Children's home run by Hampshire County Council

Inspection report children's home: 1257573 1 Registered provider: Hampshire County 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

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

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Information about this children's home

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

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Information about this children's home

The manager was appointed in September 2025 and has applied to register with Ofsted.

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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

Date of last inspection: 21 January 2025

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good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Outstanding

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: None Inspection report children's home: 1257573 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/01/2025 Full Outstanding 21/11/2023 Full Outstanding 20/09/2022 Full Good 06/05/2021 Full Outstanding Inspection report children's home: 1257573 3

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make progress because they have meaningful relationships with staff. Children share their aspirations with staff because they trust staff to help them achieve their goals. Staff understand the importance of giving children positive experiences and are highly ambitious about what children can achieve.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children share their views because they know they will be listened to. They have a range of ways to share their thoughts and are always responded to, even when it is not possible to take action. As a result of childrens views, staff have made changes to childrens care, for example, bedtimes and curfews.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work collaboratively with healthcare providers to ensure childrens medical needs are met. Staff advocate strongly for children and are persistent in their challenge to others when they feel children are not getting the help they need. One childs symptoms are being meticulously tracked by staff to help medical providers identify potential treatment.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to learn age-appropriate independence skills. Their progress is tracked through an excellent monitoring tool which helps staff identify where children may require further support. One child’s personal care and social skills have improved while another child now travels around the community more independently.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are all enrolled in full time education. One child has been helped to re- engaged with school after a significant break in learning and is now working towards their career goals. Staff have worked with schools to overcome barriers children’s attendance and minimise disruption to learning. School leaders are complimentary about how staff promote children’s education in the home. As a result, children’s engagement at school is positive.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are creative and experimental when considering how to meet children’s communication and sensory needs. For example, one child uses a weighted blanket to help regulate their emotions and staff have implemented adaptive communication strategies to help a child to improve their confidence when talking about their experiences. However, these measures are not being used with the relevant specialist oversight to ensure a safe or consistent approach.

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

Children’s behaviour is improving because of a culture of continuous praise. Staff routinely celebrate and reward children’s achievements in ways which are motivating to them individually. For example, one child received a new LEGO set, whilst another attended a concert. Consequences are not used frequently. When staff use consequences to discourage unwanted behaviour, they do so as part of a planned Inspection report children's home: 1257573 4 approach to specific situations to help children to understand the effect of their behaviour.

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

Children’s support plans are kept under regular review. They provide clear information to staff about the actions they should take to keep children safe in a range of scenarios. This helps staff to provide a consistent approach to the children’s care.

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

Staff use age-appropriate resources to help children to better understand their feelings and understand their previous life experiences. This has helped one child to reflect on how their emotions affect on their behaviour.

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

When children are missing from the home, staff take prompt action to ensure they return to the home at the earliest opportunity. They talk to relevant professionals such as the police to help locate children. Children are welcomed home and staff speak with children about the risks they experience. As a result of the relationships between staff and children, the frequency of one child’s missing episodes has reduced dramatically.

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

Staff use physical intervention proportionately and only when it is necessary to keep children safe. Managers have sought additional scrutiny from within the organisation to identify themes in incidents following periods when restraint was used more often. These themes have been identified and action taken to address these. However, managers have not always reviewed the strategies in place to support children when there have been additional factors to consider, such as changes in medical needs.

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

Staff help children to stay safe online. They educate children about the risks and benefits of the internet rather than restrict their access. There are suitable measures in place for monitoring childrens online activity and there are plans to further improve the systems. When online safety issues have arisen, staff have worked closely with the police and received enhanced training to be able to better help children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Since the last inspection, a new manager and deputy manager have been appointed. They use a comprehensive range of auditing systems to monitor the quality of care delivered in the service. However, the monthly reports provided by the independent person reports lack the required scrutiny and are not always provided to Ofsted promptly This means that the manager is missing opportunities to regularly gather robust external scrutiny and undermines regulatory oversight.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers work effectively with partner agencies, ensuring children receive the help they need. There are strong links in place between mental health services, schools and health providers and there are equally as effective working relationships with safeguarding professionals, the police and exploitation workers. Feeback from professionals is consistently positive about the communication they receive from staff and managers.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Training and reflection opportunities for staff are extensive. New staff say that their inductions prepare them well for their roles and ensures they understand how best to Inspection report children's home: 1257573 5 help each child. Staff value their professional supervision with managers, who recognise the importance of promoting staff wellbeing and team morale. Regular team meetings share learning and seek staff views on changes in the home, whilst also reviewing the effectiveness of practice. As a result, staff feel invested in the future of the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

When there is damage to the home, managers ensure this is promptly repaired. Childrens bedrooms are personalised to their choice and full of toys and games. The home is generally well maintained. However, systems that monitor health and safety have not identified that an outstanding action to repair a fire door has not yet been addressed.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

There has been considerable change in the staff team and management structure since the last inspection. However, leaders have not ensured that the homes Statement of Purpose has been updated to reflect these changes or submitted this document to Ofsted. Inspection report children's home: 1257573 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, 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

After consultation with the fire and rescue authority, the registered person must—

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Requirement Due date

take adequate precautions against the risk of fire, including the provision of suitable fire equipment in the children's home; (Regulation 25 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager must ensure that any required actions identified as part of the fire risk assessment are promptly addressed. 28 February 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must compile in relation to the children's home a statement (“the statement of purpose”) which covers the matters listed in Schedule 1

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Requirement Due date

keep the statement of purpose under review and, where appropriate, revise it; and

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Requirement Due date

notify HMCI of any revisions and send HMCI a copy of the revised statement within 28 days of the revision. (Regulation 16 (1) (3)(a)(b)) 30 March 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should, when considering whether the use of restraint is safe, staff in children's homes need to take into account any factors relevant to the child at that time, including for example, any health or medical problems. The manager should consult with relevant specialists or training providers and reflect their assessment in the child's relevant plans. ('Guide to the Children's Home Regulations, including the quality standards', page 49, Paragraph 9.55)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the manager works collaboratively with other professionals in determining whether interventions used to address children's sensory or communication needs are appropriately assessed and used as part of an Inspection report children's home: 1257573 7 agreed plan. ('Guide to the Children's Home Regulations, including the quality standards', page 33, Paragraph 7.5)

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any individual appointed to carry out visits to the home as an independent person must make a rigorous and impartial assessment of the home's arrangements for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in the home's care. ('Guide to the Children's Home Regulations, including the quality standards', page 65, Paragraph 15.5)

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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: 1257573 8

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Children's home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Hampshire County Council, The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG

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Inspector

Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1257573 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 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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