Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 1 SC033174 Registered provider: Hampshire County Council Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

p.1

Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a local authority. It is registered to provide care for up to four children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

p.1

Information about this children’s home

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

p.1

Information about this children’s home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since January 2024.

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

Date of last inspection: 25 February 2025

p.1

good

Overall judgement at last inspection: good

p.1

good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 2

p.1

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

25/02/2025 Full Good 13/02/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Inadequate 02/08/2022 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 3

p.2

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at building caring relationships with children. Children say they enjoy spending time with staff, including those who have recently moved in. Staff know the children well and understand their individual needs. Children are relaxed in the home and enjoy spending time with staff.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children have enriching experiences living in the home. The home and gardens are full of games and activities for children to play with. Most children are enrolled in clubs, after-school activities and holiday events. One child is joining a local football team after successful trials, while another attends martial arts lessons.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in education which meets their individual needs. When children have had periods out of full-time education, staff have created structured educational timetables to provide children with schoolwork and experiences in the home. For example, staff listen to children read, take them on trips to local museums and help them to prepare for writing assessments. As a result, any negative effect on the children’s learning is minimised.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to build connections with their cultural heritage. Strong care planning means that staff are confident supporting children who are from different nations. For example, staff cook meals from one child’s national cuisine for all children. As a result, children are learning to better understand the world and develop their sense of self- identity.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff ensure that children’s voices are heard. Children have a range of opportunities to express their views and wishes. Leaders respond promptly when children have made complaints. For example, one child complained about differences in children’s access to technology. In response, managers helped them to understand each other’s individual circumstances, while also considering their views, and made changes to plans to better fit the child’s wishes.

p.3

Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Since the last inspection, one child has moved into the home. The planning around this move was excellent. Managers ensure that they have all the information they need to meet the children’s needs and assess the potential effect on children already living in the home. 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.

p.3

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

Staff support children effectively to build more positive relationships with each other. They work flexibly to create opportunities for children to spend quality time together, fostering cooperation and kindness. Some children’s ability to share and compromise has improved. As a result, incidents of negative behaviour between children have reduced. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 4 Staff promote positive behaviour through a range of structured and spontaneous rewards, which are individualised to motivate children. Their achievements are recognised and celebrated. The manager has implemented additional training to ensure that staff use restorative consequences to help children learn from their experiences.

p.3

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

The use of restraint is rare. When it is used, it is proportionate and used for the least amount of time required. Staff consider each child’s vulnerabilities when assessing whether the use of restraint is necessary. Managers review each use of restraint to assess its proportionality and speak to staff and children to identify any opportunities for learning.

p.4

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

The manager works closely with other safeguarding agencies. They promptly share information with partner agencies when children have raised concerns about staff practice, such as the local authority designated officer, and take action to investigate. This means that children are kept safe and receive the support that they need.

p.4

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

Children are helped to stay safe online. When there have been concerns about children’s activity online, staff have taken action to make sure they are safe and share their concerns with others involved with decisions about the child. Staff speak with children to help them to understand the risks associated with being online and how to keep themselves safe.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The manager has worked closely with the responsible individual to implement a range of improved monitoring systems. This enhanced management oversight means that the manager has good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the service and more in-depth knowledge of the progress that children make while living in the home.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders have strong working relationships with children’s families and other agencies. Feedback is widely complimentary. They say that communication with managers and staff is good and that staff keep them up to date when there are important events in children’s lives.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Senior leaders have addressed several staff conduct concerns and complaints, some of which have included the manager. The responsible individual has provided additional training to all staff, which has re-established organisational expectations, while some matters remain under investigation. This has resulted in periods of low team morale and higher levels of staff absence. The effect on children has been minimised by familiar staff working additional hours.

p.4

The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff receive regular practice-related supervision and say that this is helpful to them in their roles. However, some staff have not received a meaningful annual review of their performance. This means that managers have missed opportunities to provide staff with support to further develop their practice. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 5 Door sensors are used to monitor children’s movement overnight. However, there has been no individual assessment for the suitability of this arrangement in relation to each child’s individual needs. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 6

p.4

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.

p.6

Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

p.6

Requirement Due date

have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(c)) 2 January 2026

p.6

Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that any modifications to the environment of the home are made only where this is intended to safeguard the child’s welfare. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child’s needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. This is specific to the door sensors currently used on children’s bedrooms and external doors. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)

p.6

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: SC033174 7

p.6

Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

p.7

Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG

p.7

Inspectors

Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Inspector Vicki Horton, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 8 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.

p.7

Inspectors

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 .

p.8

Inspectors

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.8

Inspectors

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

p.8

Inspectors

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

p.8