Children's Home run by Hampshire County Council in Hampshire

Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 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 owned and managed by a local authority. It provides care for up to 4 children who experience social, emotional and mental health difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

At the time of this inspection, 4 children were living in the home.

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Information about this children's home

The manager has been registered with Ofsted since May 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

Date of last inspection: 21 October 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: 2508451 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

21/10/2025 Full Good 18/03/2025 Full Good 23/05/2023 Full Requires improvement to be good 29/06/2022 Full Requires improvement to be good Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 3

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Summary of findings

Children live in a well-maintained and homely environment. However, internal doors are locked at night without justification, which unnecessarily limits children's freedom to access shared spaces.

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Summary of findings

Children receive warm, nurturing care from staff who know them well and are committed to helping them achieve positive outcomes. Children make progress from their starting points. Staff support children to engage in education, develop their emotional wellbeing and maintain relationships with family and friends.

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Summary of findings

The home is managed by experienced and committed leaders. Leaders have a good understanding of the needs of the children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children receive good care from knowledgeable staff and make progress from their individual starting points. Children are settled, live harmoniously and experience good stability. No children have moved in or out of the home since the last inspection.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff develop caring and trusting relationships with children. The manager spends meaningful individual time with children, helping them to feel valued. Staff celebrate children's achievements through financial rewards, positive recognition and praise, which help to develop children's self-esteem and provide motivation.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children make good progress in education. All children attend an education provision that meets their individual needs. One child has completed GCSEs and 2 children have secured a place at college. When children experience barriers to learning, staff work proactively with education providers to ensure that appropriate support is in place so that children can succeed.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to maintain and strengthen relationships with family, friends and loved ones. Children enjoy regular overnight stays with people who are important to them and take part in positive activities that promote their social development.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff help children to prepare for moving on and learn life skills, such as money management and cooking. Children are supported to develop their independence in a range of ways. For example, one child has developed their first-aid skills and others have recently gained employment. Another child took part in a volunteering scheme, which resulted in a job offer at the end. These activities enhance children's confidence and ability to take increasingly good care of themselves as they approach adulthood.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

The home is well maintained and welcoming. Children's bedrooms are personalised to their own tastes. However, doors to the kitchen and other communal areas are locked at Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 4 night without justification or review. This detracts from the homely environment and limits children's freedom to access shared spaces.

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

Children feel safe living here. Staff have appropriate training, understand safeguarding procedures and respond effectively to risk.

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

Incidents are rare, due to staff having a good understanding of the children and using methods of de-escalation effectively. Physical intervention has only been used once since the last inspection. There was effective learning after this incident.

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

One child is at risk of exploitation. Staff liaise with local police, social workers and other professionals to ensure that the risk is reducing. The child has been involved in creating detailed safety plans, which are regularly reviewed with input from social care professionals. This helps staff to understand how the child wants to be supported and strengthens the effectiveness of the actions they take.

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

When children make allegations about staff practice, leaders and managers respond quickly and appropriately. They ensure that all relevant professionals, including safeguarding partners, such as the local authority designated officer, are made aware of the allegation and the actions taken in response. This ensures that there is good transparency and collective oversight.

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

Staff use their close relationships with children to have open and transparent conversations regarding sexuality. Children are supported to ensure they understand healthy and safe relationships. Children are provided with weekly health screenings by specialist nurses to ensure that their emotional and physical wellbeing are maintained.

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

Children receive well-coordinated responses when they go missing from home. Staff take action to locate children and inform police in a timely manner to improve the effectiveness of any search efforts. Leaders work alongside the multi-agency team to ensure that risks are reviewed and responded to promptly.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children and staff benefit from good leadership and management. The manager and deputy lead by example and demonstrate high expectations for both children and staff. Their commitment to maintaining a safe and nurturing environment is evident in the thoughtful decisions that they make.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff supervision takes place regularly. Managers give staff opportunities to reflect on their practice and their relationships with children. Managers also recognise positive practice and celebrate staff achievements. When there are concerns about staff practice, these are addressed in a sensitive and helpful way. This ensures that staff feel supported to provide good care to children. Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 5 Team meetings are well attended and have a clear focus on the experiences and needs of children. These meetings are used effectively to reinforce expectations, discuss procedures and develop staff's understanding of how to respond to complex situations. The deputy manager recently provided de-escalation training, which provided staff with strategies to help children when they feel upset.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

The staff team is longstanding and stable. One individual was recruited in this period. However, the registered manager did not maintain adequate oversight to ensure that safer recruitment practices were followed. Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 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, 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 recruit staff using recruitment procedures that are designed to ensure children's safety.

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Requirement Due date

employ an individual to work at the children's home; or

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Requirement Due date

if an individual is employed by a person other than the registered person to work at the home in a position in which the individual may have regular contact with children, allow that individual to work at the home;

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Requirement Due date

if the individual satisfies the requirements in paragraph (3).

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Requirement Due date

full and satisfactory information is available in relation to the individual in respect of each of the matters in Schedule 2. (Regulation 32 (1) (2)(a)(b) (3)(d))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the manager should ensure that robust safer recruitment procedures are implemented and adhered to when appointing staff to work at the home. 1 October 2026 Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 7

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Recommendation

 The registered person should ensure that children are able to access all shared areas of their home unless there are specific reasons why this would not meet a child's needs. Limits on privacy and access may only be put in place to safeguard each child in the home. Any decisions to limit a child's access to any area of the home must only be made where this is intended to safeguard the child's welfare and all decisions should be informed by a rigorous assessment of that individual child's needs, be properly recorded and be kept under regular review. ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 15, paragraph 3.10)

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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: 2508451 8

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Children's home details

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

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Inspector

Stephanie McDonald, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children's home: 2508451 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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