Children's Home run by South West Childcare Services in Plymouth

Inspection report for children’s home: 1254740 1 Registered provider: South West Childcare Services 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 organisation. It provides care for up to two children who may have needs associated with social and emotional difficulties and may have also experienced loss, trauma and abuse.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, two children were living at the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in February 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

Date of last inspection: 22 October 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: 1254740 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2024 Full Good 21/06/2023 Full Good 25/05/2022 Full Good 25/11/2021 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: 1254740 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child has moved on from the home since the last inspection. The inspector observed one of the children interacting with staff in the home and spent some time speaking with the other child. A phone call was made to the child who had moved on from the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are positive about the home and the staff who support them. The child who has moved on said that her time at the home will have a lifelong impact on her, and she has never felt as cared for as she did when living there. The child further commented that they continue to value the ongoing relationships and support that they receive from staff and the manager.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress across a range of areas. Both children attend school each day. For one of the children, this is a combination of a part-time timetable at a mainstream school and an alternative curriculum provision. Children make progress with their engagement with education and leave the home with clear career aspirations and an interest in continuing with their education.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

One child’s ability to make and maintain friendships has improved. This child has invited friends to the home and prepared meals for them, and they have had sleepovers at their friends’ homes. This child had previously focused on her relationships with staff and did not wish to spend time with friends away from the home. Staff support and encourage children to spend time with their family members when these relationships are deemed safe.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have good routines and are helped to learn independence skills. They are well equipped to transition to semi-independence when this is part of their care plan.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into the home, they are supported to move in well in line with their needs and wishes. One child has moved into the home since the last inspection, and the number of visits they had to the home increased in line with their views and wishes. The child moved from another home in the organisation, and a member of staff from this home has moved across with the child to support their move in.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Significant care and attention are given to the decoration of children’s bedrooms. Children’s rooms are well decorated and filled with possessions and various items on display. This helps children to feel cared for and valued.

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

Staff are knowledgeable about risks which are specific to each child. They can identify even small changes in children’s behaviour that may indicate they are feeling low. When children are missing from home, staff search for them and try to contact them and their Inspection report for children’s home: 1254740 4 wider networks to bring them home quickly. The police are called in line with children’s care plans, and children are welcomed home.

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

When children harm themselves, staff respond to these incidents quickly and seek medical attention as necessary. Following these incidents, staff support and encourage children to engage with mental health support. However, plans to support the children at these times lack detail and are not consistently used to underpin staff practice. Despite this, staff are clear on how to support children and how to respond to incidents when children harm themselves. Staff show empathy and curiosity when responding to these incidents, and this has likely contributed to one child making positive progress.

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

Staff engage in meaningful conversations with children about risk-taking behaviours; however, these can be infrequent. More could be done to ensure that children are learning about the risks associated with their behaviours.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a stable team of experienced staff. All staff speak highly of the manager and value the support and respect they receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Team meetings are regular, and the manager uses these to help staff reflect on significant incidents. For example, the manager encourages staff to consider alternative ways of supporting children to prevent situations from escalating. This means that staff are regularly reflecting on how to improve their practice and are learning from incidents. Staff feel comfortable raising concerns during team meetings, which they say are a good forum for airing concerns and improving practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has good oversight of the service and a good understanding of the staff team’s strengths and areas for development. All staff engage in training that is relevant to the children in the home, and this is up to date.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There is a lack of multi-agency planning around keeping children safe. The manager has tried to request relevant meetings, but more could be done to escalate concerns with other agencies when they feel that they are not fulfilling their duties.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

External professionals report that they have good communication with leaders and managers and feel that children make very good progress. External professionals feel that there is good leadership in the home and that staff adopt a nurturing approach to caring for the children. Inspection report for children’s home: 1254740 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 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

assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe;

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Requirement Due date

that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(ii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that plans to keep children safe are up to date and clear. The registered person must also support staff to engage in regular meaningful conversations with the child to help them learn how to keep themselves safe. In addition, where external agencies are not engaging with effective planning to keep children safe, this must be appropriately escalated. 1 June 2025

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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: 1254740 6

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Min Sims, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1254740 7 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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