Children's Home run by Surrey County Council in Surrey

Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 1 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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SC040642 Registered provider: Surrey County Council 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 operated by a local authority and provides care for up to five children who experience social and emotional difficulties. Five children were living at the home at the time of the inspection.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since August 2025.

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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: good

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 2 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/08/2024 Full Good 06/09/2023 Full Good 15/02/2023 Full Good 27/04/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 3 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good quality and individualised care, and most children make good progress from their starting points. Staff understand children’s needs and are committed to improving their outcomes. Children and staff have formed good relationships, and this contributes to children’s positive experiences of living at the home. Most children say that they are happy, and they are supported by caring staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are enrolled in education. Managers and staff worked hard to identify appropriate education settings for those children who were not in education prior to arriving at the home. Staff understand the importance of children attending and achieving in education. Therefore, children are appropriately supported to participate in learning. This allows children to achieve academically and improve their social skills by making new friends outside the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

When children move into and out of the home, planning is thorough and thoughtful. Children have child-centred plans and are appropriately prepared when they are moving to their new homes. Children have various opportunities to meet staff and visit the home before they move in. Careful consideration is given to ensure that children’s needs are compatible with each other, and this allows children to live together harmoniously.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children engage in individual and group activities. They have opportunities to enjoy activities that they have not previously experienced, and this expands their interests. Children speak happily about their memories of their last summer holiday away from the home. Furthermore, individual children’s hobbies and talents are encouraged. This allows children to enjoy their day-to-day living and have fun.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff understand the importance of family time well, and this is arranged in line with the views of the children, their families and professionals. Staff identify the best types of family contact arrangements and support children accordingly. This allows children to spend quality time with significant people in their lives.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s views and wishes are understood and acted on most of the time. Staff advocate for children to ensure that their voices are heard. In one example, a child was supported to write a letter to the Prime Minister, expressing concerns about a lack of education provision for children. The response letter that was received brought lots of joy and pride to the child and staff.

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

When children leave the home without permission, staff follow their individual plans. Staff and the managers look for the missing children and inform the relevant professionals. The registered manager raises any ongoing concerns about children’s safety and welfare with the child’s network of internal and external professionals. When Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 4 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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

managers identify that additional resources may reduce the risk of exploitation and criminalisation, these are provided for the child. Various actions are being taken to safeguard one child, with regular meetings held with the professional network. However, children’s records do not always clearly state how the strategies in place to reduce harm, are being reviewed to measure impact and effectiveness.

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

Staff understand children’s vulnerabilities. Most children’s risks are identified, understood and addressed by staff. The registered manager ensures that strategies that staff should use to improve children’s safety are clearly recorded. This ensures that staff use a consistent approach when addressing individual risks.

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

Staff report safeguarding concerns and allegations to the registered manager without delay. The relevant professionals and local authority designated officers are informed and consulted with appropriately. The registered manager ensures that safeguarding concerns are investigated, and the outcomes are shared with children in a child-friendly manner. Furthermore, the registered manager ensures that learning is shared with staff after the concerns are raised.

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

Physical restraint is used only on rare occasions because staff and children have good relationships and so children feel supported during challenging times. The registered manager ensures that children’s welfare is checked on and that children understand why staff had to use such measures. The registered manager provides additional support for staff after the use of restraint to reduce the risk of a negative impact on the relationship between the children and staff involved in the incident.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager is dedicated and committed to ensuring that children make good progress. Their ambitious vision for the children and the home has been filtered down to the staff. The registered manager has strong relationships with children and staff, who in return respect and trust them. Parents and professionals say that the registered manager is good and communicates well with them.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that there is effective joint working with relevant professionals. They advocate for children with passion and proactively challenge decisions made by other professionals when they believe that decisions are not made with children’s best interests in mind.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager ensures that staff receive supervision at agreed intervals. They identify the individual areas of development for staff. Probation reviews for new staff are thorough. The registered manager ensures that additional training and support are provided for staff when needed. This contributes to continuously improved care for children and provides a supportive environment for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Notwithstanding the shortfall in relation to the monitoring of one child’s episodes of going missing from home, the registered manager’s oversight is good, and they use Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 5 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

comprehensive tools to monitor children’s progress. When appropriate, the registered manager shares new research with the staff and invites various specialists to speak at staff meetings. Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 6 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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Recommendations

 The registered manager should ensure that staff skills for safeguarding should include being able to identify signs that children may be at risk, and support children in strategies to manage and reduce any risks. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 43, paragraph 9.10)

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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: SC040642 7 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Surrey County Council

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Children’s home details

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

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Inspector

Sonata Brisley, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC040642 8 SENSITIVE-RECIPIENTS ONLY

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Inspector

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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