Children's Home run by Dorset Council in Dorset

Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 1 Registered provider: Dorset 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 the local authority. It provides care for up to 3 children between the ages of 12 and 18 who may experience social or emotional difficulties. At the time of the inspection, 3 children were living in the home. They were all spoken to during the inspection.

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Information about this children's home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2026.

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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: 2682502 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

15/04/2025 Full Good 21/05/2024 Full Good 11/04/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 3

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Summary of findings

Strong leadership means that managers have a good understanding of care in the home and support staff to create the positive culture they aspire to. Children benefit from a caring and supportive staff team, which they build positive relationships with. Staff help children to make progress and provide them with stability. Children's relationships are not always positive, and there have been incidents involving all children. However, there are clear plans in place to address these concerns, which have already had a positive impact.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children are positive about living in the home. They feel safe and get on well with staff. They value staff's resilience, with one child saying, 'They don't give up on you.' Staff support children to pursue their hobbies and interests, and the home is full of books, posters and toys to reflect these.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff spend time with children, building positive relationships. They hold meaningful conversations with children about important topics. Sometimes, these are responsive to areas of need or concern. Other times, these are supportive conversations to help children to think and learn about the world around them. Staff speak to children about their emotional wellbeing and their identity and address important topics such as online safety.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

All children are in some form of education. This provides them with a positive structure to their day and helps give them a sense of achievement. One child has returned to education after a period out, and another has recently secured a mathematics qualification. Staff tell children how proud they are of their accomplishments.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's plans and progress are regularly reviewed as a multi-agency team, including professionals embedded into the home's model of working. This helps managers monitor the progress that children make and to identify actions to keep plans progressing.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

While children generally live alongside each other positively, there are times when they do not get along. Staff are increasingly able to identify when difficulties arise and intervene. Managers have reviewed the support in place for children and ensure that there are enough staff to give children the support they need at key times of the day. Staff understand that children may not always get on with each other and help the children to develop tolerance and understanding of living with other people.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Two children have moved on from the home in an unplanned way following a serious incident. Leaders and managers have identified learning from this time, including involving staff more in discussions about children’s moves in and out of the home. Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 4 However, one action identified was to ensure that there are clear plans for childrens ongoing care before they move in. This is not yet in place, as seen by one child's frustration about the lack of planning in place for their move on from the home. Leaders and managers have escalated this with the team responsible for the child's plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff support children to spend time with people who are important to them in a safe way. Parents are positive about the support their children receive and say their children are safe and settled and enjoy positive relationships with staff.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy personalised bedrooms, and staff work hard to make the environment warm and welcoming. One child has been encouraged to create a library in the lounge to show and share their love of reading. The manager has identified several changes to improve the environment and make it more homely and has secured funding to progress this. The home sits above work and project space. Staff work across the home and the other part of the service, and as such they often move between the 2 spaces throughout the day, which does not recognise the children's space as their home.

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

Children feel safe living in the home and identify staff who they can speak to if they have any worries. Safeguarding concerns are appropriately identified and responded to by staff. Staff act to keep children safe, and good oversight from managers means that future safety is considered.

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

Overall, children's behaviour is well managed. When concerns arise, staff speak with children. These conversations help children to explore and understand risks, as well as how to be safe.

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

There have been incidents involving all children, sometimes within the home, and at times they have gone missing together. Staff respond to incidents that occur, taking action to keep children safe and to try to reduce risks. However, at times, the action staff take is not effective, and they do not consider alternative strategies.

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

Leaders and managers have undertaken a thorough review of incidents in the home. From this they have identified inconsistent approaches from staff, and that, at times, a more proactive response could have changed the trajectory of an incident. Leaders and managers maintain close oversight of practice to provide support and coaching to further improve staff practice.

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

Physical intervention has been used with one child. These interventions have been necessary and proportionate in the moment for safety. Leaders and managers review incidents for learning, critically reflect and challenge whether practice can be improved to reduce the need for physical intervention. Staff speak with the child following incidents to help understand their views and experiences and to collaboratively think about what could be done differently. Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 5

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Management of the home is robust, and the manager has a good understanding of the quality of care and support for children. Leaders and managers analyse the care provided, including reviewing staff skills and knowledge. They create clear plans to build and strengthen staff practice. The manager has clear aspirations for the working culture in the home to support the ambitions for children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers use team meetings and reflective practice discussions to explore learning from incidents and to set expectations for practice in the home. Supervision provides staff with opportunities for constructive feedback about their practice and helps to embed the principles of the relationship-based approach used in the home.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff are positive about working in the home. They feel well supported by their managers. They speak positively about the children and understand their needs well. Staff meet regularly to discuss care in the home and support for children. They understand the importance of clear and consistent communication and how they work as a team to develop this. Managers support staff development and identify the need to improve written records. Currently, some records are written in a way that contains stigmatising or judgemental language.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Professionals are positive about the support children receive and identify the good progress they make. Feedback about communication is mixed, with one education provider raising concerns that important communication is not shared. Leaders and managers are aware of these concerns, and there is a plan in place to improve communication.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The home has a specific purpose, providing short- to medium-term care as a step towards a longer-term plan for children. While this function is outlined in the statement of purpose, there is not a clear outline of how this will be achieved in practice. Because of the lack of clarity, managers cannot use the statement of purpose effectively to challenge delays in care planning for children. Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that the statement of purpose is clear about how the model of the home works in practice to avoid drift in care planning for children as they come to the time to leave the home. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.6)  The registered person should ensure that there are clear plans in place for children's moves on from the home at the earliest possible point, in line with the home's model and statement of purpose, with consideration to learning from previous placements. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 57, paragraph 11.9)  The registered person should ensure that language used when writing about children is respectful and non-stigmatising. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 62, paragraph 14.4)  The registered person should ensure that they progress changes to the environment

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Recommendations

to ensure that it is more homely, including reviewing how staff enter and leave the home when they are not working there. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.9)  The registered person should ensure that they support staff to develop consistent practice in their boundaries and responses to children. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 39, paragraph 8.14)

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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'.

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Information about this inspection

The inspection started on 8 July 2026. It was paused in line with Ofsted inspections and visits: deferring, pausing and gathering additional evidence policy. The inspector returned on 14 July 2026 to complete the inspection. Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 7

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Paul Dempsey, County Hall, Colliton Park, Dorchester, DT1 1XJ

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Inspector

Clare Nixson, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2682502 8 regulates 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.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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