Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 1 SC370703 Registered provider: Surrey 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 children’s home is run by the local authority. It provides care for up to 12 children with learning or neurodevelopmental disabilities. There are four apartments that are suitable for providing long-term care. There were eight children living in the home at the time of this inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since July 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 requires improvement to be 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: outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2024 Full Outstanding 22/02/2024 Full Good 01/03/2023 Full Good 23/03/2022 Interim Improved effectiveness Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good, individualised care and they make progress from their starting points. This is because staff understand children’s needs and are consistent in their approach to providing care to the children. External professionals and parents stated that they were happy with the care that the children receive and that staff are good at meeting the children’s various needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled in education provision. Staff and managers ensure that appropriate schools are located for children who were not in education before arriving at the home. Staff understand the benefits of education and support children appropriately to attend their schools. Consequently, the attendance for all children is exceptionally good. Children benefit from the opportunities to learn and socialise with other pupils.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are supported to use individualised communication tools. These allow the children to communicate their daily needs to staff, and also their preferences for other matters such as activities and their likes, dislikes and wishes. Social stories are consistently being used by staff to help children to understand more complex matters. Staff respond appropriately to children after their views have been gained.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The importance of family time is well understood by staff. All children have family time planners, and the children are prepared and supported by staff for family times with significant people in their lives. The registered manager ensures that children receive consistent care from the home’s staff and from their families.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are provided with opportunities to make plans for their activities. They are helped to understand what activities take place on which days by using child friendly, individualised planners. These allow children to plan and prepare for fun outside the home. Staff at the home also celebrate various events within the group setting, enabling all of the children to have fun together.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Transitions into adulthood are skilfully prepared. Children who have moved on to adult homes were given opportunities to express their views and they visited their new home on a few occasions before moving in. Children are helped to develop their independent living skills, both before and during their transition to their new home. Staff maintain contact with the child/young adult and check on their welfare after they have left the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff promote children’s cultural and religious beliefs and endorse celebrations of children’s preferred festive times, such as Diwali. Staff also support regular visits to places of worship. This allows children to continue to practice their religious beliefs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 4

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improvement to be good

Since the last inspection, not all children have been consistently well safeguarded. Staff form strong relationships with children that enable some incidents to be prevented. However, there has been some reliance on police intervention when staff have not had the necessary skills to meet needs.

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improvement to be good

All children have individualised plans and assessments that staff adhere to consistently. Physical restraint is used as a last resort and when someone is at imminent risk of harm. The incidents are well recorded. After any incidents, children are consulted in accordance with their chosen communication style and their welfare is checked on by staff. The registered manager provides good oversight and considers how such incidents can be avoided in the future.

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improvement to be good

The home is designed and furnished to meet children’s needs. Children’s bedrooms are exceptionally child friendly and reflect children’s personalities. However, one apartment has been left in a state of disrepair for a prolonged period. Safety hazards have not been addressed promptly and the access to this apartment is not consistently secured. This presents a potential risk of harm to children attending the sensory room or using the bathroom.

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improvement to be good

Staff are diligent in fulfilling their responsibilities in relation to medication administration. Consequently, medication errors are rare, and those that have occurred since the last inspection have been minor. Learning from medication errors has been cascaded to the team to reduce the risk of it happening again. However, there are times when the medication room becomes excessively hot. This has the potential to impact on the safe storage and efficacy of the medication.

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improvement to be good

The registered manager addressed one allegation after slight delays. Consultations with relevant professionals took place, and the concern has been investigated appropriately. However, another allegation has been missed, and the safeguarding procedure was not followed. This results in missed opportunities to safeguard children and staff.

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improvement to be good

The recruitment process is thorough and follows safer recruitment guidance. This helps to ensure that children are cared for by suitable adults.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has an ambitious vision and high expectations for children’s achievements. Staff say that they respect the manager for their commitment and dedication to children. Feedback from other professionals and from parents is also positive and highlights good practice that is being led by the registered manager. However, in one instance, the leaders underestimated the skills and experiences required by staff, and this led to an unsettled period for the staff team and for the home overall. Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 5 Staff benefit from regular supervision, which provides an opportunity for managers to ensure that staff know how to care for children in line with their plans. Staff performance and development are reviewed regularly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager and staff invest in regular team meetings. Reflective practice is being used during the meetings that allows staff to think about professional curiosity and problem-solving.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff have completed the training that is deemed necessary by the organisation. Staff are supported to complete their Level 3 diplomas. This enables staff to remain focused on their goals and to achieve their developmental targets. Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 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 registered person must make arrangements for the handling, recording, safekeeping, safe administration and disposal of medicines received into the children’s home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person must ensure that—

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Requirement Due date

medicines kept in the home are stored in a secure place so as to prevent any child from having unsupervised access to them.

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Requirement Due date

Furthermore, the registered person should ensure that medication is stored in accordance with temperatures specified by the manufacturer’s guidance. 10 October 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

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; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(b)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered person should ensure that allegations are shared with relevant professionals and followed up to ensure safety for children and staff. 10 October 2025

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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— 10 September 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 7 promotes their welfare. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (1) (b)(2)(c))

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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: SC370703 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Surrey County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Surrey County Council, Woodhatch Place, 11 Cockshot Hill, Reigate RH2 8EF

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Inspectors

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Emma Haskell, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC370703 9 regulates and 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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