the home. Staff know the children well and have a good understanding of their support needs. They interact with children in a calm, warm and nurturing manner. Children seek out the support of staff when they are feeling anxious or uncertain.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are listened to. They are supported to share their views and are consulted about things that are important to them. Children’s meetings and one-to-one sessions help children to prepare for changes, including for other children moving into the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Arrangements for children moving into and out of the home are well managed. Before children move in, the manager carries out an assessment to consider the home’s capacity to meet the child’s needs. They use a range of background information and consult with external professionals to assess the impact of the move for the child joining and for those already living in the home. A phased introduction, including visits to the home and sharing information through child-centred documents, helps children prepare to move in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to move on positively from the home. Staff prepare children well and ensure that the right foster care arrangements are found for them. Since the last inspection, one child has successfully moved into foster care.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fun and develop interests, hobbies and new skills. A range of planned positive activities in the home and community help children to safely explore their interests. Children are encouraged and supported to sign up for community-based groups and have developed interests in football, cricket and swimming. One child has been able to use his interest in computer programming to develop a donations page and through a combination of this and bake sales has raised over £500 for charity.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to see people who are important to them. When there are changes to family-time arrangements, children are kept informed and their views are considered. Staff advocate for children, to ensure their time with family and friends remains positive and is prioritised.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to attend regular health appointments. When necessary, the home supports referrals to external services. Staff keep clear records about children’s individual health needs, which helps medical professionals to identify how to respond to any new or existing medical needs. Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 4

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

Staff know how to support children to keep safe. A range of risk management and support plans guide the interventions of staff. Staff knowledge of children’s individual needs helps them to quickly identify changes in children’s presentation. The positive relationships staff build with children mean that children engage well with the safety plans and understand that staff are looking out for them.

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

Staff model positive behaviour and any conflict between children is handled sensitively. One-to-one and group sessions help the children to understand the consequences of bullying. Children are supported to build tolerance, empathy and respect for each other.

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

Children feel settled in the home. They like living in the home and because of this there have been no episodes of children going missing.

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

Physical interventions used in the home are proportionate and effective in keeping children safe. Recording of physical interventions and de-escalation attempts is robust. Children are spoken to following the use of physical intervention. Staff have an opportunity to speak to managers individually and as part of a team. Managers are proactive in reflecting on incidents of physical interventions, exploring how they can be prevented or the numbers reduced. As a result, the need for physical interventions has reduced for children since coming to live at the home.

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

Staff work closely with external professionals. When staff are concerned for children, they promptly escalate their concerns to the appropriate authorities. If necessary, managers escalate their concerns and advocate effectively to ensure that children’s needs remain central to care and safety plans.

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

Safer recruitment practices are effective. Staff working in the home are checked and their suitability to work with children is assessed.

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

Generally, the home is well decorated, welcoming and well resourced. However, some risks in the home have not been identified and responded to appropriately to prevent accident or injury. For some areas of maintenance, budgeting processes have delayed action being taken.

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

Staff are appropriately trained in the administration of medication and there is an up-to- date procedure in place. However, in one instance following a medication error, staff did not promptly seek medical advice. The manager did not review the incident and consider how further occurrences could be prevented and the response to errors could be improved. When learning was identified, there were delays and discrepancies in the information being shared with staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

A caring and child-focused registered manager leads the home. He supports staff to provide a high-quality supportive, family-style model of care to the children. Leaders Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 5 and the manager have high aspirations for children and staff. Managers model good practice and work alongside staff, guiding children through difficult times and celebrating their achievements.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from an open and reflective learning culture. There is a range of mandatory and specialist training available to help them understand children’s needs. Staff are supported to settle into their role and learn new skills. Staff speak positively about the training and reflective practice sessions they have been provided with.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager knows the home well and can identify areas for improvement. However, there are some delays in taking action when improvements are required. Organisational budgetary constraints have resulted in significant delays in repairing, maintaining and improving the physical environment. The lack of action has detracted from the homeliness of the environment. This is mitigated by the otherwise positive experiences of children, who make good progress due to the care that staff provide.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

On some occasions, supervision for staff has not been provided in line with organisational timescales. When supervisors have been absent, the registered manager has not ensured appropriate contingencies are in place to maintain supervision practice. Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 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 registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience. (Regulation 33 (4)(b)) 21 May 2025

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(d)) 21 May 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage the administration of medication and take appropriate action in response to any errors. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15)

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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: 2551007 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Fair Ways, Building 1000, Lakeside North Harbour, Western Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3EN

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Inspector

Georgia Carty, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2551007 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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