Children's home run by Oxfordshire County Council

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 1 SC033896 Registered provider: Oxfordshire County 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 local authority children’s home is registered to provide care for up to six children who may have emotional and social difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were two children living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager’s post has been vacant since August 2024. A new manager was appointed in March 2025, and he has not applied to register with Ofsted.

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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 requires improvement to be good

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good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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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: SC033896 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/05/2024 Full Good 10/05/2023 Full Good 11/04/2022 Full Good 16/08/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 3

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improvement to be good

The children have not experienced any stability since moving in, and this has negatively affected their sense of belonging. When the children have been feeling distressed, staff are not able to reduce the effect on each child. Therefore, their distressed behaviour escalated, and they caused harm to themselves and to their peers.

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improvement to be good

Two children were moved on in an unplanned way . These two children were unable to say goodbye to their peers and have a positive ending to their time in the home. These were sudden endings for children who had already experienced significant change and moves.

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improvement to be good

One child is in education and is self-motivated to attend and achieve his potential. The other children are not in education. The staff are not proactive in ensuring that their days are structured and that they have meaningful activities planned for the day. Staff do not provide activities or support the children to engage in formal and informal education.

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improvement to be good

One child’s health needs and needs relating to their neurodiversity have not been prioritised by staff. Although initial guidance was provided by health professionals when the child first moved in, no further assessment and support have been sought. These unassessed needs are impacting on the child’s ability to reach his full potential.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not able to understand and be proactive in ensuring that the children are not drawn into child criminal exploitation and child sexual exploitation. Staff are reliant on external support for the children who are at risk of criminal exploitation and sexual exploitation. Staff are not clear on how this translates into the child’s care plans and the support that needs to be in place for the external support to be effective for the children to progress.

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improvement to be good

Children are not supported to develop positive and healthy relationships with their peers. Staff do not understand the change of group dynamics between the children, particularly when a new child joins the home. Therefore, they are not able to put appropriate boundaries in place with relevant risk management that keeps the children safe.

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improvement to be good

Staff do not always understand the children’s diverse needs and ensure that individual cultural and religious needs are celebrated without any prejudice. One child feels that their needs are not being prioritised due to their cultural needs being different to their peers. Additionally, not all staff are able to understand and recognise the effect the child’s previous trauma has on their presenting behaviours. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 4 This has led to delays in ensuring that support plans are effective and in line with the child’s assessed needs.

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improvement to be good

Staff are not able to provide effective support to the children who need to develop independence skills. One child was moved on to a semi-independent placement without them being able to foster confidence and a sense of control over their life. They had not developed skills to help them be as independent as possible in preparation for their move on.

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improvement to be good

Staff understand how to respond to children when they are missing from home. They keep good records, relevant agencies are contacted and support is provided from external agencies. However, staff are not creative in understanding how to reduce the risk of children being missing from home frequently.

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improvement to be good

The staff have not been effective in keeping the children safe online. Staff have put in appropriate measures when the children can access internet and social media sites. Despite this, the children can access the internet and put themselves at risk of criminal and sexual exploitation. Staff have not been effective in monitoring the children’s access to social media sites and the risks they are putting themselves in.

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improvement to be good

Staff have not been able to understand and monitor the children’s relationship with each other. This has affected the children’s emotional well-being; they spend time alone in their bedroom and refuse to interact with each other. Staff have completed some restorative work; however, this has not been sustainable. Two children developed a relationship which was not detected by staff.

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improvement to be good

Managers have not checked the reasons why new staff have left previous jobs caring for children. This has meant that previous poor practice has not been considered when recruiting staff.

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improvement to be good

The staff have a good understanding of helping children who self-harm. Staff are supported by an external clinical team that provides consultation to staff and direct support to the children regarding self-harm and emotional well-being.

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improvement to be good

Staff rarely use physical intervention with children. When they do, it is done with due diligence to prevent the behaviour from escalating.

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improvement to be good

Children know how to make a complaint. The staff respond to them appropriately, with clear outcomes recorded.

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improvement to be good

All allegations against staff are taken seriously. Managers take these seriously and investigate with appropriate support from external agencies. Their actions taken and clear outcomes are well recorded. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 5

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good

Since the last inspection, there have been five interim managers that had joined the team and moved on. This has created significant instability in the home, for staff and for the children. Staff have felt unsupported and nervous to come into work, which has resulted in the children feeling distressed and behaviours escalating, whereby the staff had to contact the police to ensure the children were safe.

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good

The new manager understands the strengths and weaknesses of the home. They have made several changes; however, these are not yet embedded into practice. The new manager has produced a new workforce and service development plan, which needs to be established and embedded for the service to be effective in improving care for the children.

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good

The manager has not reviewed the quality of care provided to the children and considered improvements to support the care of the children. Furthermore, the independent person’s completed report has not been reviewed by managers and submitted to Ofsted. This has hindered the development of the quality of care for the children.

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good

The quality of information shared with Ofsted has not always been good. The manager has not been able to provide relevant information in notifications for serious incidents, which has omitted appropriate external scrutiny to safeguard children.

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good

The home’s recording system is not proficient enough for staff to find information as required. The staff are asked to record on different systems and cannot locate key information related to the day-to-day care of the children.

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good

The managers have not considered the needs of the children moving into and out of the home effectively. Assessments do not consider the needs of the children in the home. Decisions have been made without considering the long-term effect on individual children’s needs. The new manager has reviewed this process; however, this has not yet been used with new children. Poor assessment has led to children needing to move on from the home at short notice as staff cannot meet their needs or keep them safe. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 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

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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

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate;

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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

ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to 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;

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Requirement Due date

demonstrate that practice in the home is informed and improved by taking into account and acting on—

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Requirement Due date

research and developments in relation to the ways in which the needs of children are best met; and

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Requirement Due date

feedback on the experiences of children, including complaints received; and 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 7 use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(f)(g)(i)(ii)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must actively seek independent scrutiny of the home and make best use of information from independent and internal monitoring to ensure continuous improvement. They must be skilled in anticipating difficulties and reviewing incidents, such as learning from disruptions and placement breakdowns. They are responsible for proactively implementing lessons learned and sustaining good practice.

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Requirement Due date

The positive relationships standard is that children are helped to develop, and to benefit from, relationships based on—

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Requirement Due date

an understanding about acceptable behaviour; and

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Requirement Due date

positive responses to other children and adults.

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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

meet each child’s behavioural and emotional needs, as set out in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop socially aware behaviour;

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Requirement Due date

encourage each child to take responsibility for the child’s behaviour, in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to develop and practise skills to resolve conflicts positively and without harm to anyone;

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Requirement Due date

communicate to each child expectations about the child’s behaviour and ensure that the child understands those expectations in accordance with the child’s age and understanding;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand, in a way that is appropriate according to the child’s age and understanding, personal, sexual and social relationships, and how those relationships can be supportive or harmful; 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 8 help each child to develop the understanding and skills to recognise or withdraw from a damaging, exploitative or harmful relationship;

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Requirement Due date

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust;

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Requirement Due date

understand how children’s previous experiences and present emotions can be communicated through behaviour and have the competence and skills to interpret these and develop positive relationships with children;

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Requirement Due date

are provided with supervision and support to enable them to understand and manage their own feelings and responses to the behaviour and emotions of children, and to help children to do the same;

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Requirement Due date

de-escalate confrontations with or between children, or potentially violent behaviour by children;

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Requirement Due date

that each child is encouraged to build and maintain positive relationships with others. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vi)(vii)(viii)(ix) (x)(xi)(b))

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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

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them 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

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect; 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 9 provide personalised care that meets each child’s needs, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans, taking account of the child’s background;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v))

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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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

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally;

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Requirement Due date

raise any need for further assessment or specialist provision in relation to a child with the child’s education or training provider and the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

help a child who is excluded from school, or who is of compulsory school age but not attending school, to access educational and training support throughout the period of exclusion or non-attendance and to return to school as soon as possible;

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Requirement Due date

help each child who is above compulsory school age to participate in further education, training or employment and to prepare for future care, education or employment; 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 10 help each child to attend education or training in accordance with the expectations in the child’s relevant plans. (Regulation 8 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)(vii)(viii)(ix)(x))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that where children are not participating in education, they must be supported to engage in suitable structured activities.

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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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 children are admitted to the home only if their needs are within the range of needs of children for whom it is intended that the home is to provide care and accommodation, as set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home; manage and review the placement of each child in the home; and

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Requirement Due date

plan for, and help, each child to prepare to leave the home or to move into adult care in a way that is consistent with arrangements agreed with the child’s placing authority;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the registered person considers that the child is at risk of harm or has concerns that the care provided for the child is inadequate to meet the child’s needs;

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Requirement Due date

the child is, or has been, persistently absent from the home without permission; or

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Requirement Due date

the child requests a review of the child’s relevant plans; and 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 11 that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(c)(e)(i)(ii)(iii)(f))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must complete a review of the quality of care provided for children (“a quality of care review”) at least once every 6 months.

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Requirement Due date

In order to complete a quality of care review the registered person must establish and maintain a system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating—

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Requirement Due date

the quality of care provided for children;

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Requirement Due date

the feedback and opinions of children about the children’s home, its facilities and the quality of care they receive in it; and

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Requirement Due date

any actions that the registered person considers necessary in order to improve or maintain the quality of care provided for children.

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Requirement Due date

After completing a quality of care review, the registered person must produce a written report about the quality of care review and the actions which the registered person intends to take as a result of the quality of care review (“the quality of care review report”).

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Requirement Due date

supply to HMCI a copy of the quality of care review report within 28 days of the date on which the quality of care review is completed; and

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Requirement Due date

make a copy of the quality of care review report available on request to a placing authority, if the placing authority is not the parent of a child accommodated in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The system referred to in paragraph (2) must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (1) (2)(a)(b)(c) (3) (4)(a)(b) (5)) 20 June 2025

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must produce a report about a visit (“the independent person’s report”) which sets out, in particular, the independent person’s opinion as to whether—

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Requirement Due date

children are effectively safeguarded; and 20 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 12 the conduct of the home promotes children’s well-being.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person’s report may recommend actions that the registered person may take in relation to the home and timescales within which the registered person must consider whether or not to take those actions.

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Requirement Due date

The independent person must provide a copy of the independent person’s report to—

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Requirement Due date

upon request, the local authority for the area in which the home is located;

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Requirement Due date

the registered provider and, if applicable, the registered manager; and the responsible individual. (Regulation 44 (4)(a)(b) (5) (7)(a)(b)(c)(d)(e))

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Requirement Due date

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 the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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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) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must verify, so far as reasonably practicable, the reason why employment or a position ended if the person has previously worked in a position with children or vulnerable adults. 20 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 13

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that staff record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way. Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that regulation 40 notifications include a description of the action taken and the outcome of any resulting investigation. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.14)

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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: SC033896 14

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Oxfordshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Hall, New Road Oxford OX1 1ND

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Inspector

Shaheda Dhandia, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033896 15 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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