Children's Home run by Heartwood RSW Ltd in Redbridge

Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 1 SC461865 Registered provider: Heartwood RSW Ltd

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Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to five children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides person-centred care for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties. It aims to help children achieve their goals, while offering holistic support.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered since 2017.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account good

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Overall experiences and progress of

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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Overall experiences and progress of

The effectiveness of leaders and managers good

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Overall experiences and progress of

Overall judgement at last inspection: sustained effectiveness

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Overall experiences and progress of

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

08/01/2018 Interim Sustained effectiveness 12/06/2017 Full Good 08/02/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 13/07/2016 Full Requires improvement Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 3

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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, 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 system for monitoring, reviewing and evaluating the quality of care must provide for ascertaining and considering the opinions of children, their parents, placing authorities and staff. (Regulation 45 (5)) 01/09/2018

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must keep the keep the statement of purpose under review and where appropriate revise it. (Regulation 16 (3) (a)) 01/09/2018

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Recommendations

 Staff should continually and actively assess the risks to each child. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 42, paragraph 9.5) In particular, risk assessments must include all identified risks.

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Recommendations

 The registered person must ensure all incidents of discipline are subject to systems of regular scrutiny to ensure that their use is fair. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 46, paragraph 9.36) In particular, record all sanctions in the consequences book. Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 4

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Young people are making good progress in relation to their starting points. They are growing in confidence, aspiration, independence and maturity. Young people respond well to the family-style environment. They enjoy spending time in the home, cooking the evening meal and assisting with cleaning communal areas.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Young people take pride in their independence skills. They learn to bake and cook a range of international dishes. Young people take responsibility for tidying their rooms and doing their laundry. There is also the opportunity to manage a semi-independence budget and purchase their own groceries and toiletries.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Staff build trusting relationships effectively with young people and their families. A positive result of this means that some young people have been reunited with their relatives and were able to return to live with their family. There is also a good example of staff acting as a bridge between parents and a local authority that helped to improve communication.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Young people influence decision-making, contributing to menu and activity planning. They share their views regarding the redecoration of the home. Young people actively engage in key-work sessions, taking responsibility for their lives through purposeful goal- setting.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

Young people benefit from staff prioritising their educational goals. Young people take their exams and receive support to apply for courses, colleges, apprenticeships and employment. Their achievements are rewarded, an example being the home purchasing a keyboard for a young person who completed her exams.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

There are good health arrangements, which enable young people to lead a healthy lifestyle. They learn the importance of attending health appointments, eating a nutritious diet and engaging in regular exercise. Physical activity includes going to the gym, cycling, swimming and playing badminton, basketball and football.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people:

The increasing range of activities enables young people to have fun, follow their interests and enjoy new experiences. Examples are going to the music studio and golf driving range, mountain biking and visiting the seaside. A young person said that they were ‘happy with everything’.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

The home succeeds in providing young people with a nurturing place of safety. A strength of the home is the ability of staff members to help young people to change their lives. Young people make a high level of progress in withdrawing from gang activity and Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 5 sexually exploitative relationships.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Staff endeavour to create comprehensive risk assessments for all young people, which include preventative action. In one case, however, all the identified risks from historical information and recent conversations were not included in the risk assessment. Young people do, however, benefit from ongoing discussions regarding their safety.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Incidents of poor behaviour are rare and there have been no restraints since the last inspection. The only issue is the consistency in the recording of sanctions. Some sanctions were found to be on young people’s files but not recorded in the consequences book. This means that leaders, managers and the independent visitor are unable to fully monitor sanctions and identify trends and patterns.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Young people respond well to a reward system where they can work towards incentives of their choice. There is a reduction in missing episodes and no young people are involved in radicalisation. Staff actively request and attend meetings with placing authorities when there are safeguarding concerns.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Staff receive a wide range of training related to safeguarding. The neighbourhood police visit the home to informally discuss issues with young people. When necessary, staff make referrals to the local substance misuse service and a gang prevention agency, which enables young people to receive specialist support.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Young people are learning to manage their emotions and take responsibility for their actions. Staff have access to specialist advice from the organisation’s behavioural support lead. When frustrated, young people use the punchbag in the garden to get rid of their anger in a safe way.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected:

Health and safety arrangements ensure that young people live in a safe environment. There is a range of risk assessments, which cover fire safety, the premises and the location of the home effectively. Staff routinely undertake health and safety checks and engineers verify the safety of the electrical, gas and water supplies and the fire safety and electrical equipment.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The organisation is committed to offering a high-quality service. A parent confirmed, ‘I am happy with the home and the staff’, and a placing authority stated, ‘The provision is professional, homely and inviting.’ The minor shortfalls are related to documentation and do not have an impact on the service that young people receive.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The statement of purpose and the quality of care review require further information to meet regulatory requirements. The statement of purpose does not include the current staffing arrangements or details regarding the behavioural support lead. Furthermore, the quality of care review did not clearly include the opinions of young people, parents, placing authorities or staff. Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 6 The requirements from the last inspection have been addressed effectively. Young people benefit from the improved educational, leisure and social opportunities. This enables them to have a greater sense of achievement, and staff take pride in the fact that young people are flourishing.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Young people receive care from an appropriately experienced, culturally reflective staff team. Staff are led by an experienced, well-qualified registered manager, who is ambitious for young people. The management structure is strengthened by a competent and committed deputy, who is well respected within the team.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

All the necessary staff have finished or will imminently finish their vocational training. Their skills are further enhanced by a wide range of face-to-face and online training. Staff receive support from regular supervision and team meetings. Staff appraisals assist managers to monitor their performance and highlight areas for development.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Leaders and managers are striving for continual improvement and wish to provide an outstanding service. They benefit from constructive regulation 44 monitoring reports, which focus on enhancing the service. Managers meet regularly to share good practice and the service development plan details their ambitions for the future.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

Leaders, managers and staff work well with other agencies and individuals. Partnership working with local authorities focuses on having a clear strategy to meet young people’s needs. The good relationships with neighbours help young people to have a sense of community.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers:

The home is modern and homely and there is a good range of communal spaces. Inspirational quotes are displayed on the walls throughout the home, constantly reminding young people to believe in themselves. Young people say that they are happy with their rooms, which they can decorate and personalise to reflect their individual styles.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and 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 whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 7 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: SC461865 8

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9JX

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: Parmeswar Gopee Singh

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Inspector

Sharon Payne, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC461865 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 children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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