Children's home run by Derbyshire County Council in Derbyshire Dales

Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 1 SC062536 Registered provider: Derbyshire 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 operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in March 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: SC062536 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

16/07/2024 Full Good 24/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 27/09/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good 04/07/2022 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, two children have lived at the home. One of those children moved out three months ago.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The children are central to everything that happens at the home. Each day, staff focus their efforts on meeting the children’s needs and supporting them to achieve good outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff know the children very well. All key information has been collated, and this provides staff with essential knowledge regarding the best care approach to use. Staff have various resources and formats to capture this detailed information and, where appropriate, it has been shared with the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff advocated for one of the children in relation to their educational needs. The child was in receipt of online tutoring, but they had the capacity and ability to study at a greater level. Education professionals responded positively and sourced additional support. The child is engaging in education on a daily basis and doing an increased number of hours. The increase in the child’s participation has provided enhanced learning opportunities that positively contribute to their overall development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that they seek and capture the views of the children living at the home. This is achieved through a variety of ways, including through staff having individualised time with each child and exploring their wishes and feelings. The child’s views are captured and acted on. This clearly indicates to the child that they are listened to and their viewpoint matters.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The staff have been keen in expanding the opportunities and experiences for the children. The children have been able to participate in a variety of activities that have provided them with immense enjoyment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The team works hard to support children’s care plans. For one child, they worked with other professionals to put together a robust transition plan. The focus of this was to ensure that the child remained central to the process. The child was able to move to accommodation that better suited their needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

To support the development of the children, staff take time to explore a range of topics in a planned and unplanned way. Staff do not shy away from discussing topics that may challenge the children. They approach these in a calm and positive way, ensuring that each child knows that they are cared about. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 4

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

The risk management plans in place capture all relevant risks relating to the children. The detailed information provides staff with the possible presenting behaviours of the children and how staff need to respond to these to ensure that the children remain safe.

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

Since the last inspection, both children have been involved in incidents at the home. However, these have been reducing over time. The children have become more trusting of staff and actively listen to them when their emotions start to heighten. Guidance from staff means that the children calm more quickly and their heightened emotions reduce sooner.

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

Physically holding children is used as a last resort at the home. When a child has been held, the recording of incidents has not consistently been accurate. However, children are routinely spoken with after the hold, and there is managerial oversight. At times, further work is needed with the children to explore their behaviours. On one occasion, staff did not consider the actions of the child to be a risk, and no further work was completed.

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

Since the last inspection, there has been a medication error. There have been lessons learned from the error, and the process and policy have been updated. However, the actual recording of the error does not capture the expected details.

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

Safer recruitment checks have been completed when staff have started their role at the home. However, the manager has not ensured that she can readily access all the necessary documents needed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager is dedicated to the children in her care and is committed to them achieving good outcomes. She is ably supported by the deputy manager and together they are keen to drive forward continued improvements at the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular supervision. Time is taken to follow a set agenda, and this includes discussing the children and their progress. There have been times when staff would have benefited from additional supervision so that specific issues could have been raised and explored.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff have the opportunity to explore practice issues through team meetings and reflective practice sessions. Staff use these forums to consider ways of working and whether their approach could be enhanced for the benefit of the child, therefore developing and enhancing their skills and knowledge base.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager strives to ensure that the team works together to deliver good care. There was an instance when a member of staff had not taken on board the instruction of the manager. The action of the member of staff had a direct impact on the child. The Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 5 manager tried to mitigate the risks to the child, but staff were not robust in their response to manage this risk.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has systems in place to support her oversight of the home. However, a child was provided with a mobile phone and the necessary checks were not carried out on the phone to ensure the child remained safe whilst using it.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff demonstrate their care and sensitivity in their written records, consistently portraying the child positively. They take time to record the child’s special achievements and always offer praise. Records are routinely shared with the child so that they are able to read what has been written. Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 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 must comply within the given timescales.

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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—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

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

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(b)) 24 November 2025

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the behaviour management policy under review and, where appropriate, revise it.

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Requirement Due date

within 24 hours of the use of a measure of control, discipline or restraint in relation to a child in the home, a record is made which includes—

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Requirement Due date

the date, time and location of the use of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

a description of any injury to the child or any other person, and any medical treatment administered, as a result of the measure;

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Requirement Due date

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")— 24 November 2025 Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 7 has signed the record to confirm it is accurate. (Regulation 35 (1) (3)(a)(iii)(viii)(b)(ii))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that the records relating to any measure of control are fully completed and that child-friendly language is used.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure that all records pertaining to the administration of medication are detailed and capture all the necessary information. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 34, paragraph 7.15)  The registered person must ensure that all safer recruitment information is on staff’s files. In addition, staff should receive additional supervision should a specific issue arise that needs further exploration. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 61, paragraph 13.1)  The registered person should ensure that staff support children to identify potential risks and assist them to understand the risks and keep themselves safe. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.7)

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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: SC062536 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Derbyshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: County Offices, Matlock DE4 3AG

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Inspector

Lizette Watts, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC062536 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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