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

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and operated by a local authority. It provides care for up to 4 children who experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2024.

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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: 18 November 2025

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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: SC033174 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

18/11/2025 Full Good 25/02/2025 Full Good 13/02/2024 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Inadequate Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 3

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Summary of findings

Managers and staff provide caring support for children and set consistent boundaries for them. They build positive relationships that help children feel safe, supported and valued.

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Summary of findings

Children have made progress from their individual starting points. They have positive experiences due to a caring team of staff who listen to them and prioritise spending time with them.

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Summary of findings

Leaders and managers provide staff with regular supervision, appraisals, training and team meetings. As a result, staff are well guided and equipped to understand children’s needs and protect them from harm. There are some concerns about disproportionate use of door sensors and delays in addressing maintenance issues in the home.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff are skilled at building meaningful relationships with children to help them keep them safe and supported. They recognise children’s achievements. Children receive praise and certificates for their efforts and achievements in different activities and tasks. This approach promotes positive behaviour among children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff encourage and support children’s education. They work with schools and other professionals to help children access the education that best meets their needs. Where a child does not have a school place, staff provide daily learning activities and arrange alternative support, such as tutoring and educational activity packages. This ensures that any adverse effect on children’s learning is limited.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to participate in activities that reflect their interests and needs. Children enjoy attending classes and clubs such as football, tennis, taekwondo, basketball and swimming. They are also supported to participate in a range of fun and engaging activities, such as visits to zoos, aquariums and trampoline parks. This contributes positively to children’s wellbeing and development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Managers and staff ensure that children spend meaningful and safe time with their families. They work proactively with parents and other carers to maintain and build important relationships. Staff and managers keep parents informed through effective communication, helping them feel reassured that their children are well cared for.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers support children to move on from the home and promote positive endings. There is strong partnership working between agencies, parents and carers to plan and support children’s moves from the home. These plans are agreed together and followed during moves. One child was successfully supported to return home to live with Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 4 their parent. Another child moved to live with a foster carer after staff helped them both build a positive relationship with each other.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Door sensors continue to be used to monitor children’s movements. Although risk assessments are in place for the use of these sensors, they do not accurately reflect the risks children face. This results in their use being disproportionate and more intrusive than necessary.

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

Staff intervene when children feel upset or overwhelmed. They use effective de- escalation techniques to support children. Managers talk to staff and children following incidents to ensure that they have the support they need. As a result, physical intervention is rarely used to manage behaviour. When it is used, it is proportionate and well recorded.

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

Managers take any concerns about staff practice seriously and investigate them thoroughly. They take action to prevent similar issues from happening again. For example, when agency staff did not follow a child’s risk assessment, procedures were changed to address this issue. Managers ensured that, in addition to the information staff are given about children’s needs and risks, there are also clearer structures around allocation of staff roles and responsibilities on shift.

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

Managers ensure that staff have clear guidance to help them manage children’s behaviour safely and appropriately. Behaviour support plans and risk assessments identify children’s vulnerabilities and explain how staff should respond. Staff use a restorative approach when supporting children. As a result, children are safer and more settled.

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

Staff help the children understand their emotions when they have experienced difficulties in communicating their feelings. They offer helpful advice about different ways that children could respond in these moments. As a result, children are learning important emotional skills, such as patience and resilience. They are also more reflective. One parent said that their child is managing their emotions much better and attributes this to them having trusted staff they can talk to.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers work closely with professionals involved in children’s care to make sure that children’s needs are identified and they receive the right support. For example, managers worked well with schools to ensure that children received the support they needed and were helped with their move into secondary school. One school staff member described staff and managers as being ‘proactive partners who value collaborative working and place the young person’s welfare and educational outcomes at the centre of decision-making’. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 5 Managers ensure there are enough suitably skilled staff to care for the children. They support staff to achieve the required qualifications. As a result, children are cared for by enough staff who have the necessary skills and experience. When agency or temporary staff are relied on, managers ensure that they are familiar to the children.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Leaders and managers ensure that staff are supported through regular supervision. Staff find this helpful. Appraisals are carried out annually, with goals set for the next steps in staff development. Staff report feeling listened to and say that they can approach leaders and get the support that they need.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers ensure that team meetings take place regularly. Team meetings give staff the opportunity to reflect on children’s needs and ways of improving their work. Managers also recognise and value staff contributions by providing positive feedback, certificates, and small tokens of appreciation. As a result, staff and managers say that team morale is good.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The physical environment of the home needs maintenance due to damage and wear and tear. However, there are delays in these issues being addressed. This has a negative effect on children’s experiences of living in the home. Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 6

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that any decision to modify the home environment is made only when the change is necessary to safeguard a child. All decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of the individual child’s needs, clearly recorded, and kept under regular review. This specifically relates to the sensors that are used on children’s bedrooms and external doors. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.10)  The registered person should ensure that the home provides a nurturing and supportive environment for children. This includes ensuring that the physical environment is maintained to a high standard and that any damage or signs of wear and tear are quickly identified and repaired. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 15, paragraph 3.9)

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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: SC033174 7

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Hampshire County Council

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: The Castle, Winchester SO23 8UG

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Inspectors

Rose Joseph, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Glen Strowbridge, Social Care Regulatory Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: SC033174 8 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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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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Inspectors

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