Children's home run by South West Childcare Services

Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 1 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is owned and managed by a private provider and registered to provide care for up to two children who may have social and emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, two children were living in the home and were spoken to by the inspector.

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Information about this children’s home

There is a suitably qualified manager in post.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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outstanding

How well children and young people are helped and protected outstanding

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outstanding

The effectiveness of leaders and managers outstanding

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outstanding

The children’s home provides highly effective services that consistently exceed the standards of good. The actions of the children’s home contribute to significantly improved outcomes and positive experiences for children and young people who need help, protection and care.

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outstanding

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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outstanding

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 2 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

29/07/2024 Full Requires improvement to be good 11/05/2023 Full Good 19/07/2022 Full Good 29/11/2021 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 3 OFSTED USE ONLY

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outstanding

The children who live in this home are making exceptional progress in all aspects of their lives. Each child is valued and nurtured by a dedicated staff team that is highly attuned to the children’s individual needs. One child said that staff are ‘kind and they listen,’ and another child said, ‘It is good for me here.’ Both children said, ‘There is nothing I would want them to change.’

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outstanding

Staff show genuine warmth and affection in their daily interactions with the children, and this helps them to feel safe and secure. Staff go above and beyond to develop and maintain strong, secure and trusting relationships with the children. Children have grown in confidence and been supported to better express their feelings and emotions. Communication needs are well understood and informed by evidence- based practice. This knowledge underpins staff practice and, for one child, supports their daily routines.

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outstanding

Staff understand the value of education and are aspirational for each child to reach their full potential. There has been substantial improvement in the attendance and achievement for both children since they have been living in the home. One education professional commented, ‘The structure has had a transformative impact on [name of child’s] educational engagement and the progress [name of child] is now making.’

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outstanding

Staff take time to understand children’s needs and sensitively make plans to address any areas of vulnerability, including emotional well-being. Children’s physical health has improved. Where children have suffered from cumulative neglect, steps have been taken to address their needs and ensure they get the help they need. Healthy routines, including sleeping and eating, are supported and role modelled by conscientious staff.

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outstanding

The children have respectful and affectionate relationships with one another and naturally spend time together. Staff ensure that the children are involved in shared activities and in celebrating each other’s successes. The children are supported to have a range of interests and hobbies, and staff invest in developing the children’s skills and confidence. The children are currently hatching chicks in an incubator and eagerly awaiting their arrival. This excellent practice supports children to feel valued and a sense of belonging.

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outstanding

Staff understand the importance of celebrating diversity and recently held a shared event to celebrate each child in their own individual way. Children’s achievements, celebrations and memories are beautifully captured in photos that are displayed throughout the home. Personalised and creative memory books are kept up to date so that children are able to look back and cherish their time in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 4 OFSTED USE ONLY

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outstanding

Positive achievements, no matter how small, are captured by staff and reflected back to children in their own personalised books. Children are provided with meaningful rewards to recognise their actions and to support positive behaviour with one another. Staff ensure that children’s views are heard and responded to in a number of ways, and each child has access to independent advocacy.

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outstanding

Leaders and managers carefully considered the space within the home and created additional shared space for the children to enjoy. The children were able to redesign a downstairs room to create separate areas for gaming and arts and crafts. Colours and decoration were chosen by the children to further enhance this child-focused space. In addition, the entire home has undergone significant improvement and redecoration.

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outstanding

Staff understand the importance for children of having meaningful relationships with their families and loved ones. Family time is supported by staff, and staff go to great lengths and distances to ensure that relationships are maintained. When difficult decisions need to be made about family time, leaders and managers advocate for the children’s best interests.

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outstanding

Leaders and managers use research and evidence-based practice to support staff to keep their knowledge up to date to keep children safe. Children are kept safe by a capable and knowledgeable staff team whose members are proactive and diligent in their response to risk. Staff understand and recognise risk and the impact of the past harm to which children may have been exposed. Staff know exactly how to manage and support these needs effectively to help the children to feel safe and protected from harm.

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outstanding

Children’s secure relationships with staff mean they are able to express feelings, emotions and behaviours safely. Small changes in behaviours or emotional cues are quickly picked up on by well-attuned staff, and due to the early recognition of these subtle changes, there is no escalation resulting in incidents of concern. Any incidents where children become distressed or are at risk of becoming distressed are managed compassionately by nurturing staff who ensure that the relationships they have with children are quickly repaired.

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outstanding

Children are always kept at the centre of planning and supported to understand when decisions are made that they may not agree with but are made to keep them safe. Plans to keep children safe are proportionate to address all known vulnerabilities, are under constant review and provide clear evidence of how risks are being minimised effectively. There is clear management oversight and learning from incidents or behaviours to prevent further incidents. Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 5 OFSTED USE ONLY

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outstanding

Staff take a positive and balanced approach to supporting children to take age- appropriate risks and develop their independence. Staff replicate the safety net of an extended family, which supports the children to feel safe when making decisions on their own or attempting new tasks.

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outstanding

Staff take a proportionate approach to online and mobile phone safety. Monitoring of devices is carefully used as a tool to monitor risk, and staff have open conversations with the children about any areas of concern. Any allegations are robustly responded to, investigated and resolved. Children are kept at the centre of the process and informed of the outcome.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The home is led by a passionate and dedicated manager who knows the children exceptionally well. The manager is aspirational for the children and role models outstanding practice to the staff team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

The exceptional care provided to the children is consistently delivered by a stable and committed staff team that knows them well. Staff retention is high, and no bank or agency staff are used. Staff place a high value on the support given by approachable and experienced leaders and managers. Staff commented that they ‘love coming to work,’ and ‘it’s like my second home’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Arrangements for supervision sessions, support and challenge are robust, and staff benefit from a broad range of training opportunities, some of which are personalised for the children they care for. Staff benefit from regular team meetings and reflective practice sessions that are child focused and led by clinical specialists. Team meetings are used to explore research that informs good practice, for example case recording and identity formation, and is then applied to the children in the home. This helps to enhance the care and support that children experience and ensure positive outcomes are achieved.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Staff understand the importance of professional networks around the child and work hard to ensure that they maintain positive relationships with all those involved. When there are gaps or shortfalls in planning or decision-making, leaders and managers are strong advocates for the children and robust in their challenge. Professional feedback is exceptionally positive, with comments such as ‘excellent standard of care’, ‘consistently high standard of care and commitment to child-centred practice’, ‘their support with hobbies and friendships is exceptional’, ‘[name of child] is thriving in their care’ and ‘[name of child] feels safe to be who [they] are here, they have a genuine connection with staff’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

Systems used to record the child’s journey are kept up to date and provide meaningful plans for staff to follow. Staff take time to speak to children about a range of sensitive subjects, on both a planned and ad hoc basis. These conversations are thoroughly recorded, include follow-up, research and links to other resources where appropriate. Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 6 OFSTED USE ONLY

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

There is robust management oversight, which includes follow-up actions and learning evidenced throughout the records. More needs to be done to ensure that standards of record keeping are consistently child focused.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: outstanding

No requirements or recommendations have been raised at this inspection. Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 7 OFSTED USE ONLY

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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: 1248071 8 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: South West Childcare Services

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Maybrook House, Third Floor, Queensway, Halesowen, West Midlands B63 4AH

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Inspector

Stacey Pellow, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 1248071 9 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspector

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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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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