Children's home run by New Forest Care Limited in New Forest

Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 1 SC461781 Registered provider: New Forest Care Limited

p.1

Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is operated by a private organisation. It offers care for up to four children with learning disabilities and additional needs. It provides an integrated service that includes therapy, education and care. The inspector only inspected the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, four children were living in the home.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in June 2023.

p.1

Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

p.1

good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

p.1

good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

p.1

good

The children’s home provides effective services that meet the requirements for good.

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/06/2024 Full Good 03/05/2023 Full Good 09/08/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 10/01/2022 Interim Declined in effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Relationships between the staff and the children are nurturing and caring. The children live in a home where the staff know and understand their needs. The children make good progress because of the relationships they have with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy their time in the home. The home and gardens are full of games and activities for the children to play with. The children participate in clubs and swimming lessons. Staff enjoy spending time with the children and are enthusiastic and ambitious about the opportunities they can give them. For example, staff recently took all the children to London to see an event and sightsee, while another child went for an overnight trip to tour their favourite football team’s stadium.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are helped by staff to become more independent. They have age-appropriate responsibilities and are involved in cooking for each other. They learn important life skills while contributing to the upkeep of the home. This helps the children to grow their self- worth and recognise their value as part of a group.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views are valued by staff and managers. When the children make requests to improve their experiences, these are acted on promptly. For example, one child asked for a pool table for the games room, while another wanted a new desk for their room. Managers ensured that these requests were acted on. As a result, the children know that they will be listened to.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in full-time education. Staff work with schools to overcome barriers to the children’s attendance. Consequently, any disruption to the children’s education is minimal. School leaders say that managers work with them well and that staff promote the children’s education.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The support that the children receive when they move into the home is excellent. Managers ensure that they have all the information they need to ensure they can meet the children’s needs. The children are kept informed of plans in ways that are suitable for them, and they become familiar with the home and staff before moving in. When the children leave the home, they are helped to understand the circumstances and receive significant emotional support. Managers have visited one child since they have left, which demonstrates the strength of the relationships they had built.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff consistently promote positive behaviour through individualised incentives. Staff celebrate the children’s achievements and display photos and certificates throughout the home. The home is beautifully decorated and well maintained by staff, with any damage quickly rectified. The children’s bedrooms are personalised and reflect their personalities. However, the laundry room door is unnecessarily locked, which limits the children’s ability to access all areas of their home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 4

p.3

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

Staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard the children in their care. They understand what to do should they have concerns about the conduct of another professional.

p.4

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

Staff work closely with medical and mental health professionals to help the children access the support they need. When the response from professionals to provide a specialist assessment was slow, managers took prompt action to commission another service. This has enabled the staff to better understand the children’s needs and provide more effective care.

p.4

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

Concerns about bullying are promptly addressed by staff. They help the children to understand the effect of their behaviour on others. This helps to ensure that all the children have positive experiences with each other.

p.4

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

Children are involved in the creation of strategies that are designed to help them manage their emotions. One child has suggested that staff should follow them on walks when they leave the home, rather than insist they return. Managers have shared the effective results of these changes with others who support the child, to ensure that they receive consistent care. Consequently, the frequency of high-risk behaviour has reduced for this child.

p.4

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

As result of the strong relationships that the children have with staff, they rarely go missing from home. However, on the occasions that the children have been missing from home, the response that they have received has been inconsistent. The plans for staff to follow do not clearly demonstrate the actions they should take. As a result, the time taken to report one child as missing was sporadic, reducing the speediness and effectiveness of the response from all agencies.

p.4

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

On rare occasions, staff have needed to use high-risk restraint to manage the children’s behaviour safely. Staff have received relevant training, and managers review these incidents with senior leaders to be sure that the use of any measure is proportionate. However, the children’s plans do not clearly inform staff of when the use of high-risk restraint is permissible or the techniques they should use to do so safely. This means that there is potential for inconsistent practice. Managers speak to the children about their experiences after restraint is used. However, there have been occasions when managers have not spoken to staff about restraint practice. This means that opportunities to identify learning may have been missed.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is experienced and appropriately qualified. He is supported in his role by a respected deputy manager. Together, they have a strong understanding of the progress that the children are making in the home. Staff speak positively about their experience Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 5 of working with the managers. One staff member said, ‘they give you confidence’, while another said, ‘they are amazing, the best managers I have worked for’.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

New staff benefit from a comprehensive induction, which they say gives them the skills and confidence to fulfil their roles. Staff have received the training required to meet the children’s individual needs. They receive regular, high-quality supervision, which focuses on the safety and progress of the children. The staff are experienced, and levels of staff turnover are low. Consequently, the children receive consistent care.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers work effectively with partner agencies and parents. There are strong links between the organisation’s internal schools and therapy provisions. Feedback received from external professionals has been positive about their experiences of working with the home. One child’s parent said the staff help them to maintain contact with their child flexibly.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers advocate effectively for the children. One child was helped to make a complaint about the response they received from professionals at school. Managers supported the child to share their views about how they wish to be treated in future. This resulted in changes to the child’s support plans at school. Managers kept the child up to date with the process and ensured that they were happy with the outcome.

p.5

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager uses an impressive array of monitoring systems, which help him to identify trends and learning. This has resulted in changes to staff practice and raised awareness of when the children may need extra help. However, there are gaps in these processes, which have meant that shortfalls in children’s records have not been identified prior to this inspection. For example, the home did not hold children’s most recent statutory care plans. As a result, managers cannot be sure that the care that they provide to the children is in line with their agreed plans. Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 6

p.5

Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person 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 must comply within the given timescales.

p.6

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—

p.6

Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

p.6

Requirement Due date

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

p.6

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)(e)(h))

p.6

Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that children’s most up-to-date statutory care plans are held and used to inform the care that children receive from staff.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must clearly specify the procedures to be followed and the roles and responsibilities of staff when a child is missing from home or away from the home without permission.

p.6

Requirement Due date

Children’s plans must clearly demonstrate a robust assessment of the circumstances when the use of high-risk restraint is permissible to keep children and others safe. Children’s plans should also clearly describe the actions that staff should take in these circumstances. 22 August 2025

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that— 22 August 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 7 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")—

p.6

Requirement Due date

has spoken to the user about the measure. (Regulation 35 (3)(b)(i))

p.7

Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the design of the home enables children to develop independence skills within the supportive environment of the home, including through encouraging the independent use of kitchen and laundry areas. Access to areas of the home should only be restricted following assessment of risk to children. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 17, paragraph 3.25)

p.7

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: SC461781 8

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider: New Forest Care Limited

p.8

Children’s home details

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

p.8

Inspector

Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC461781 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.

p.8

Inspector

If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 1231, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk .

p.9

Inspector

Interested in our work? You can subscribe to our monthly newsletter for more information and updates: http://eepurl.com/iTrDn .

p.9

Inspector

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

p.9