Children's Home run by Winsbeach Children’s Home Limited in Waltham Forest

Interim inspection report children’s home: SC406638

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SC406638 Registered provider: Winsbeach Children’s Home Limited Interim inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home provides accommodation for up to three children who may have emotional or social difficulties. The director of the company is also the registered manager.

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Information about this children’s home

The registered manager has been registered with Ofsted since the home opened in January 2010.

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Information about this children’s home

Enforcement action since last inspection: none

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

This home was judged good at the last full inspection. At this interim inspection, Ofsted judges that it has sustained effectiveness.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The stability of management and the staff team means that relationships between them and young people are secure and have continuity. Young people are supported ably by staff who know them well. One social worker said that this is the first time he has seen the young person ‘engaging in his care plan with a purpose’. This young person said that he is finally cared for by people who love him for who he is and who listen to him.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

Young people value the relationships that they have with staff members. When it is time for them to move on, they often do not want to leave the home.

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and young people since the most recent full inspection

The registered manager carefully considers each referral to the home, prior to making an informed decision. The reasons for refusal are clearly recorded and evidence that robust matching considerations are taken into account. However, when a referral is accepted, Interim inspection report children’s home: SC406638

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the assessment of the potential impact of young people on each other is not always recorded as clearly. An example of this is a risk assessment that did not include protective factors, such as the young person’s assertiveness and resistance to peer pressure, although these factors underpinned the decision to accept the referral.

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When young people are new to the home, they settle in quickly and make progress from their starting points. For one young person, this involved progressing from receiving personal tuition at the home to being in full-time education in a pupil referral unit within three months of arriving at the home. He wears his uniform with pride and attends school regularly. His teacher spoke positively about his attentiveness to lessons and polite behaviour. This young person has also engaged well with psychiatric assessment and has begun to receive treatment.

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The registered manager and staff work closely with other professionals to ensure that young people receive the all-round support that they need. The registered manager attends multi-disciplinary meetings and advocates strongly for young people, such as by encouraging a youth offending officer to consider more carefully the young person’s vulnerability to criminal exploitation when preparing a report for the court.

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The frequency of young people’s missing from care episodes has reduced. When young people are absent without authority or go missing, staff share information effectively with the local authorities and the police. In January 2019, a police constable from the Missing Person Hub delivered training for staff. She commented positively about the home’s good working practices in recording missing/absent episodes.

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The registered manager and staff support young people to develop safer and more constructive behaviours. They talk with young people about how to avoid risks to their safety. Although young people have continued to engage in challenging behaviours outside the home, incidents within the home are less frequent.

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Staff manage incidents in the home well. They share information appropriately with the local authorities, health services, youth offending services and the police. The registered manager sends appropriate notifications of significant incidents to Ofsted. However, when a machete was found in the home, the registered manager did not consider this incident to be serious enough to notify Ofsted.

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Following the last inspection, the registered manager has implemented an action plan to address the weaknesses identified and has achieved improvements. The records of staff duty rosters and a log of complaints are now kept up to date. Appropriate arrangements for the registered manager to receive supervision are now in place. The environmental issues that undermined the health and safety in the home have been resolved.

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Staff encourage and support young people to keep their bedrooms clean and tidy. However, the distinction between tidying someone’s bedroom without their being present and carrying out a room search is not always clear. Staff record room searches in the young people’s individual daily logs, and this practice does not support easy monitoring. Interim inspection report children’s home: SC406638

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The registered manager is very much involved with the young people and has an excellent overview of their progress. Ofsted receives monthly monitoring reports from the experienced independent visitor. These reports include clear views on the quality of care provided by the home. The registered manager also completes six-monthly reviews of the quality of care. These reports provide detailed information and a realistic evaluation of the impact of the home on safeguarding young people and promoting their positive experiences and progress.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

20/08/2018 Full Good 19/12/2017 Full Requires improvement to be good 01/03/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 18/10/2016 Full Good

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Recommendations

 A child’s bedroom should not generally be entered without their permission, though it may be necessary to establish routines to allow for rooms to be cleaned regularly. Usually, rooms should only be searched if the child has been informed or asked for their permission. Immediate searching may be necessary where there are reasonable grounds for believing that there is a risk to the child’s or another person’s safety or well-being. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 16, paragraph 3.20) Specifically, the registered person should review the current practices for conducting and recording room searches, so that all staff have a good understanding and that record-keeping enables efficient monitoring.  The registered person should only accept placements for children where they are satisfied that the home can respond effectively to the child’s assessed needs as

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Recommendations

recorded in the child’s relevant plans and where they have fully considered the impact that the placement will have on the existing group of children. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 56, paragraph 11.4) Specifically, the registered person should improve record-keeping on how Interim inspection report children’s home: SC406638

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decisions are made.  R egulation 40(4) requires the registered person to notify Ofsted and other relevant persons if one of the situations specified in regulation 40(4)(a)−(d) occurs, or if there is an incident relating to the protection, safeguarding or welfare of a child living in the home which the registered person considers to be serious (40(4)(e)). (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.10) Specifically, the registered person should consider more carefully whether Ofsted needs to be notified when a weapon is found on the premises.

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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

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

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’.

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Winsbeach Children’s Home Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered manager: John Ofutu Interim inspection report children’s home: SC406638

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Inspector

Seka Graovac, social care inspector Interim inspection report children’s home: SC406638

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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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