Children's home run by Beaufort Care Group Ltd in Barnet

children and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged Good at the full inspection. At this interim inspection Ofsted judge that it has sustained effectiveness .

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The two long-term residents in the home are making good progress in most respects. One young person has a talent for music and showed the inspector a video of himself playing the guitar. He shares this interest with his key worker, who has encouraged and supported him by bringing his own instruments into the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The other longer term resident is just about to start her independence programme. Both young people are now developing relationships with peers outside the home. Previously, they found this much more difficult. Although this is positive, it has contributed to an increase in incidents of going missing.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

No one has moved on from the home since the full inspection, but a former resident who left the home last year is still in touch with the staff team regularly. The office is full of photos of all the young people, past and present, to celebrate their achievements and time in the home.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Some young people have difficulties with education. One young person had a promising start at their new learning centre, but is now very reluctant to attend. The problems have arisen due to complicated peer relationships. The staff encourage and support the young people to attend school, but this is not always effective.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The other child was excluded from another educational establishment following an incident which took place the day before this inspection. The registered manager has asked the school to investigate the circumstances leading up to the incident, to establish whether there is any learning to be gleaned.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

A new resident has very recently arrived in the home, and has not yet had the opportunity to settle down. This child has been welcomed to the home. One of the other residents went out with staff to help choose new bedding for her room, which has been decorated in her choice of colours.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The other young person engaged in activities with her, and has taught her some basic trampoline skills. The manager and staff were very impressed with the clear and helpful way in which he explained the techniques. Having a new younger resident is proving to be a positive experience for the other two young people. The staff arranged a collective activity for the three young people on the night before this inspection. They made pizza together, which everyone enjoyed.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff have very positive relationships with all of the key people involved with the children and young people. In particular, they have developed relationships with friends’ parents, and work with them to support the young people when they are out in the community.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Professional relationships with the police, schools and placing authorities are also positive and productive, to help ensure a joined-up approach to the young people’s care. The manager is appropriately challenging another agency’s practice, which she believes may have had a negative impact on one of the young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager and all the staff are extremely child-centred and have been instrumental in the young people’s progress and development. Although the staff and young people have very good relationships, there have been some serious incidents since the previous inspection. For one child, these mainly arise while he is in school. This has led to two physical interventions by education staff.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Since the previous inspection, there has also been one physical intervention involving the other young person. This resulted in the only complaint during that period, which was investigated and found not to be substantiated.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Both the children and young people go missing on occasion. One child has gone missing on four occasions in the past 14 weeks. It is concerning that on two of those occasions, he has been missing for four to five hours at a time. He is believed to spend time with a group of friends, some of whom live locally. There is no evidence that he is with potentially harmful adults, but this young person’s life circumstances have made him vulnerable.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

It is very positive that this young person listened to the staff’s discussions with him about stranger danger, and very sensibly blocked an inappropriate contact on his mobile phone. This indicates that he is developing an awareness of risk.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The other young person, who is two years older, has been missing five times in eight weeks. Sometimes this has been in the company of peers from outside the home. The staff have made contact with the friends’ parents, to strengthen the safety network around the young people.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The staff search persistently for any young people who go missing, but cannot always locate them. Return home interviews have been completed, although often by the police rather than the local authority. The registered manager monitors this well. An agreement has been reached with Barnardo’s to undertake this important work.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The manager and staff have demonstrated sensitive practice by being prepared to negotiate a curfew system with one young person, instead of allowing two hours’ free time, which was ineffective. Since then, the incidents of going missing have reduced.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Discussion took place about whether further steps need to be taken to share information in a meeting with other agencies, if there are further episodes of going missing. A recommendation has been made.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

Discussion also took place about notifying incidents to Ofsted when young people’s whereabouts is not known, and the police have to attend the home. The home does generally make appropriate Regulation 40 notifications, so this is about fine- tuning the threshold for doing so, rather than a breach of regulation. A recommendation has been made.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

At the previous inspection, three recommendations were made. These have been largely met, but some further work needs to be done. For example, the statement of purpose has been updated to reflect the current management arrangements for the home, and to remove the previous reference to locking internal doors at night.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The second recommendation concerned the language used on the door alarm consent forms. The phrasing has now been changed to make it child-friendly and transparent, so that there is no undue pressure on the young people to sign the form.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

There is still a reference in the statement of purpose to the effect that the use of door alarms reduces the need for waking night staff. This is not an appropriate use of a door alarm. The manager said that this was an oversight, and undertook to change the statement of purpose to reflect this.

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children and young people since the most recent full inspection

The third recommendation asked the home to record the detail of each phone conversation to verify staff references. No new staff have been appointed since the previous inspection, but the manager confirmed that this recommendation has been discussed at the managers’ meeting, and will be actioned.

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Information about this children's home

This children’s home is registered to provide care and accommodation to up to six children and young people who may have emotional and behavioural difficulties. It is operated by a private company that has several other homes in the same area of southern England. One of the bedrooms is situated in a self-contained independence flat, which shares the garden with the main home.

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Recent inspection history

Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

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Recent inspection history

23/02/2015 CH - Interim Sustained effectiveness

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Recommendations

To improve the quality and standards of care further the service should take account of the following recommendation(s):

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Recommendations

Where a child runs away persistently or engages in other risky behaviours, such as frequently being absent from the home to meet with inappropriate adults, the registered person, in consultation with the child’s placing authority, should convene a risk management meeting to develop a strategy for managing risks to the young person. The strategy should be agreed with the child’s placing authority, the local authority where the home is located and the local police (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, paragraph 9.32)

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Recommendations

Examples of incidents that are likely to be considered serious affecting the welfare of a child include: a child being the victim or perpetrator of a serious assault; a serious illness or accident; a serious incident of self-harm, or serious concerns over a child’s missing behaviour, particularly where the child is considered to be at grave risk due to age or vulnerability or where they have been missing for a considerable period of time and their whereabouts is unknown. This is not an exhaustive list and homes must assess each case individually taking into account any patterns of behaviour or unusual behaviour which may indicate an increased risk to the child. Homes should also consider the frequency of incidents and judge whether their cumulative effect makes notification appropriate even if in isolation each event would not warrant this. In particular, this recommendation relates to the need to make notifications to

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Recommendations

Ofsted when children and young people repeatedly go missing, and the police are called (Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations including the quality standards, April 2015, paragraph 14.11)

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What the inspection judgements mean

At the interim inspection we make a judgement on whether the home has improved in effectiveness, sustained effectiveness, or declined in effectiveness since the previous full inspection. This is in line with the Inspection of children's homes: framework for inspection.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people living in the children's home. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference adults make to the lives of children and young people. They read case files, watched how professional staff work with children, young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care given to children and young people. Wherever possible, they talked to children, young people and their families. In addition the inspectors have tried to understand what the children's home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after. This inspection focused on the effectiveness of the home and the progress and experiences of children and young people since the most recent full inspection.

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Information about this inspection

This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service 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. the guidance raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted, which is available from Ofsted's website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted . If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk .

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Information about this inspection

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, workbased learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It inspects services for looked after children and child protection. If you would like a copy of this document in a different format, such as large print or Braille, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk . You may reuse this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence , write to the Information Policy Team,

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

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Information about this inspection

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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