Children's home run by Buckinghamshire Council

Inspection report children's home: 2611447 1 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Registered provider: Buckinghamshire 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 is a local authority children’s home, registered to provide care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties up to the age of 18. There were four children 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 November 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 children's home: 2611447 2 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

11/03/2025 Full Good 06/02/2024 Full Good 07/02/2023 Full Outstanding 18/01/2022 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 2611447 3 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children living at this home experience warm, nurturing care that enables them to make good progress. The home provides a welcoming and homely environment where children feel comfortable and listened to. Children’s views are central to practice. They are routinely consulted and their wishes influence decisions about their lives and the home. Examples include supporting a child’s wishes for their future home, a child’s request for a pet, personalised bedrooms, or purchasing various kitchen appliances and other household items requested by the children. These small but meaningful examples of choice promote children’s sense of belonging. Health and safety arrangements are effective and do not unnecessarily restrict children’s independence. Children are supported to access advocacy, speak with the monthly independent visitor, and use a child-friendly guide that explains their rights and how to raise concerns.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children develop positive relationships with committed staff. This helps children to feel emotionally secure and contributes to their progress. For example, one child has made notable improvements in their emotional presentation and engagement with staff since the previous inspection. Another child experienced nurturing care and was supported through a well-planned transition to independence, with ongoing contact reflecting the strength of relationships formed. Even a child who struggled to settle at the home, was able to seek support from staff during important moments, such as talking about their worries. Key-work sessions are purposeful and responsive to children’s needs. Staff deliver these sessions naturally, helping children to engage meaningfully without feeling overwhelmed. However, this approach is not always evidenced in the way the sessions are recorded.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children who move into the home, including those admitted in unplanned circumstances, receive well-considered support. Staff are committed to ensuring that new children feel safe, including visiting the home when they are not on duty and staying late into the night so children can settle. Staff communicate sensitively and take account of children’s histories, reassuring them that the home is not seeking to replace family relationships. This, alongside active support for family time, helps children settle quickly and begin developing positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide range of individualised activities, such as beauty treatments, day trips and holidays. These experiences contribute to children’s enjoyment and support their emotional well-being and engagement in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children’s health needs are met well. Staff respond promptly when children express concerns and help them to understand their own health. They advocate effectively, including supporting children to engage in specialist assessments and helping them understand the potential benefits. The home’s access to a dedicated internal clinical psychologist increases the emotional support available to children and helps staff develop a deeper understanding of trauma, resulting in improved outcomes for children. Inspection report children's home: 2611447 4 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is prioritised. Three children’s school attendance has improved since moving to the home, supported by strong communication with the children’s schools. Staff work closely with education professionals to help children transition back into mainstream classes where appropriate. One child is not in education due to their needs. However, staff maintain positive collaboration with education partners to provide alternative educational activities and advocate strongly on the child’s behalf. An education professional provided positive feedback about the staff team’s ability to meet the overall needs of the children living at the home. They reported that staff work effectively with education partners and demonstrate a good understanding of each child’s individual needs.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Support for independence is thoughtfully planned and individualised. Children benefit from gradual preparation and continued emotional support. A child’s transition to independence was particularly strong, with staff maintaining ongoing contact at their request.

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

Children are safeguarded effectively by staff who know them well and understand their individual needs. Staff listen to children and respond to them promptly and calmly. They can identify when children require help or reassurance and take timely action to support them. Children report feeling safe in the home and can identify trusted adults with whom they can share their worries. Concerns or complaints raised by children or their families are responded to and addressed appropriately.

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

Staff have a good understanding of the risks that online activity may pose. They have established appropriate boundaries and use effective strategies to help protect children from exploitation. Children are helped to understand how to keep themselves safe and why safeguarding measures are in place.

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

Incidents of children going missing from the home are low. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of the risks associated with children’s behaviours and take appropriate action when they go missing, including searching for them. Strong multi-agency working results in well-coordinated responses during missing episodes and ensures that children receive support when they return. However, incident reports are not consistently recorded with clarity or accuracy.

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

Physical intervention is rarely used and only when necessary to protect children or others. When interventions do occur, they are proportionate and include appropriate management oversight. Staff and children receive meaningful debriefs, which support learning and reflection.

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

Staff and leaders work closely with children’s wider professional networks. Each child has an individualised risk assessment and support plan that identifies vulnerabilities and sets out strategies to reduce risk. Regular consultation with social workers and specialist professionals, such as clinical psychologists, strengthens this work. Staff are trained in Inspection report children's home: 2611447 5 OFSTED USE ONLY

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

the provider’s chosen de-escalation model to help them support children when they are in crisis.

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

However, these protective measures have not always been implemented confidently or effectively in practice. Some staff have limited experience of working with children with complex needs and are not always confident in applying de-escalation techniques. For one child, this contributed to frequent police involvement during incidents, including those related to self-harm. This strategy was incorporated into the child’s behaviour support plan but did not help the child to settle or build secure relationships with staff.

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

Leaders have recognised these shortfalls and have taken action to respond to this. Additional specialist training and support has been introduced, and this remains a priority for the registered manager. Plans are in place to review children’s risk assessments to ensure that they effectively address known vulnerabilities and provide clearer guidance for staff on managing risks.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home is managed effectively by a newly appointed registered manager who is supported by an experienced and cohesive senior management team. Together, they ensure that the home is, well organised and consistently focused on meeting the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders work proactively and constructively with partner agencies. These strong relationships support consistent, coordinated planning and contribute to children receiving well-considered care and protection. Staff feel valued and supported via regular, purposeful supervision that is reflective and centred on children’s experiences. Team and management meetings provide a space for open discussion, constructive challenge and shared learning, reinforcing a child-centred ethos. The registered manager has created an environment where the emotional impact of the work is acknowledged and addressed. Staffing pressures are recognised and managed well, with leaders taking practical steps to sustain staff resilience and maintain stability for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders actively involve staff in children’s care planning, promoting a shared sense of responsibility and accountability. Children’s care plans are of good quality, setting out goals that reflect permanence and high aspirations for their futures. Plans are written in a way that support children to understand their circumstances and express their wishes. For example, one child was supported by the registered manager to read her plan and used the opportunity to provide a clearer understanding of why they needed to move to the home. Staff across the home can confidently articulate each child’s needs, progress and aspirations, even when they are not the child’s allocated key worker. This demonstrates good collective knowledge and ability to meet the children’s needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The registered manager has implemented effective systems to monitor children’s progress and the quality of practice. Her trauma-informed approach encourages reflective discussions, supporting staff to improve their responses to children’s behaviour and to learn from incidents. Clear, targeted action plans address identified shortfalls, Inspection report children's home: 2611447 6 OFSTED USE ONLY

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

including the need to improve referral-stage information gathering and enhance staff skills in supporting children with complex needs.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children have access to their records and are encouraged to contribute to them. However, some records do not fully capture children’s day-to-day experiences, the rationale for decisions made about their care or clear explanations of how behaviour has been responded to. Occasional inaccuracies or lack of clarity mean that some records do not provide a consistently reliable account of children’s lives or help them understand their personal history.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Progress has been made against the previous inspection requirements. Investigations into allegations or suspicion of harm by staff are handled fairly and quickly. Although allegations were reported to other relevant professionals, such as the local authority designated officer, not all were notified to Ofsted as required. The registered manager has been reflective about this shortfall, and senior leaders have developed a plan to improve monitoring and ensure compliance with reporting expectations. Inspection report children's home: 2611447 7 OFSTED USE ONLY

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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 ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child. (Regulation 13 (2)(c)) 1 August 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the behaviour management strategy is understood and applied by staff, kept under review and revised where appropriate, including in relation to de-escalation techniques. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.34)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that they notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)-(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the staff record information on individual children in a way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third- party information. Information about the child should always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) Inspection report children's home: 2611447 8 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 children's home: 2611447 9 OFSTED USE ONLY

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Buckinghamshire Council, Chief Executive, Walton Street Offices, Walton Street, Aylesbury HP20 1UA

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Krishane Madhavan

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Inspector

Claudia Poienar, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 2611447 10 OFSTED USE 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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