Children's Home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire

Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 1 SC036248 Registered provider: Derbyshire 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 home is run by a local authority and provides care for up to five children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

There were four children living at the home at the time of this inspection. Three children were spoken with as part of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since 2020.

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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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/08/2024 Full Outstanding 19/04/2023 Full Outstanding 19/04/2022 Full Good 13/04/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have moved out of the home and two children have moved in. Of the two children who moved out, the children and staff worked to a good transitions plan, which was taken at the child’s pace. Prior to the children moving in, the full compatibility of the children was not explored. The assessments completed did not capture or consider the specific needs of each of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children live in a large, spacious home. They have personalised their bedrooms to reflect their interests. The locking of communal areas has become routine. This practice is not in response to a specific child’s safety needs. Consequently, this practice restricts children from accessing all areas of their home without a good reason.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have varying experiences of their engagement with education. The staff work hard to try and identify the most appropriate provision for the children. However, while one of the children is waiting to start their new provision, staff are not proactive in planning and engaging the child in any form of learning. Therefore, the child’s day lacks structure and purpose.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work hard to continually develop their relationships with the children. At times, the staff are not clear around their expectations of the children and the children receive inconsistent messages.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children have various opportunities to share their wishes and feelings. This is through planned direct work and daily interactions with staff. While staff record the conversations with children, they do not clearly capture the children’s voice.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children’s friends are welcomed into the home. Staff provide resources such as arts and crafts, and all the children work together and are creative in producing finished items. This adds to the children’s sense of belonging and shows how comfortable they feel in the home and surroundings.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are provided with individualised care that supports their progress. For one child, this has meant that they have gone from avoiding face-to-face contact with professionals to sitting in a room and engaging in conversations. This is good progress.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff recognise how children value maintaining links with their family. Staff make every effort to ensure that children see people who are important to them. Staff ensure that information relating to the children is shared with relevant professionals. This creates a sense of shared care, with everyone knowing what is going on in the children’s life. Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 4

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

Incidents are well recorded, escalated and shared with multi-agency partners. Staff are clear about the actions they need to take to safeguard children. Managers have oversight of incidents and ensure that staff undertake additional related tasks. Staff regularly review risk assessments. However, information about specific risks relating to children are not consistently captured, which could impact on the safety of the children and staff.

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

Staff respond appropriately when children have been missing from the home, and they do all they can to locate the children. Staff work closely with professionals and family to ensure the safe return of children. Children are welcomed back into the home with a child-centred approach and the reasons for going missing are fully explored.

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

The staff undertake room searches if concerns arise. However, staff are not always completing the room search at the earliest opportunity, and therefore risks are not being managed in a timely manner.

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

Staff receive training on medication protocols. Managers have been quick to identify medication errors when these have occurred, and they address these errors with staff and schedule further training to provide staff with the skills they need in this area.

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

Staff understand the risks posed to children using internet and social media-enabled phones. Staff undertake individual sessions with children and talk about the dangers of being online and how they can keep themselves safe.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, the registered manager has started to undertake a different role in the organisation. The home has been led by an acting manager. The recent changes within the leadership team are causing some uncertainty for staff. Senior leaders are aware and taking steps to provide additional support for the staff during this time.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff benefit from regular supervisions and they report that they feel supported through this process. Additional supervisions are undertaken when issues arise with staff practice, which support staff to understand expectations and to reflect on an identified issue.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The team continues to meet on a regular basis to explore and be updated on key issues in the home. Staff have voiced that they would appreciate the opportunity to participate in regular off-site reflective practice sessions, as they have done previously. Staff saw this as an opportunity to explore and develop their knowledge and skills.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has various systems in place to ensure that they have full oversight of the home on a daily basis, and these systems continually safeguard children. However, the Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 5 manager did not fully consider the appropriateness of a reference obtained. When this was highlighted on the inspection, they took immediate action.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The managers and staff have developed good relationships with external professionals. This has proven helpful in sharing information and coordinating care planning for the children. This partnership working allows for a team around the child approach and children have benefited from this approach. Feedback from external professionals is good, and one professional described the care provided by staff as, ‘Lots of lovely nurturing positive relationships from the staff towards children.’ Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 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 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 harm to the child. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(i))

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Requirement Due date

This is specifically in relation to ensuring that prior to children moving into the home, all their risks are considered. In addition, children are to have access to communal areas of the home. If, in exceptional circumstances, this is not deemed safe, then the reasons should be child-specific, regularly reviewed and clearly recorded. 28 July 2025

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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;

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Requirement Due date

and positive responses to other children and adults.

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

that staff— 28 July 2025 Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 7 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

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

strive to gain each child’s respect and trust. (Regulation 11 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(iii)(v)(viii))

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Requirement Due date

This specifically refers to the home having plans in place regarding the children’s education and structuring days for the children not in school, so they can continue to learn. In addition, staff need to ensure that the children receive consistent information about plans for each day.

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the children’s risk assessments include all known risks, and that staff are aware of these and how to best support the children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5)  The registered person should be responsible for maintaining good employment practice. They must ensure that recruitment processes safeguard children, and minimise potential risks to them. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that room searches are completed without delay once a risk has been identified. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)  The registered person should ensure that children’s wishes and feelings are explicitly recorded on case records. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the

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Recommendations

quality standards’, page 22, paragraph 4.11)

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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 Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 8 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: SC036248 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Derbyshire County Council, County Offices, Matlock DE4 3AG

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Inspectors

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Lorna Walker, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: SC036248 10 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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