Children's Home run by MacIntyre Care in Buckinghamshire

Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 1 Registered provider: MacIntyre Care

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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 children’s home is part of an independent school for children with autism and special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school and the home are on the same site. The home provides care for up to nine children and young people across two houses.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of the inspection, there were nine children and young people living at the home. The inspectors only inspected the social care provision.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since December 2023.

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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: 17 September 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: 2742510 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

17/09/2024 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make positive progress from their starting points because they benefit from being looked after by staff who know them well. Staff demonstrate a commitment to providing individualised care. They frequently adapt their approaches to accommodate children’s changing needs and to provide new experiences for them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children benefit from one-to-one care, which means that there are always several familiar adults nearby and this promotes a sense of stability for children. The availability of familiar adults is particularly important due to the specific needs of the children at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand children’s health needs, and all children can access a range of therapeutic and specialist support within the wider school. This means that there is no delay in responding to children’s presenting needs, and staff benefit from professional expertise to help them increase their understanding of children. To further complement this, the organisation has implemented a therapeutic support worker programme, and this will help to expand the skills and knowledge of the wider staff team.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff demonstrate good communication skills and use a range of creative measures to gather children’s views and feelings to ensure that their voices are heard. As all the children are non-speaking, staff utilise various social communication approaches to understand children’s preferred ways of expressing their views. Staff are well attuned to children’s individual needs, and this ensures effective two-way communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Despite the positives relating to children’s participation, some children do not have access to external advocacy support. This means that important care planning decisions are sometimes made without children’s views being independently gathered. For one child who may be moving on from the home, this may adversely affect their ending. In another example, there has yet to be formal agreement regarding the level of extra support one child requires when not at school, despite this support arrangement already being in place at school. This may undermine the support that this child receives when they are living at the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children engage in a wide range of positive experiences, and staff work well to create meaningful opportunities for them. For example, children return home during their school day for lunch. Staff use this time to provide positive activities for children, evoking fun and supporting children to regulate their feelings. This includes activities out in the community for some children. Staff create memory books to help children remember their experiences.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise the importance of understanding children’s different stages of physical and emotional development and provide active encouragement for children to support their self-care and continually develop their independence skills. Staff ensure that there Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 4 are appropriate boundaries in place to enable children to maintain their privacy and dignity.

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

Although specific safeguarding incidents are infrequent, staff respond appropriately and ensure that children are always kept safe from harm. One child’s social worker said:

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

‘Safeguarding is clearly a priority within the setting. Staff are diligent in their monitoring of [name of child]’s wellbeing and report any concerns or incidents in a timely and appropriate manner. Weekly updates are shared, ensuring transparency and a coordinated approach to their care.’

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

As children grow and develop, staff recognise the importance of adapting their approach and quickly respond to any emerging areas of need. Staff understand that children communicate in different ways, and they help them to find ways that are best suited for them.

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

At times, some children find it difficult to regulate their feelings and emotions. Staff demonstrate good empathy and curiosity, focusing on helping children to understand the impact that they may have on themselves and others, while helping them to develop positive ways of managing their feelings and emotions. Staff use a range of strategies and tools to help children.

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

Staff ensure that children maintain regular contact with their parents and other preferred adults. They place high value on the importance of helping children to benefit from consistency across their lives, and this promotes stability for children and helps to reassure parents that their children are receiving the care they require. For example, staff prepare food for one child using family recipes that have been handed over from the child’s parent. In addition, when children are moving into the home, staff frequently replicate established routines and boundaries to promote consistency and familiarity for children.

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

The physical environment for children is kept safe, and staff use their intuition to support children’s safety across the home. Children are supported to engage in domestic tasks, and communication prompts provide clear and appropriate directions to enable children to engage as much as possible in day-to-day tasks and make choices. Staff help children to make important connections between known risks and their safety. This practice helps to keep children safe in the home and while they are out in the community.

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

Children’s safety is well considered and sometimes this requires limitations around access to areas of the home or elements of their care. Although the management team recognises the importance of preserving children’s liberty and freedom of choice, decisions in children’s best interests are not always well evidenced in individual plans, for example whether children can know their own bedroom door passcode, locks on all vanity cupboards and access to the kitchen area being restricted. While there has been no significant impact, the management team recognises the importance of ensuring that Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 5 any decisions to preserve children’s safety are monitored and reviewed over time to ensure that children and young people can be as independent as possible.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers have not taken effective action to meet previous regulatory shortfalls identified in the last inspection. Despite good intentions to achieve these measures, there have been several delays and capacity-related challenges, meaning well-intended plans have not been carried out effectively. Although this has not had any direct impact on children, there has been a short-term impact on staff oversight and monitoring.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Some staff have experienced pressure in being able to meet all their responsibilities and delegate accordingly, particularly staff within the management structure of the home. Management oversight has at times been too isolated, and senior leadership has not considered how support could have been provided within the wider organisation to ensure short-term capacity challenges were promptly resolved. Staff have not had appraisals or regular supervision in accordance with the organisation’s policy. Despite this, staff morale is high, and staff have a strong team ethic and willingness to support each other.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Despite supervisory challenges, staff value the support they receive from the members of the management team and compliment their availability and willingness to provide practical support. This is embedded throughout the home. For example, the deputy manager undertakes waking night shifts to provide support for waking night staff and to ensure that they feel integrated into the team. Two team supervisors support the home and provide high-quality role modelling and coaching for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive an effective induction, which prepares them for their roles. Since the last inspection, managers have improved their oversight of staff training, and this means that children receive care from staff who have the necessary skills to meet their needs. Staff implement plans for children that have been developed by a range of therapeutic professionals who are available within the wider school. This helps to create a therapeutic culture where staff strive to achieve the best care for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have developed excellent relationships with parents and professionals, ensuring regular updates are provided to evidence the experiences that children have. One child’s parents commented, ‘We cannot praise the staff enough; they are an exceptional team who consistently go above and beyond to ensure our child has the best quality of life. Their dedication, professionalism and genuine care has made a profound difference to our lives and our child’s.’ Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 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

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that monitoring systems for the performance and support of all staff are effective and that staff receive practice-related supervision in accordance with their policy.

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 12 July 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development and have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c))

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Requirement Due date

This requirement was made at the last inspection and is restated. 12 July 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 7 The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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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

is given appropriate advocacy support. (Regulation 7 (1)(c) (2)(b)(iii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that any child living in the home has access to appropriate advocacy support as required. 12 July 2025

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that those with a leadership and/or management role are visible and accessible to staff and able to deliver their specific responsibilities in a timely and effective manner. Any staff member with leadership or management responsibilities should have sufficient capacity to ensure that the Quality Standards are met for each child in the home. (‘Guide to the Children’s Home Regulations, including the Quality Standards’, page 52, paragraph 10.7)

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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: 2742510 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Seebeck House, 1 Seebeck Place, Milton Keynes MK5 8FR

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Children’s home details

Responsible individual: Jennifer Marshall

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Inspectors

Ashley Edwards, Social Care Regulatory Inspector (Lead) Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2742510 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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