Children's Home run by Oxfordshire County Council in Oxfordshire

Inspection report children's home: 1244426 1 Registered provider: Oxfordshire 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

This children's home is run by a local authority. The home provides medium to long-term care for up to 4 children with social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children's home

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 registered with Ofsted in October 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

Overall judgement at last inspection: inadequate

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good

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children's home: 1244426 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

07/10/2025 Full Inadequate 17/06/2025 Full Inadequate 04/12/2024 Full Good 03/07/2023 Full Good Inspection report children's home: 1244426 3

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Summary of findings

The home provides good care to children, providing them with stability. Children are making progress from their starting points. Staff encourage education and activities in the community.

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Summary of findings

Since the last inspection, leaders and managers have improved their practice by implementing effective arrangements that ensure children are appropriately cared for by skilled staff who can provide warm, nurturing, and responsive care. Leaders and managers maintain strong professional partnerships, strengthening safety plans for children.

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Summary of findings

Oversight of the home is generally effective, though there are some aspects of record keeping and supervision of staff that need improvement.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children experience a stable and nurturing environment where staff demonstrate commitment to their safety and well-being. Staff know the children well and have a good understanding of their individual needs, vulnerabilities, and risks.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff work proactively with a range of external professionals to support children who engage in risk-taking behaviours. Collaborative working ensures that children receive timely and consistent care, helping to reduce risks and promote positive outcomes.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children enjoy a wide variety of enriching activities that contribute to their emotional well-being, independence, and personal development. Opportunities such as cooking, visiting theme parks, and eating out help children develop confidence, resilience, social skills, and positive memories.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Children's views, wishes, and feelings are valued by staff. They are encouraged to participate in house meetings and contribute to decisions about their daily lives and safety plans. This helps children develop a sense of belonging and ownership of their support plans and day-to-day care arrangements.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Staff and managers promote positive relationships between children and their families. Children are helped to spend time with those who are important to them, helping them maintain their identity, strengthen family connections. For example, one child's relationship with their parent had broken down, however, consistent support from staff and the manager has ensured the child has a positive relationship with them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: good

Education is prioritised by staff. Children are encouraged and supported to attend school regularly and achieve their individual potential. For example, one child had not been in education for a long time and since living at the home, with an established routine, he is attending school full time now. Inspection report children's home: 1244426 4

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

Children are protected by staff who understand their individual risks and take effective action to keep them safe. Comprehensive risk assessments and safety plans provide staff with clear guidance on how to respond to concerns and reduce potential harm. Staff take a collaborative approach with external professionals to ensure that safeguarding arrangements are robust and responsive to children's changing needs.

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

Children are actively involved in developing their safety plans, helping them to understand risks and build strategies to keep themselves safe. When incidents occur, including episodes where children are missing from home, staff take prompt and appropriate action to keep them safe. Information gathered through return home interviews and other safeguarding processes is used to inform ongoing planning and risk reduction.

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

Safeguarding concerns and allegations are responded to appropriately and investigated thoroughly. Leaders have strengthened recruitment and monitoring arrangements to ensure suitable adults are employed and that children are protected from harm.

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

Physical restraints are rare. When staff have used them, it was used proportionately to protect the child from harm, with clear management oversight.

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

Staff do not consistently demonstrate a proactive approach to exploring emerging health concerns. In one example, a child wanted to stop vaping; however, records do not show that staff followed this up through further discussion, assessment, or support planning. This limits opportunities to address potential risks to health at an early stage.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Children benefit from a stable and consistent management team that has successfully led the home through a challenging period. Staff spoke positively about the support they receive from managers and described how the team has worked together to overcome difficulties experienced during the previous year. As a result, staff report improved morale, stronger teamwork, and a more positive working environment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

This stability has helped staff provide consistent care for children. Children have developed positive relationships with the manager and most staff, which contributes to a sense of security and promotes placement stability.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Managers provide staff with regular supervision, access to a comprehensive training programme, and opportunities for reflective practice through therapeutic clinical support. Staff value these opportunities and report that they feel well supported in their roles and able to seek guidance when needed. The quality of the supervision records is variable, actions and objectives are not consistently specific or measurable. This is a missed opportunity to promote professional development. Inspection report children's home: 1244426 5 Managers undertake regular monitoring and quality assurance activities to oversee practice within the home. These systems are becoming more well developed but not yet consistently effective in identifying and addressing all shortfalls in practice and recordings. One area not identified is the quality of the records capturing of staff conversations with the children to ensure they are child centred and purposeful. Some records were found to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

use language which implies blame on the children and not thoughtfully written. Managers recognise the need to strengthen oversight of these.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: good

Staff practice is not always consistently child focused. Variations in staff understanding and responses to children's individual needs result in inconsistent care and support. Staff do not consistently recognise or respond appropriately to children's ethnicity, culture, and identity. This has resulted in practice not always being culturally sensitive, which has affected one child's sense of identity and self-esteem. Inspection report children's home: 1244426 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 health and well-being standard is that—

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Requirement Due date

the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the registered manager must ensure that the children are taught about the risks of vaping and that effective measures are in place to support them to understand the risks and support them to stop. 20 November 2026

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children's home that—

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home's statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home; (Regulation 13 (1)(2)(a)(f))

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Requirement Due date

In particular the registered manager must ensure that staff maintaining children's records with careful, objective and clear recording. Using language that does not blame the child. 20 November 2026 Inspection report children's home: 1244426 7 The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children's home's overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children's needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child's welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

provide personalised care that meets each child's needs, as recorded in the child's relevant plans, taking account of the child's background; (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(ii)(iii)(iv))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, that the registered manager recognises prejudice attitudes and behaviours. Ensuring that plans are in place to so that staff practice is sensitive to the children's individual ethnicity, culture and identity. 20 September 2026

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Recommendations

 The registered person should ensure that a note of the content and outcomes of supervision sessions is kept and that both the person giving the supervision and staff member have a copy of the record. These sessions should include reflections on practice and conversations about the individual needs of the children they care for ('Guide to the Children's Homes Regulations, including the quality standards', page 61, paragraph 13.4). Inspection report children's home: 1244426 8

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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: 1244426 9

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Children's home details

Registered provider address: Oxfordshire County Council, County Hall, New Road Oxford OX1 1ND

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Children's home details

Responsible individual: Liz Macaulay-Brown

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Inspector

Shaheda Dhandia Social Care Inspector Inspection report children's home: 1244426 10 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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