Children's Home run by New Forest Care Limited in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 1 SC363268 Registered provider: New Forest Care 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 and operated by a private organisation. It is registered to provide care for up to three children with social and emotional difficulties and learning disabilities.

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Information about this children’s home

There has been no registered manager since February 2025.

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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 requires improvement to be 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: requires improvement to be good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

04/03/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 23/01/2024 Full Outstanding 21/03/2023 Full Outstanding 08/02/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Committed staff have developed warm and positive relationships with the children. Staff talk to the children about difficult events in the children’s lives with patience and understanding. As a result, children enjoy living at this home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have fun. Staff encourage the children to join clubs and try new experiences. One child recently attended a Scout camp. This has had a positive effect on the child’s self-esteem. Another child celebrated their birthday with a spa day with their chosen staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s education is viewed as important by staff. Staff have worked closely with the children’s schools to create strategies to overcome barriers to the children’s attendance. This has resulted in one child attending school more regularly, while one child has been helped to complete their GCSEs due to adaptions made to their timetable.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped to stay in contact with those that are important to them. The time the children spend with their families has improved for all the children. This helps the children to develop links with their homes and build relationships with their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been helped to learn age-appropriate life skills. For one child, they are taking better care of their personal hygiene and helps staff to prepare healthy, balanced meals. Another child is older and is being helped to prepare for a more focused independence plan. As a result, the children take more responsibility for their care in a child-centred way.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have been helped to process their previous experiences in fun and creative ways. Staff have recently organised a ‘floor picnic’, where children were helped to shop for ingredients and then had their evening meal together in the lounge. This demonstrates the flexibility in the new manager’s approach to children’s care. As a result, children are making more frequent requests to make changes to their care. For example, children have been listened to and now have later bedtimes, and one child requested a visual planner to help reduce anxieties about upcoming events.

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

Staff prioritise the health and well-being of the children. They make sure that the children have the support they need to access appropriate services to ensure their health needs are met.

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

Positive behaviour is encouraged and rewarded. Staff encourage the children to make good decisions about their lives through reward systems and consistent boundaries. The children’s achievements are celebrated spontaneously and in line with the children’s interests. Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 4 When the children have used discriminatory language, staff challenge this in an educational, child-focused manner. Staff understand the children’s motivations and focus on improving their understanding of the words they use and the effect on others. This has helped the children to develop their relationships with staff and improve their bonds.

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

Staff take action to find the children when they are missing from home. They work well with partner agencies, such as the police, to ensure they return safely. Staff have helped one child to manage their sleep pattern so that they have been able to access important events in their lives. However, the children’s plans remain unclear about the risks and effects of these experiences on the children and do not clearly describe the actions staff should take in response. The children’s plans do not detail consultations with relevant professionals when these have taken place. As a result, the responses from staff are inconsistent.

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

When the children make allegations of harm against staff, managers speak to the children and work with safeguarding partners to investigate their concerns. However, the children are not always able to speak with an external professional about their concerns. As a result, managers cannot be confident that the children’s views have been independently obtained and that they are satisfied with the care they have received.

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

Physical intervention is used only when necessary to keep the children safe. Records of the use of restraint are detailed; however, managers have not yet taken action to ensure that they scrutinise the use of restraint by staff effectively. This means that opportunities for identifying potential learning have been missed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager has applied to be registered with Ofsted. He demonstrates a good understanding of the progress that the children have made. The manager is passionate about the children receiving a nurturing experience of care. An experienced responsible individual is supporting the manager in his new role and is regularly present in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Staff speak positively about the support they receive from leaders. Regular supervision sessions include consideration of staff well-being, the individual needs of the children and safeguarding topics. Staff say that communication within the team has improved. This has resulted in the children receiving more consistent care.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The manager works closely with people who are important to the children. Parents say that they are happy with the care provided and that communication from staff is good. External professionals also speak positively about the quality of care that the children receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers have used a helpful system to identify patterns in the children’s behaviour. This has helped staff to put in place more relevant support strategies at times of need. Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 5 As a result, one child has been more able to manage their emotions, and the use of restraint has decreased significantly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Managers’ monitoring systems are not yet effective. A recent quality assurance exercise was not effective in identifying the shortfalls in the care for the children and leaders have not yet taken effective action to address all the requirements made at the last inspection.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Some of the children’s local authority care plans were not held in the children’s records. As a result, managers are unable to review the children’s care effectively in line with their identified needs to ensure they have the resources they need to thrive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children have not always received their statutory return home interviews and managers were unable to demonstrate that they had challenged the responsible authorities. As a result, opportunities to better understand the children’s motivations for leaving the home have been missed. Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children’s case records are up to date and reflect their most recent statutory care plans.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that children receive their statutory return home interviews when they have been missing from care and challenge partner agencies when required. 30 June 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

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; 30 June 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s plans demonstrate the specific risks that children are exposed to and clearly describe the actions that staff should take to manage these risks. Strategies used to manage risk should reflect any consultation with relevant professionals.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must prepare and implement a policy (“the behaviour management policy”) which sets out—

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Requirement Due date

how appropriate behaviour is to be promoted in the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

the measures of control, discipline and restraint which may be used in relation to children in the home.

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— within 48 hours of the use of the measure, the registered person, or a person who is authorised by the registered person to do so (“the authorised person”)—

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Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 35 (1)(a)(b) (3)(b)(i)) 30 June 2025

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that children have the opportunity to speak to an independent person about their experiences following an allegation of harm against a member of staff. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.11)

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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: SC363268 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: West Shore House, West Street, Hythe, Southampton, Hampshire SO45 6AA

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Inspector

Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC363268 9 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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Inspector

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